Get Back on the Wagon

Some of us are probably still feeling despondent about national election results, maybe even concerned for family, friends, and loved ones about how a potential Trump Administration may treat them. There are lots of unknowns and one of the things I've observed is that Democrats, liberals, progressives, whatever you want to call the coalition that has formed over the last decade to oppose Trump is that those that oppose progress have convinced some of us we don't stand for the issues we've always been supporting. Be it expanding educational opportunities, protecting children, families, and seniors from economic ruin, holding the wealthy and corporations accountable, defending the right of workers to organize, pushing for a better healthcare system, lowering drug prices, capping insulin, raising the minimum wage...I could go on but we both know those policies are for working families.

Image taken by NY DNC Delegate 1984 from my collection

When I need a reminder of the difference between the two parties I always turn to the explanation given by New York Governor Mario Cuomo in 1984. 

 

 It's an old story. It's as old as our history. The difference between Democrats and Republicans has always been measured in courage and confidence. The Republicans -- The Republicans believe that the wagon train will not make it to the frontier unless some of the old, some of the young, some of the weak are left behind by the side of the trail. "The strong" -- "The strong," they tell us, "will inherit the land."

 We Democrats believe in something else. We democrats believe that we can make it all the way with the whole family intact, and we have more than once. Ever since Franklin Roosevelt lifted himself from his wheelchair to lift this nation from its knees -- wagon train after wagon train -- to new frontiers of education, housing, peace; the whole family aboard, constantly reaching out to extend and enlarge that family; lifting them up into the wagon on the way; blacks and Hispanics, and people of every ethnic group, and native Americans -- all those struggling to build their families and claim some small share of America. For nearly 50 years we carried them all to new levels of comfort, and security, and dignity, even affluence. And remember this, some of us in this room today are here only because this nation had that kind of confidence. And it would be wrong to forget that.

 Our wagon has been picking people up along the trail ever since FDR sought to make government more responsive to citizens' needs, sometimes the wagon has gotten a little cramped, and members of our wagon team disagree with each other. This year women, immigrants, and the trans community seemed to be wearing targets on their backs and were the subject of attacks. We heard from other parties that the problems John Q. Citizen faces are partly to blame on some of the people we've picked up on our drive for a better country. 

There are criticisms being laid at Democrats that they didn't offer leadership or vision and that seems like a generic complaint you could say about any candidate or campaign. We could easily say people that win elections offer leadership and vision and people that lose didn't offer leadership and vision.  It is more complicated than that. You don't get over 74 million votes without offering leadership and vision.

What we know happened is that we lost. Did we fail to connect our policies to people's lives? Did we fail to reach out to pockets of the electorate via enough podcasts? We will find answers to those questions and the many others needing answers in the coming months as we choose new leadership for the party. 

For my fellow activists, I ask that you pick yourselves up, rest up over the holidays, and be prepared for the hard organizing work ahead of us. Take care of those in your wagon and don't be afraid to lift others up over the next four years. We've lost elections for every 2024 or 2004, and there is a 2006, 2008, 2018, or 2020 close behind. Remember, Trump's win was clear but it wasn't a mandate. You live to organize for another day.