Being A Democrat Today

I have always been a Democrat. If my definition of the word Democrat were in the dictionary, it would simply say “The People”.

I remember being in my 5th grade class at Sunset Elementary school in La Puente California when, one day in 1963, our School Principal, Mr. Hackleman, came into the room. He was sort of crying. He told us that our President, John F. Kennedy (JFK), had been mortally wounded in Dallas Texas. He sent us home.

As the next few years went by, we were all taught about the greatness of John F. Kennedy and how he had a dream for America where we would all be free and happy, where all Americans would enjoy the fullness of liberty promised to us by our U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. He talked about a strong America, second to none; whose primary goal in the world was peace, freedom and prosperity. He welcomed all countries to join in the vision for a free and sharing world and warned those who would seek to hurt America, or her friends, that although our strength was meant for good, we would defend our free way of life and our friends in the world.

I was taught that John F. Kennedy wanted the whole world to come together. He said we needed to understand that we were all more alike than not, and we should concentrate on those likenesses and help each other. He also thought that brutal communist empires would someday be vanquished through peaceful means and by the yearnings of their citizens to be free. He was right.

John F. Kennedy, to a ten year old boy in the 1960s, was like superman. He even liked animals. I wanted to be like him when I was ten. I still do.

“An individual can make a difference, but everyone should try”. JFK said that and I believe it. I have taught that to my sons and daughters.

Martin Luther King, another Democrat, was fighting for our freedom at the very same time JFK was President. They killed him too. Bobby Kennedy took up the mantle of liberty, freedom and civil rights. They killed him too.

In my adult life I have gauged just about every political event, that I have taken note of, on what I believe JFK would have been doing or how he would have reacted, had he been President. I am sure my imagination has actually made JFK bigger than life in my mind. He was probably more of a regular guy than a super human guy, but my image of him has given me a gauge in my life, a compass that could, at least, point the way. I believe it has served me well.

I, in a manner of speaking, became a Democrat when I was in the fifth grade.

I very much admired Jimmy Carter when he was President. I think it was the way he came to office. Eight months prior to his becoming President, I did not even know his name. Only in America can a person of humble beginnings grow up to become the President of The United States. The initial euphoria of his victory inspired me. In 1974, as a young Marine Corps Sergeant, I remember looking at my beautiful wife and saying, “One day, I will be a United States Congressman from North Carolina”. The dream still exists in my mind and in my heart. The American dream is a real and living thing that evolves, even as our Democracy is growing and evolving. The Constitution and Bill of Rights are relevant to our democracy today. These documents are solely responsible for the America that we live in today and will be the reason we grow in liberty and freedom still into the future. Democrats make up the great party that is the direct result of the power entrusted to the people.

The Constitution has become an inconvenient document for the Republican agenda. It tends to get in the way of corporate dominance of our nation and ethical behavior of our elected representatives and leaders. The Constitution’s presence in authority and law, superior to government, is the only thing preventing the Republican agenda from fully controlling every aspect of American life and obliterating our personal freedoms and liberties.

Since our 9/11 tragedy, the Republican Party has made every effort to restrict personal freedoms and liberties in the name of “security”. They seized the opportunity the tragedy presented and used it as a tool to instill fear and insecurity in the American mindset in a real and ominous effort to secure an eternal hold onto our personal and professional lives. They have failed.

I learned the substance of the Constitution and Bill of Rights because I became interested in a Democratic leader: JFK. He changed my life. His life, and death, caused me to consider my own life and the contributions to mankind I could affect, however big or small. As a Democrat, I have the greatest opportunity to do just that.

Greater liberty will manifest greater strength. That greater liberty will be founded and defended by the Democratic Party.

The Democratic Party is not perfect. Great issue debates are taking place within our own party, as they should. I am here to add my voice and my opinions to those debates. I am raising my hand as one willing to serve, who will try to make a positive difference for America and for the Democratic Party. In the end, it is, I hope, “We the People” who will benefit the most from my life as an American, as a Christian, as a North Carolinian, as a servant and as a life-long member of the Democratic Party.

About The Author

Marshall is a 2008 Democratic Candidate for Congress in NC-03.
http://www.marshalladame4congress2008.com