The Fight Goes On
Today is Thursday and it’s raining.
My president is humbled. Democrats across the nation, and especially Pennsylvania, have just endured a thumping on Election Day 2010.
Through the fog of the past six months – campaign events, phone calls, and door knocks – I am starting to think about what we will do over the next few months. Now is no time to run scared or retreat into a comfortable private life. Afterall, just two years ago, the Republican Party appeared to be on life support and WE started ushering a new progressive era.
Things change quickly. With Sen. Pat Toomey, Gov. Tom Corbett, and a GOP controlled General Assembly on the horizon in January, here are a few things for us to fight for:
- Health care defense – This is the law of the land. We must defend it. Get your veto pen ready, President Obama.
Corbett is suing the federal government to overturn the most comprehensive health care reform law, one which will undoubtedly help the middle class. Congressman Gerlach, Majority Leader Boehner, and others want to “repeal and replace” it. However, Nov. 2 was not a repudiation of the health care law, as Ethan Rome wrote in The Huffington Post.
Remember the summer of town hall forums and how freaking annoying the tea baggers were? We need to be just as vociferous and passionate – as well as fact-driven.
- Protecting our environment – Governor-elect Corbett, known in some parts as the natural gas industry’s best friend since Dick Cheney, will try to grease the wheels of this new industry as much as he can. Jobs will be created, which we desperately need. Nevertheless, commerce should never trump the public interest – our water, air, and land.
We all have a few friends who are ultra-passionate about the environment. Learn about the issues. Lobby Congress and Harrisburg lawmakers with our green friends. In short, we must defend and fight for our resources for future generations.
- Public institutions – Medicare and Social Security are two of the most popular American public institutions. And they smack of socialism, don’t they? At every turn with this new Congress, our bedrocks of American civic life – our most cherished institutions – may come under attack.
We will demand that Wall Street keep its hands off Social Security. We Democrats will fight to ensure that public education offers an equal opportunity for all to securing the American dream.
We are the party that believes in effective government; by their very nature, Republicans do not.
Remember what Teddy Kennedy said in 1980 after losing the nomination for president:
“For me, a few hours ago, this campaign came to an end. For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.”
Today, I must clean out our Democratic HQ on Bridge Street in Spring City. Peace to everyone.
Michael Hays, the author of this post, is the communications chair of the Chester County Young Democrats. He is an elected member of the Spring City Borough Council.
I think that the Republicans are certainly misreading their “mandate.” A number of the elections were quite competative and ended with close margins. Toomey beat Sestak by about two points, although greatly outspending him. The Republican base was quite fired up and the Democratic base was not and he only won by a small margin. A loss is a loss and I’m depressed as hell about it, but if we can survive the next two years I expect the pendulum to swing the other way.