Some inspirational words from Gov. Warner.
From the 2003 Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Mississippi, via a post on Daily Kos:
And since then, a lot of them have asked me, Mark - Why exactly are you a Democrat?Please read the full post on Kos for more on this speech.
And I just smile. Because if you have to ask, you wouldn't understand.
Amy Tuck clearly wouldn't understand.
I am a Democrat because since Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence - and since Jackson spoke for the common man - our party has never been the party of the status quo.
Instead, we have been the ones to see a challenge - and do something about it. Let's be honest - it hasn't always worked perfectly. Sometimes it has gotten us in trouble. Sometimes it has split us apart. But sometimes, those are the wages of progress.
And yet, I am a Democrat because the greatest and most noble political experiments of our time had their birth in our party.
I am a Democrat because the New Deal literally saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans.
I am a Democrat because a generation after a Democratic president started the Peace Corps, you can still find faded photographs of John F. Kennedy on the walls of homes from South Africa to South America.
I am a Democrat because fighting for working men and women is always the right fight.
I am a Democrat because our party led the struggle for civil rights - in the tough places like Virginia and Mississippi - and because we recognize that discrimination and bigotry are not dead - and that we must continue to seek equal opportunity for all.
I am a Democrat because despite our failures, our missteps, and our excesses - we know that waging a war on poverty does not mean fighting the individuals who are poor.
I am a Democrat because we know that today's battle is about the future versus the past - and it's time to put aside yesterday's battles of us versus them.
I am a Democrat because we know that criticizing success won't create a single job.
And most of all, I am a Democrat because when my three daughters go out into the world to make their lives, I want them to find a world where there's less hopelessness - less selfishness - and less violence.
I want them to find a world where there is more opportunity - more understanding - and more hope.
That is the mission of this party.
That is what we work for.
That is why we get up every morning.
That is why we're here tonight.
And our work is not done.
posted by Steve at 6:42 PM
4 Comments:
Why didn't he run this time. He would've had my vote!!
What a great speech. With more like this to come, Mark Warner will be in the White House 50 months from this weekend.
Jeremy
I appreciate Gov. Warner's words and am intrigued by him as a potential candidate. I'd like to add a few of my own thoughts on what the Democratic Party has and should be standing for in these uncertain timesand solicit comment.
I am a DLC Democrat (i.e., fairly moderate). It seems to me that the principals that have most animated our party historically are: (1) a fervent belief in the equality of every citizen (“equal opportunity for all, special privileges for none”) and (2) a belief that true “freedom” (the epitome of being an American) is the ability of each citizen to discover, be, believe in and act on what that citizen inherently is, in each case, regardless of race, creed, socio-economic status, religion (or lack thereof), sexual preference, etc. The great openness of these concepts have led Democrats (perhaps too intellectually and not concretely enough) to seek to have a government (institutions constituted by “we the people”) that is inclusive of all and respectful of the needs of all. Perhaps we got muddled along the way, and the Republicans have used this opportunity to their advantage.
Contrast our view with that of the Republicans. They have, for the last 25 years (and very successfully), been the masters of the “wedge issues” -- targeted, easy to understand and often inflamatory issues that are cloaked in the garb of “values” but are utilized (even if sincerely felt) to strategically to divide and conquer the electorate. In the old days, the Republicans were the party of the rich and powerful, and divided away the poor, the immigrant or the minority. These days, it’s those with “moral values” versus those who are “secular intellectuals” (and by implication, without values). This view plays to worst in all Americans and, as evidenced by the last two general elections, is no less than destructive to our people.
So where do we as Democrats go from here? Simply this -- we need to convey that we are the party of the truest of true “American values” -- equal opportunity and respect for all (that means everyone), freedom of thought and speech, freedom of religion, freedom of commerce and innovation and, overlapping it all, government institutions that are endowed by their creators (us!) to actively, constructively and progressively protect these freedoms.
Now this does NOT mean that we need to have “big government” and go and spend a lot of money (there is room in this model for plenty of “fiscal conservatism”). But we must believe and articulate that it is only with equality and true freedom that we can (each of us and all of us as a nation) reach our highest potentials and fulfill our American dreams. That’s what government is about and that is why governing from the center (the DLC way) has got to be the best way -- it best accommodates the most basic, common needs and desires of all Americans. It will also, I believe, marginalize the efficacy of wedge issues.
I’ll leave it to the professionals to mold these sincerely felt and offered views into a legislative agenda, but I think this is where we as Democrats should stand. Thank you for hearing me out. I'd appreciate any thoughts.
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