I’m running for U.S. Congress in the Texas 10th. Why?
Because my district was gerrymandered by Tom DeLay and Karl Rove, and our current representative does not reflect the mainstream values of Houston, Austin, and all the places in between.
Iraq. Katrina. Abu Ghraib. Walter Reed and Guantánamo, Osama Bin Laden at large. Big Pharma writing Medicare plans while Texas seniors lose prescription drug coverage. Big Insurance writing campaign checks while Texans pay twice the national average to insure their homes. Soaring deficits, a demoralized foreign policy – and a capital city so tied up in partisan knots that they have no idea how to get us back on the right track.
We need a change in Washington. Now.
If the litany of failure during the past six years has taught us anything at all, two of its most important lessons are:
* Modern Republicans can’t govern because they don’t believe in government.
* When government breaks, voters turn to Democrats to fix it.
The Republican administration is discredited, and even some of its most loyal apologists are now trying to scramble back to the middle ground. But voters aren’t fooled. It’s the extremist ideology and partisan zealotry symbolized by fallen leaders like Tom DeLay that put them out of sync with mainstream voters in the first place. So those who enabled DeLay’s enterprise to get themselves elected have no credibility portraying themselves as moderates now.
None of which means that Democrats will automatically inherit the mantle of leadership. Yes, voters are disgusted with Republican corruption, cronyism, and incompetence. But Democrats are going to need to provide a common-sense vision that gives modern expression to the traditional values that made us great.
Those values are worth remembering. They earned us respect around the world and led to creative policies at home that helped build a vibrant middle class. The eight-hour work days, the 40-hour work week, maternity leave, workers’ compensation, and time off to go vote. Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare to help keep working families from slipping into poverty. Civil rights, women’s rights, environmental rights.
Each of those progressive changes happened because earlier generations looked around and said, ‘We need a party of our own that stands for the values we hold dear.’ And they would be astonished today to learn that some in our party are afraid of change. We can’t be afraid of change. We are the party of change!
I believe in the power of effective government to make a positive difference in our lives. Not more government, necessarily, nor even less government. Just better government. So that we can improve national security while taking smart steps to end our involvement in Iraq and guarantee that we don’t have to send our brave men and women back there in a few years because we didn’t do it right this time. So that we can move toward energy independence, reduce the national debt, and help provide a level playing field for middle-class families who work hard and play by the rules. So that we can make quality health care affordable, protect our natural heritage, and stop cutting investments in education even as our global competitors in China and India increase theirs.
Voters are yearning for change, not more of the same, and they are looking to us to propose decisive steps. Let’s embrace that change – to put our principles to work again to get our nation back on the right track. Not to forget our traditions, but to fulfill them and to make it clear what we stand for in terms our friends can’t misunderstand and our opponents can’t misrepresent.
We need change – now. And that’s why I am a Democrat.
www.dangrantforcongress.com