“… 80% of people in this country who share the ideals of our founding, who share the idea that all men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness .. at least 80% of this country shares the same basic values that we do.”

Quick, who said that?

1. Abraham Lincoln

2. Barack Obama

3. Joe Biden

4. Vivek Ramaswamy

Yes! Vivek Ramaswamy (1), the Trump wannabe did. He said it just the other day, and you shouldn’t be surprised. It’s what’s been going on for decades .. decades .. right in front of our noses, the theft of language. We have, in fact, all but helped them do it.

That quote is accurate, of course, he just mixed up the parties. But to his listeners, he didn’t get it wrong at all, he hit the nail on the head. Why? Because it sounded good. It made them feel good. And that’s what happens when messaging has no purpose beyond gaining power.

Freedom, Justice, and Opportunity are what we stand for as Democrats, what we all feel is in our hearts. But we have never written it down. We have never stood up and declared it in simple, unequivocal English that everyone can understand. And we have never gone on to declare it, over and over again, until every American in this nation has started to believe it. That’s the problem. Our sensing it is not enough. That so many of us assume it isn’t, either. These things, these ideas, have to be made public, and they have to dominate.

This is all about emotional identity, everything that’s going on. MAGA’s success, our endless struggle to get 51% of the national vote, the Dobbs decision .. it all goes back to the emotional identity of a political party. The Republicans have excelled at creating theirs, we Democrats have failed miserably at ours.

Now, the very future of our nation is at stake. And that isn’t a political slogan, and this isn’t just about the next election. It’s about all the next elections. It’s about the slow motion cultural, economic, and political revolution that is sweeping every one of us along, faster and faster. It’s about who will shine the light that points out the road ahead. The forces that want to do it with hate and fear and lies? Or will it be the better angels of what we really stand for as Democrats .. fundamental American values and a true vision of the future?

That is why we do have to publicly stand up for those values and that vision, the ones that “80%” of this country really do want to believe in. That is why the Democratic Creed was written, by people from every corner of our party, and that is why the vision of a just society .. as long as it takes was created. For us, for this moment in history.

And that is why you need to take these things up. That is why you need to publicly adopt the Democratic Creed, and make a just society .. as long as it takes a visible part of everything you do. Because if you don’t, they will. What Vivek said, the words he used, should scare the hell out of you.

Here’s another quote to think about:

“We’re at war. This is a political war, a cultural war, and it’s a spiritual war,”

Freedom Caucus Member Andrew Ogles said that, and it isn’t just rhetoric. Behind the scenes, the Republicans have entire hidden organizations, spending hundreds of millions of dollars, dedicated to one thing: building their emotional identity. Its been going on for decades, and it’s why MAGA exists, why a party that should be a permanent minority is continually jousting for control of Congress. It’s why we keep scratching our heads and asking, “why?”.

You are the key to all this. You, the grassroots, the county parties and Indivisibles and clubs that are the true soul of our party. You have to make this happen. Stand up and adopt the Democratic Creed, and be proud of it. Make our vision of a just society .. as long as it takes endlessly visible, endlessly repeated. Take back the initiative and make this about America’s future, and not its past. This change we need isn’t going to be quick and it isn’t going to be easy, but it isn’t going to happen at all if you don’t take the first step.

J.M. Purvis, author and founder of Democrats 101

(1) King, J. (2023, September 25). Ramaswamy rouses Michigan GOP faithful on Mackinac, claims there is “a war in this country”. Michigan Advance. https://michiganadvance.com/2023/09/25/ramaswamy-rouses-michigan-gop-faithful-on-mackinac-claims-there-is-a-war-in-this-country/