President's Message -- Spread the Word: This Is a Crucial Election

Crucial on every level: federal, state, and local. You all know this. The other day, a good friend and loyal Democrat here in San Diego County said to me she thought Schwarzenegger was looking pretty good. "Give me a reason why I shouldn't vote for him" she challenged. It raised every fear in me that many reasonable people, including some Democrats and middle-of-the-road unaffiliated voters, are probably leaning this way.

I gave her two reasons. First, state-by-state our democratic form of government is threatened by the arrogant and divisive lust for power of an extreme-right GOP. Even more to the point, the GOP’s monumental incompetence has put the country in great peril: the Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina, inadequate Prescription Drug legislation, unprecedented Tax Cuts, huge Wartime Deficit, and Presidential Spying Authority that circumvents our Constitution. Bluntly, it is a party incapable of governing in the interest of the common good. Instead, it grossly favors corporate and privileged interests to the detriment of the national welfare. Schwarzenegger is presently the governor of the most powerful state in the Union and also the sixth largest economy in the world. Maintaining him in office only strengthens this intolerable and destructive Republican influence.

Second, Schwarzenegger's chameleon turn toward liberal policy-making could, for the moment, seem reasonable and attractive. But we have only to think back to the distasteful conservative agenda he tried to foist upon us in the costly special elections last June. He cynically attacked nurses and first-responders as representing harmful "special interests." And he tried to suppress their influence by imposing restrictions on the political contributions of their public-service unions. This was a deliberate attack against California's hard-working middle class. Do not be deceived. The governor is not miraculously transformed into a kinder and gentler moderate Republican!

My good friend said, at last, that she was entirely convinced by these arguments and that she would vote for Phil Angelides. My plea is that you muster these and all the other good arguments you can. Tell your family members, tell your friends, tell the folks in the street. There’s plenty of fodder, a litany of GOP incompetence and abuse. For starters, all you have to do is advertise the short list of glaring names, the lurid likes of Randall Cunningham, Tom DeLay, Jack Abramoff, and Robert Ney. And now we have the sad spectacle of Mark Foley. But however tempting the bait, the GOP negatives are not, I repeat not, the election clincher for Democrats. The cheap Republican spin out there is that Democrats have no plan. Nonsense! Don't let them get away with this ploy!

Proclaim our positive Democratic policies and plans. Our values are those of social and economic justice for the greater good. We stand for diplomacy and leadership over reckless militarism, for national unity by responsible governance, as opposed to the divisive grab for absolute power. Important Democratic policies stem from these values: support for a higher minimum wage; a national healthcare plan that covers all citizens; an equitable and robustly funded system of public education; a constructive and cooperative diplomatic strategy; an intelligent and consultative tradition of military planning and implementation; and a repudiation of moralistic legislation that attempts to interfere in our personal lives—our right to privacy. With a Democratic Congress in power, we will enact these policies into carefully planned laws.

Republicans speciously attack Democratic social policy as a form of "socialism." Don’t be intimidated by this petty misrepresentation. Truth be told, in the absence of any iota of social or economic justice of their own, hard-line Republicans are among our most "unsocialized" citizens. They should get a life.

So what's the Democratic plan for Iraq, you ask? In the absence of any coherent Republican "plan" beyond "react and adjust," it is clearly time to put a party in charge that can rationally analyze the current military and human disaster created by Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld. We need a new government in Washington that will work out appropriate international solutions leading to a more effective redeployment of our resources against terrorism. Democrats, in their wisdom, will have to build a plan out of the impossible rubble of Bush’s ignorance and narrow ideology. We need to reposition the country to ably confront the global threats which actually exist, not the fantasies and deceptions the current administration would have us believe. Only then will we be more secure.

Here are some of the important candidates who represent Democratic values and policies: Phil Angelides for governor, Debra Bowen for Secretary of State, Jeeni Criscenzo for Congress, Francine Busby for Congress, Roxana Folescu for State Assembly, George McNeil for Oceanside City Council, Rod Shelton for Superior Court Judge, Cody Campbell for Vista School Board, Judy Stratton for Mira Costa College Board of Trustees.

By now you know them well. They have turned their lives upside down to run for office and fight for the values and policies we believe in. Most of them have come to DEMCCO meetings and events to tell you what they stand for and to answer your questions. Many of them will be at our meeting on October 28th, the last meeting before the election. Contribute to their campaigns, ring doorbells on their behalf, get out the vote for them, and make sure you go out and vote for them on November 7th.