Address by Chairman Cliff Wilson to Dem. County Convention 2-14-2006

There are those who would have the Democratic Party  be more like the Republican Party -- look like it , think like and talk like it.  They say we need to do this to win elections.  I reject that position.  Four times in succession we  have carried Delaware County for President (as well as Pennsylvania). John Kerry didn’t win 58% of our county’s votes by imitating Republicans.  This country - this state and this county do not need another Republican party we already have one too many. 

I have served as chairman of this party for almost twelve years.  Whether I speak for this party for four more months or four more years I cannot and I will not change the underlying philosophy upon which I have based my conduct as county leader. That this Democratic Party must remain true to its  populist, progressive and liberal traditions -- and I use all three words.

We are the most populist, progressive and liberal of the 67 Pennsylvania county parties bar none.

We support the Bill of Rights and we support the right of all individuals to think what they wish, practice or not practice what religion they wish, live their life as they wish, read what they wish and discuss things on the telephone as they wish -- all without the overarching presence of Big Brother Bush and the neo-con Republicans.

Ben Franklin founded the first Free Library in America - he also helped write the Constitution of the US.  And he didn’t intend for a federal government to keep track of the books you borrowed from that Library. The so-called Patriot Act needs to be repealed in the name of true Patriotism.

The War in Iraq was a mistake; remains a mistake and we should bring the American soldiers home now.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 should be renewed and the restrictions adopted in the so-called Help America Vote Act should be repealed.

The Electoral College should be abolished so that the American President is elected by the American People and red states and blue states become American states.

Workers have a right to organize and strike; women have a right to equal pay for equal work; no one should be outside a hospital who needs the services that can be provided inside; and no senior citizen should have to face their twilight years without a health insurance plan they can understand and the prescription medicine they need; no child should be denied the level and degree of education their mind can absorb -- and the dream that any American child can reach the heights his or her abilities can take them to must be renewed.

This Democratic Party must be, as it has been so many times in our nation’s history the party of Reform.  Here in Pennsylvania we need a constitutional convention.  Term limits and a small unicameral legislature are not radical ideas in response to a midnight pay raise - they were contained in the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 crafted by Benjamin Franklin. We need initiative and referendum so the people can control their government and we need to reign in the arrogance and greed of our elected officials, whether they’re in Washington, Harrisburg or Media.

We need public financing of elections and restrictions on the contributions of special interest money so the people rule not the PAC’s and the lawyer/lobbyists.

We’ve built a Democratic Party in this county that can garner the votes for liberal and progressive state and national candidates. We can win county and local elections when we nominate the candidates that have the message and the energy to deliver it.

Now we have to prove to the voters we have the right to govern and we have to give people a reason why they should choose us to govern. And this past week Paul Scoles and Bryan Lentz and Peter Hickok have shown Democrats and voters that we are a party that is responsible and reasonable in its politics and that we are able to unite and put aside personal political quests and agendas for the good of all the voters.

We are united now - behind ideals and candidates. We will re-elect Ed Rendell Governor of this state. We will retire Senator Santorum. We will replace Curt Weldon in the House of Representatives with former Admiral Joe Sestak. And to that delegation of Republicans who have for too long misrepresented us in the state legislature we say in the words of Oliver Cromwell “You have sat too long for any good you have been doing - in the name of the people GO”.

The voters are supporting Democratic candidates because we in the Delaware County Democratic Party stand for the things they truly believe in and that will improve the quality of life for all residents of our county.

Its the message that built this nation - it’s the message that fueled our Revolution. That America is a people’s country. That the people rule. That out of many we became one. One America. Call it a tired refrain from the sixties if you wish or recognize it as the Mantra of that One America: Young and Old , Rich and Poor, White and Black,  Jew and Gentile, Male and Female, Straight and Gay,  One America.

 

Copyright 2006 Delaware County Democrats