Dear Democrats, Be Better

By Annmarie Sorensen

When I think of the Democratic Party, I do not picture appeasement, I don't think that we should settle for anything less than the best, I do not think of groveling, and I most certainly do not think of power-hungry people on the ladder to success stepping on fingers wrapped around rungs beneath them. At least I don't want to think these things.

It's becoming a real fear that Democratic Presidential candidates for the 2020 election might reach across the aisle so far that they let go of some of those on their side.

What I mean by this is that there is a misconception that we need the votes belonging to avid Trump supporters in the Rust Belt. The actual solution to our problem is to continue to push young, old, and non-voters to register, to get to the polls and cast an educated vote.

What we would sacrifice by compromising with those who hate in the Midwest and in rural America is far greater than what we would gain. We would be sacrificing our very integrity.

While 'Democrat' and 'liberal' are not always synonymous, we should try and make it that way. It's true that if Democrats reached across the aisle, they would gain a few votes, but it's also true that they would lose massive amounts of other voters.

We can't push for a color and gender-blind candidate; Issues that face women, the LGBTQ+ community, and People of Color are real and they are affected, usually first, by most policies.

Take Trump's Tax Plan from last year for example. Taxation on the rich was exponentially decreased, so those funds have to be made up elsewhere. It starts small with things like parking tickets and other tedious fines that, if avoided, can turn into jail time and profits off of bail.  But, it's no secret that over policing affects black males disproportionately, so budgets like this can eventually contribute to an increase in the mass incarceration among Men of Color.

Additionally, the GOP trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act and funding for Planned Parenthood will impact the daily lives of millions of women in the United States.

But I digress.

The point is that when the electorate pushes for a non-controversial, white, middle of the road candidate, that's the kind of policy you can expect to get. And you can also expect to lose poor voters, female voters, and voters of color because cookie cutter, white, heterosexual, male candidates aren't for us. They care about their own success, and when they don't, it's likely that all they care about is over-correcting Trump's presidency.

We WILL see these types of candidates, but we can't let Trump and his agenda overshadow and overpower what our party is about; Progressiveness, inclusion, acceptance, empathy, and most importantly integrity. Why sacrifice these things for the support of a few lousy votes from people who don't support these things?

And as a Penn State student, I care about success with honor and so should you.

Be better now, and don’t cut corners because you just want a Democrat in office. That’s what the Republicans did and now look where we are  

"When they go low, we go high."

Michelle Obama