Guest Blogger, Bobbie Walton, is a member of the Genesee County Democratic Party & the Democratic Women’s Caucus, political activist, & progressive.
As a Democrat I am in the middle of the battle to bring sanity and good government to my state and my country. It seems sanity will never return. No matter how positive I try to be, turmoil and frustration continue as this phase of the public and official oversight of the Trump administration stirs up more anger and more fear. Anger and fear overlay so much of our public life since Trump announced for office. Anger and fear divide us.
Now, as we struggle to force the release of the full report of the Mueller investigation these influences get stronger and push harder. We Democrats are being pushed where we don’t want to go. I believe we need to take a deep breath and decide how we stand together, and how we respond to accusations and challenges as Democrats.
What I hear, and what I believe to be true, is the growing importance of how we Democrats talk to each other and to our voters. I know we want to open conversations and open minds, not close them. This is vital to our success. We must carry the best messages and inspire the largest group of voters since our victories in 2018.
With that as a focus, I imagine how I will talk to someone when I knock on a door, the door is opened and I begin my conversation with a voter. How will I start and what will I say? I will say something like this: “Hi, I am Bobbie Walton and I want to spend a few minutes telling you why I am knocking on your door today. If you have the time, please bear with me. I am a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother of wonderful human beings whom I love very much. I am working to help them realize what good government is. Good government is the only way we can survive together and save all that we have built together. What does good government mean to you?” That is how I will introduce myself and my reason for being on their doorstep. Next, I will carry with me a single page of information which I will leave with the voter, giving very specific goals for our Democratic party candidates and our plans to bring good governing. I will encourage every voter to work with us.
We know all the things the Trump administration has done to take good government from us. It should not be a huge task to list them and identify what we Democrats will do to correct these horrors. The most important things Democrats will do — and have done — is make economic growth, employment
opportunities, health care and living conditions better for people. Good government brings with it all of these.
One of my personal goals is to improve our system of justice. We cannot afford a system that wastes people. My party knows that every youngster removed from our society is an opportunity we have wasted. We know that every person who ends up in prison is a person removed as a contributor to our economy. Furthermore, we cannot afford a system where people are not able to help us govern better. We need every voter, every youngster learning to govern, every mind working to solve our common problems. We need every one of us.
As a Democrat, this is what I believe is important about my party and this is what I will share. My party works to educate our people, nurture our children and grow an economy that works for everyone. My party works to save our Constitution. My party works to save our planet. My party works to protect the dignity of every human being. That is why I am a Democrat. That is why it matters.
