A message to rural America
Why is it so hard to be a Democrat in a rural county? Why are Democrats you know afraid to even say they’re Democrats? Why are you a Democrat?
Being a Democrat is about wanting to make things better, your community, your state, and your nation. Our identity is what we believe. Our identity is about who we are, why we got into this in first place.
Jim Purvis, the author and founder of Democrats 101, explains that "Our identity is powerful because it’s American. Our core beliefs come straight from the Declaration of Independence.
But, that powerful identity doesn’t exist until we make it exist. That, is why the Democratic Creed exists. That is why the specific definitions of Freedom, Justice, and Opportunity exist. That is why the book, Democrats 101, was written. To take back our identity. To make Democrats proud again.
We have a story
We have a story that begins with with FDR, a mythical figure who was actually a very real human being, a man crippled in the prime of his life, yet who found the courage to abandon the precepts of his wealthy upbringing and work for the common good. His story is our story as Democrats: leading this nation out of a national catastrophe, then through a World War, and in the process creating the vision of a government that works for the people. That story that led to Social Security and workers rights and an end to child labor, then on to Medicaid and Medicare and voting rights and every other bit of social progress inspired by his vision. FDR’s story is indeed our story, even today, the endless struggle to keep that vision of a government of and for the people alive, and to make it work. FDR did nothing less than found our party and lay the emotional foundations for the idea of a truly just society.