This week, the Democratic Party is the party of the people and the Republican Party is the party of the wealthy 1 percent. Too often the messengers of the Democratic Party forget that and get tongue-tied trying to be everything to everybody and end up getting everyone mad.
I am a Democrat and believe in raising the minimum wage; protecting Social Security and Medicare; making college affordable to all children; making sure everyone has health insurance that includes coverage of pre-existing conditions and lets your kids stay on till they are 26. Democrats want our parents to be able to stay in their homes as long as they can and then when they can't anymore, we want to be sure that they have a decent place to live. We believe in God and want everyone to be able to worship in the way they choose. We want to guarantee the civil and human rights of all people no matter their race, creed, religion, gender, sexual orientation or sexual identity. We want safe borders and a pathway to citizenship for those immigrants here now. That is a simple message that can get 50.1 percent of the vote.
The loss in Florida's special election doesn't mean much. We had a not very good candidate who, when it was pointed, didn't live in the District 'til she ran, made the brilliant comment, "At least I didn't move from Miami." She also had no solid get-out-the-vote operation.
We know the problems Democrats have. The roll-out of the Affordable Care Act was a disaster and the tweaks the administration is making aren't enough and won't grab the public's attention. The economy is getting better, but too slowly and the President is having a difficult time enunciating a clear foreign policy. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is constantly trying out new messages and falling over their own feet doing it. They send out dozens of emails a day begging for money as if money will fix all their problems. It won't if they don't get the message right and stick to it. There are many candidates who win with less money than their opponents. They win because they connect with people and Democrats must find the way to connect with the people.
All the money our Democratic national political organizations raise should go to getting out the vote. We know we have more voters than the Republican Party and if we get them to the polls we win. Spending millions on negative commercials won't do it. The Koch brothers can spend all they want, but if we get our voters to the polls we win.
Anti-Republican commercials should be simple. If you vote Republican you are voting to not raise the minimum wage; not give immigrants a fair chance; not protect Medicare and Social Security; and not give everyone their civil and human rights. Vote Democratic because you believe in an equal playing field and want to speak out for basic decency.
We are a nation with our best days ahead if we understanding that none of us can make it alone. We often need a little help caring for our children or our parents. The only people that say that government is too big are those rich enough to never need any help. Most of us will never be that rich. When your neighbor needs a hand with their disabled child; when your mother or father need to go into a nursing home; when you count on that unemployment check to help with the rent or mortgage so you don't lose your home; you need that helping hand. Democrats want you to have it and the rich Republicans who fund and control their Party today don't.
Mitt Romney lost the 2012 presidential campaign when he said, "There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them."
His running mate Paul Ryan (R-WI) when talking about rape as a "method of conception' said, "I'm very proud of my pro-life record, and I've always adopted the idea that the position that the method of conception doesn't change the definition of life." Clearly those aren't the people you want running your country or deciding your fate. If you vote Republican that's what you get.
Not everything Democrats do or say is great. But the bottom line for you and your family to live a better life -- for your children to have the chance for a great education; for everyone to make more than today's minimum wage; and to ensure you keep Social Security and Medicare -- you have to vote Democratic. Circle November 4 on your calendar. Come out to vote and take a stand for your family and their future.