The message of We Still Hold These Truths is even more urgent now than when it was written in 2004. Goaded by Republican demagoguery and caught in an economic malaise and the pandemic, a fierce anger arose among much of the public against the Democrat's progressive agenda, encouraging Republicans in Congress and state legislatures to destroy much of the progressive framework enacted by government during the past 100 years and attack the process of democracy that has been America's hallmark.
What right-wing pundits started, Donald Trump honed to perfection in the 2016 campaign and his presidency: the use of demagoguery and the big lie. With these tools, Trump and the pundits have roused people who were angry and fearful to a fever pitch. And they will believe as fact anything that Trump and his allies tell them.
The issue is no longer the traditional conservative/liberal divide, big versus small government, high versus low taxes. Trump and his allies seek to fundamentally alter the balance that our nation has historically struck between private rights, the public good, and government. At risk are America's middle class, the poor, and the environment.
But that's not the worst of it. I did not foresee, even when I wrote the Foreword to the 2018 edition, the depth to which Trump and his allies would set American against American and that they would threaten the very process of democracy - free elections.
Democrats must understand that the world as the middle class knew it since WWII has slowly been turned upside down over the past 50 years. Small wonder they are scared, angry, and alienated. Democrats must counter this climate of fear and anger by communicating policies to counter this trend more effectively, in a way the average voter gets; it is we who are the party of the people. And by labeling the Republicans for what they are ... hypocrites masquerading as the party of the people.
Those policies need to clearly establish that Democrats are not just for government of the people and by the people, but for the people. Democrats need to confront the labels of anti-family and anti-American-values that the Republicans have successfully applied to them by showing that their policies, be it policies that support the family or be it the right to an abortion or support for the LBGTQ community, flow from a respect for all Americans, including the traditional white middle class, as called for in the Declaration of Independence. It must be clear that the white middle class is respected and is an important part of our vision for a stronger future America.
