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Loyalty to the Democratic Party was a part of my childhood belief system. My
grandfather was able to support his family by working in New Deal projects
during the Great Depression. My father and many of my friends’ fathers returned
home from fighting in World War II to enjoy the benefits of VA home loans, the
GI Bill, and jobs in a growing economy. My grandparents were able to survive in
their later years with the help of Social Security. All these were Democratic
initiatives.
I never doubted that the world was good. I lived in the greatest country on
earth. If one worked hard, one could accomplish anything. In my suburban utopia
I rarely saw a poor person, a person of color, or a child with a handicap. I
was vaguely aware that problems existed somewhere but felt no real connection
to people whose reality was different from mine. Naturally, what actually
happened inside our suburban homes was not TVland-perfect, but we thought we
were the exception. Everyone else must be
living the American Dream. When I heard President John Kennedy talk of giving
back to the country, I thought I would do that very thing when I grew up.
And then the world changed.
The assassination of JFK made me start watching the news very carefully. I
saw black Americans begin to say “no” to segregation and the indignities of the
race barrier. I was horrified by the water hoses, the batons wielded by
authority, the beatings, and the murders committed by those determined to keep
black Americans from achieving equality. I applauded Martin Luther King and
others who refused to accept second-class citizenship. They reminded all of us
what it meant to be truly American citizens.
But I didn’t have the courage to do more than give lip service to idealism. I only
hoped that everyone would see what I had seen, and I prayed that positive
change would come.
And then there was Vietnam.
Like so many other things in my early life, the Vietnam War was largely an
abstraction. My friends were mainly immune. Deferments were fairly easy to get,
so most college students were not called to serve. Slowly, the reality of the
war began to intrude, and for the first time in my life I felt the need to be a
bystander no more. I participated in my first protests and began to believe that
I had an obligation to do more than passively watch the world evolve. The
exhilaration of fighting for a cause beyond my little world was intoxicating. I
began to engage on issues besides the war, for equal opportunity for all
Americans and for equal rights for women. It had been a Democratic president
who led us into the Vietnam
morass, but it was also Democrats like Eugene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy,
along with Martin Luther King, who were articulating the beliefs that I held. Surely
they would be heard.
And then Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were killed. Students were
murdered at Kent State. Richard Nixon was elected
president.
Our country seemed tired and didn’t want to hear about the war and the riots
in cities. I remember walking the streets of State College, Pennsylvania,
pregnant and with a 3-year-old, trying to influence voters in the election of
1972. No one seemed to want to hear about the abuses of the Nixon
administration, the broken promises to end the fighting in Vietnam. Nixon
won that election in a landside.
And then the Watergate scandal broke.
I remember watching as the scandal grew. I was heartened by the way the
genius of our founding fathers was demonstrated by the doctrine of separation
of powers. I was moved by leaders such as Sen. Sam Ervin who seemed to channel the
spirit of the Constitution and re-articulated the principles of our country. I,
who had been raised a “sorta Democrat,” became a committed Democrat.
In the ensuing years I have worked hard for Democratic candidates because I
believed that for the most part they represented the principles I held. There
were times when I was disappointed and times when I voted for a Republican
because I felt he or she was the better choice.
More often I was frustrated when people didn’t seem to understand core
issues. When President Carter called for conservation and warned of the
scarcity of oil resources and the danger of relying on foreign oil, I found it
hard to believe that voters listened instead to Reagan, who encouraged us to
ignore reality and continue on our merry way. The reality we are now
experiencing with escalating gas prices shows us the danger of living in a
dream.
When I look at candidates today, I remember our founding fathers and the goals
they had for our country: “a government for the people,” not for the elite few
… a government that respects all people because they are “endowed with certain
inalienable rights.” Who will work for the American people as a whole rather
than for special interests? Who will respect our environment and leave our
world a better place? Who understands that we are not alone in this world, that
our future is linked to other people, other countries, and other cultures?
I am a Democrat because I believe that our party understands that these questions
must be asked and is looking for solutions. I will continue to try to influence
in a positive way the future of the country I love.
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