Republicans are Hard to Define - But I Think This Helps Define Who Democrats Are

I chose to write a new Letter to the Editor for the ABC Newspapers in May.  Calvin Bahr of Oak Grove wrote a complaining letter in April that suggested he couldn't recognize his Republican Party.  As I write below, it is tough to figure out which Republican represents his or her party, but I think it's much easier to find the basic, consensus Democrat/DFL principles...

Calvin Bahr of East Bethel recently lamented where his Republican Party has gone.  I can understand Calvin’s confusion.  Are Republicans a libertarian party (Paul), a traditional pro-business, Chamber-of-Commerce party (Bush), a Christian fundamentalist party (Huckabee, Dr. Carson), a big-money, hate-anything-liberal party (Cruz), an elitist-corporatist party (Fiorino), an anti-union, budget-busting party (Walker), an American exceptionalist, anti-federal government party (Rubio), or a plain old Tea-Party organization (Bachmann, King, et-al)?

 

I am a Democrat from SD 35.  We’re not all peas-in-a-pod either, but many of us hold the same basic Democratic principles.

 

Most Democrats believe in international approaches to solving world problems – we tend not to be isolationists or America First types. 

 

Most Democrats believe in working persons’ rights – the right to unionize and the right to collectively bargain for wages, benefits and terms and conditions of employment. 

 

Most Democrats fear the power of an unchecked corporate America, and I have yet to meet a Democrat who doesn’t want to see the Citizens United decision overturned.

 

Many Democrats love to hunt and fish and own guns.  Fewer of us own guns than Republicans, probably.  However, many Democrats see the dangers in uncontrolled firearm ownership and usage – military-level guns don’t belong in regular citizens’ hands.

 

Some Democrats are pro-life – we’ve had pro-life candidates like Peterson in the 7^th and Perske in the 6^th.  A majority of Democrats are likely pro-choice; abortion is legal in this nation, and when necessary, we support a woman’s right to choose abortion.  Many Democrats do not ground these societal concerns in religious terms like Republicans do.

 

Democrats are very inclusive – far more so than our Republican counterparts.  Democrats have been champions of civil rights, women’s rights, and gender rights for the past 50+ years.

 

Democrats believe government works.  Democrats are derided by some as the “tax and spend” party.  Taxes are the government’s source of revenue.  We spend to protect our communities, protect our environment, provide an infrastructure, provide for our aged and needy, and to provide an educational system that works.  In my view, Democrats generally put community and others ahead of self-interest and profiteering.

 

Wes Volkenant

Andover