Why Vote Democratic?

The Democratic Party is the party that fights for working families, not special interests. Throughout its history, the Democratic Party has been a leader in advancing the goals of this nation.

Examples of this are:

• Social Security and Medicare
• Family & Medical Leave
• Federal Aid for Education
• The New Deal
• Women's Suffrage
• Minimum Wage Acts
• Eight Hour Work Days
• The Voting Rights Act
• The Civil Rights Act
• Landing a Man on the Moon
• Environmental Protection

Oregon Democrats were often among the first to champion these issues. Our state has a long tradition of tolerance and compassion, which is being eroded by opposition fear tactics, sectarian politics and hate-based legislation. The Oregon Democratic Party is the party that opposes these tactics, and demands equal treatment under the law for everyone, regardless of party affiliation, religious creed, economic status or sexual orientation.

We're not new to this, with the exception of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, every single progressive piece of national legislation enacted into law has been a result of the Democratic Party. This means that the more Democrats we elect to local, state and national level office, the greater the chance of moving this nation forward.

As we prepare to move into the next millennium we must have progressive leaders that will fight for working families. This is the core of what the Democratic Party & Democratic candidates represent. Some better known Democrats have said it this way:

"America was a great force in the world, with immense power and prestige, long before we became a great military power. That power has come to us and we cannot renounce it, but neither can we afford to forget that the real constructive force in the world comes not from bombs but from imaginative ideas, warm sympathies, and a generous spirit."

-- Senator Robert F. Kennedy, April 24, 1968

"Find out just what the people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress."

-- Frederick Douglass

"It is a tragic mix-up when the United States spends $500,000 for every enemy soldier killed, and only $53 annually on the victims of poverty."

-- Martin Luther King, Jr., May 15, 1967

"Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't."

-- Eleanor Roosevelt

"Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind."

-- John F. Kennedy, Sept. 25, 1961

These are just a few of the great Democratic leaders that have served our country in the two centuries since the founding of this nation. Across the years, many others have said many great things about why we should think progressively, why the Democratic agenda most benefits the common person, and why we all should vote for Democratic candidates and progressive measures. However, one prominent White House Republican may have given us the number one reason to vote Democratic when he made the following statement:

"As people do better, they start voting like Republicans... unless they have too much education and vote Democratic, which proves there can be too much of a good thing."

-- Karl Rove, Bush political guru

We could not have said it better ourselves.

In 2006, we Oregonians face one of the most important mid-term elections in decades.  We have the opportunity to claim both houses of the state legislature for the Democratic majority.  If we can achieve this goal, we will be able to restore school funding, provide appropriate resources for public safety, rebuild fractured infrastructure and repeal some of the draconian tax laws that have crippled our state in so many ways.

There are three things you can do right now to help in our efforts to TAKE BACK OREGON!

1. Make a financial contribution to the effort.
2. Volunteer three hours of your time per month to a campaign.
3. Be sure to register and VOTE!