The Declaration of Independence is the soul of our party. It’s all right there at the beginning: all men are created equal … inalienable rights … life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You don’t need anything else, that is the real Democratic Party right there. That is who we are deep down, our touchstone, and we should celebrate it. The Fourth of July is our holiday, the parades, the fireworks, all of it. It’s one big celebration of what we have been striving for ever since FDR became President. We haven’t finished the job, not by a long shot, and the whole thing is under attack right now. But there is a Common Thread, a clearly visible Democratic moral purpose that runs through all of the social and economic progress of the past ninety years, and we should be proud.

This unity between our party and those words in the Declaration underscores what we really stand for. It isn’t policy, and it isn’t even political positions, it’s values. We are all consumed with the day-to-day press of politics, the events in the headlines and the incredible pressure to win elections. It’s easy to forget why we got into this, easy to get lost in policy and squabbling among ourselves. But those things aren’t why we’re Democrats, and Independence Day is a good time to step back and remember. We became Democrats because poverty and injustice troubles us. We became Democrats because we want to make lives better, because we believe that that is the ultimate purpose of both politics and government.

That moral thread is the essence of who we are, all of us, each and every Democrat across this country. That is what unites us, and that is what will sustain us through the very difficult years that lie ahead. We aren’t going anywhere in these troubled times if we don’t remember who we are. We are our values, and our vision … a just society for every American, as long as it takes, and that is why the 4th of July is our holiday. We’re happy to share it, with anyone who embraces our core values, no matter what party they identify with. But above all else, this day is a celebration of who we are as Democrats. Remember that next year. Put up flags, but put up those words from the Declaration as well. Let “1776” and “all men people are created equal” stand tall as well. Make it ours.