It's not easy being a Democrat. [View All]

[nashville_brook]

Democrats, unlike Republicans, have the burden and the honor of representing The People of the country. As such, we're a multi-faceted group with a spectrum of interests reflecting the amazing quilt of Americans who work hard, try to provide for their families and hope for a better future for our children.

We're women and men. Gay and straight. Young and old.

Hispanic, Anglo, African-American, Asian-American. From European roots. Christian, Muslim, Atheist, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish.

We're poor and middle class. Some are more privileged. Some come from nothing. Some are homeless. Some are unemployed.

Some of us belong to Unions. Some work in professional services. Some in medical fields. Some are artists.

Some are mothers. Some are childless. Some are disabled. Some speak english as a second language. Some speak english as a fifth or sixth language.

Some of us live in densely populated cities. Some of us live on farms. Some on the coast.

We're the every-changing fabric of this country and we're all struggling.

Contrast this with the Republican party. They only have to represent one group: the corporate class. Every other interest comes after that, because according to the free market fundamentalists, laissez-faire economic policy is all that's needed to solve all economic and social problems.

As Democrats, we have to WORK to keep the interests of all our people on the table because we don't believe that the magic hand of the free market will solve any of our problems. And we don't have lobbyists or giant public relations budgets to get a seat at the table.

When our interests are being forgotten, or disparaged, or ignored, we speak up because unlike Republicans we're a party of The People, and that's messy. There will be arguments. There will be strategies. There will be discussion and there will be people whose voices are being silenced. As Democrats, it's our job to lift up those people up so they too can be heard.

It would be so much easier if we were monocultural, with one set of interests that could be focused like a laser beam on the electoral game. But that's just not who we are. When we go to the table, we have to bring everyone with us. We don't have the luxury of picking and choosing whose interests can be represented. We stand for the whole mess of us -- or we fall for the lies of the few with the loudest, angriest slogans.

There's no "with us or against us" here. It's just us. It's really, just up to us.