Truman on the GOP and Democrats: He was right then and his words ring true today

Ardent15

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Sun Sep-20-09 12:43 AM
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Truman on the GOP and Democrats: He was right then and his words ring true today

Edited on Sun Sep-20-09 12:45 AM by Ardent15

"You can always count on the Republicans, in an election year, to remind the people of what the Republican Party really stands for. You can always count on them to make it perfectly clear before the campaign is over that the Republican Party is the party of big business, and that they would like to turn the country back to the big corporations and the big bankers in New York to run it as they see fit."

"The main body of the Republican leaders are doing just what they do every election year. They are making it good and plain to the American people that so far as domestic policies are concerned, the Republican Party is the party of reaction and the party of special privilege...."

"The first rule in my book is that we have to stick by the liberal principles of the Democratic Party. We are not going to get anywhere by trimming or appeasing. And we don't need to try it."

"I've seen it happen time after time. When the Democratic candidate allows himself to be put on the defensive and starts apologizing for the New Deal and the fair Deal, and says he really doesn't believe in them, he is sure to lose. The people don't want a phony Democrat. If it's a choice between a genuine Republican, and a Republican in Democratic clothing, the people will choose the genuine article, every time; that is, they will take a Republican before they will a phony Democrat, and I don't want any phony Democratic candidates in this campaign.

But when a Democratic candidate goes out and explains what the New Deal and fair Deal really are -- when he stands up like a man and puts the issues before the people -- then Democrats can win, even in places where they have never won before. It has been proven time and again."

"The rights and the welfare of millions of Americans are involved in the pledges made in the Democratic platform.... And those rights and interests must not be betrayed.

These are some of the principles for which the Democratic Party stands.... We stand for better education, better health, greater opportunities for all. We stand for fair play and decency, for freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and the cherished principle that a man is innocent until he is proven guilty.

Taken together, these principles are the articles of the liberal faith. I am sure that the liberal faith is the political faith of the great majority of Americans. It sometimes happens that circumstances of time and place combine to deny its expression. But the faith is there, and the reactionaries can never hope to have any but temporary advantage in this country."

Are we going to ignore Truman's words of wisdom, that people will chose a Republican over a DINO everytime? We simply can't. Our republic is at stake.