It is going to take a lot of good Republicans to fix the Democratic Party.
It is why I have distanced myself from my father's party and the one I have supported with eager enthusiasm for all of the years I have been paying attention to politics. It is the reason so many like-minded friends and colleagues of mine from journalism, broadcasting and law enforcement have also abandoned it.
Trust in the Democratic Party has been replaced by suspicion; and that has brought about a need to hang on every word they say in what becomes a tangled and confusing effort to discover where the lies and deceit begin, or if there is even a hint of truth in what these new party bosses want their constituents to believe.
When I was more involved in the process of how we choose candidates for public office than I have been in recent years I kept a closed mind even when the air around me was so repugnant with corruption that I felt like shucking everything and shouting to anyone who might care that all of us are being duped by the very people we elect and pay salaries to. I did that because I believed I needed to in order to remain gainfully employed and in positions to change what needed to be changed.
The top of the Democratic Party has described what it refers to as "a good Democrat" as someone that follows their plans to the letter and endorses everything they want; that translates to being completely loyal with no room for questions or dissension even when there is an obvious air of outright shady dealings and probable corruption. It is in dire need of a shepherd that truly cares about what is best for its entire flock, not one that is paid inflated salaries to feed and shelter only its healthiest sheep.
Sadly, that is my best effort to describe Democrat supporters now; a herd of sheep too scared to think for themselves or to rise above the stench of dirty politics and challenge what they surely must know they should. It is all around us now; in the news and on display for anyone that is paying attention; kickbacks and favors for "good Democrats" that only need to do what they are told and in the time-table that is engineered by fund raisers and contributors. Our office holders in the Democratic party have all been good soldiers that waited their turn to be appointed to public positions or allowed in the game at all.
So where can the rest of us turn to break up their political monopolies and see that everyone gets a fair shake in an unfair climate of greed and deceit? The answer became painfully obvious to me a few years ago when I saw what was happening within our local Democratic Party. I had the audacity to study the process of gaining favor with them by asking what it would take to get on the ballot for a seat on Columbus City Council. The rebuke came swiftly when I was told that it would be in my best interest to let the small committee that decides who is allowed in to make that decision for me. It was explained that I would need to introduce myself to it and prove that I had the goods (money) to contribute to other candidates that have already been chosen.
Walking the streets of Columbus with petitions for signatures was a real eye-opener for me! 1000 valid signatures from registered voters is a hefty sum when one tries to go it alone and I was warned of the futility in such an effort even if I managed to gather what was needed. In a few words it was explained to me that only endorsed candidates have any hope of actually winning an election in Columbus because the Democratic Party's bank account is too fat to defeat. Still I tried and in the end I fell a few hundred signatures short but I didn't feel defeated nor rejected. It was a halfhearted effort to begin with; no more than a personal study in the problems and the principles of grassroots democracy.
I gained more than I lost by trying because it was a learning curve that I should have taken years ago when I first suspected that Democrats really didn't care as much about what is right for everyone as they professed. When I supported and cast my first votes for African American Democratic candidates I never gave much thought to the color of their skin because I never looked at people or tried to judge them by that. I voted for Columbus' first black mayor and America's first black President only seeing Democrats that I believed really wanted to do good things for everyone. But as the years ticked by I saw that their skin could have been aqua and that their agenda really was was more self serving than it ever was about doing what was best for any community outside of their own well-to-do circles and closed societies.
I suspect, no, make that hope that any African American voter that also supported either one of these guys has seen that skin-color can be a disguise when it comes to doing what is best for them also. If we can all be honest about this I think we can find common ground and know that neither man has done much for people in need even though both have kept promises to endorse and appoint other African Americans to key positions. But who? Not African Americans that know the struggles of poverty and hard times; they have all been people of color that were already living very well and ones that weren't rising above much more than their own law degree; fellow country club members that have already secured their spot in the best neighborhoods, surrounded by the finer things we all eventually hope to have. Not even true advocates for the hungry or homeless that they only give political lip service to.
The black appointees they have hand-picked do what they are told and they are allowed to support only what they are told to endorse. The argument can be easily made that no one in City Hall has any interest in the failed neighborhoods they are paid to fix, nor in any of the people that cannot receive a decent education to lift themselves from their struggles. The public school system was broken before the promises were made to fix it and now it is in shambles. But still, the the poor or the barely making it continue to be duped into supporting Democrats just as they have for more than a century, but they are still poor while the wealthy Democrats continue to get more powerful and gain riches at their expense.
Poverty knows no color and all of it has something in common; most of it is cyclical and often hopeless. Poverty begets poverty and those less fortunate and less privileged are always told that Democrats have the best plans to change it for the better but the list of changes almost always goes unfinished, only more talk and what proves to be empty promises. This cycle continues because those we support and place our faith in must be "good Democrats" before they are allowed to stand at the podiums and make those promises they know they cannot keep. With each new appointment of office and with every election they win it is only a different face but wearing a similar pin-striped suit sold to them or given to them by their puppeteers.
"Good Democrats" that claim they are for the working man or woman cannot afford to be. Think about it; they need the strength of others with huge bank rolls to get elected and stay in office so they are willing to serve them, not you or me! The choice belongs to whoever pays the freight when it comes to building something or creating anything. We have been brainwashed to believe that it is the Republicans who control all of the money but if that is true how can anyone explain liberal media bias that keeps getting Democrats elected? Where does all of that money really come from? All I can hope for is that there is enough resources in Republican coffers to at least compete with the Democratic money machines. That may be our only chance to get anything back from our investment of hard work and trust.
There is a stark difference between "good Democrats" and those that still believe in Democratic values. I am in the latter fold and I have stopped having a closed mind about politics and what the party bosses say is really best for us all. I have crossed the line in the sand to listen to the other side and redistribute my trust to the ones that have been trying to tell us all along that all we need to do is pay attention and be willing to admit the obvious. This 21st Century Democratic Party is fortified with stacks of money placed there by those that intend to not only keep it but distribute it to only those so-called "good Democrats" who are willing to keep a good thing going for them.
Pay attention to their endorsements and their appointments because trusting what they say and waiting to see where their loyalty is will probably leave you very disappointed. The sad truth is that it is going to take a lot of good Republicans to help the best Democrats fix what is broken. Keep an open mind and remember, it is one or the other because history has shown if you are unsatisfied in the leaders you helped get elected (on either side) nothing changes until you give up on them, listen to the other side and give them a shot. It has become inherently clear to many of us that true Democratic values are now residing within the Republican Party so maybe it is time to accept what good Republicans are offering if we have any hope of moving forward and away from the stench of rampant political corruption.
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