Time to Roll Up Our Sleeves
Vice President Kamala Harris
“While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign—the fight: the fight for freedom, for opportunity, for fairness, and the dignity of all people.” - Vice President Kamala Harris concession speech
From Lucy Owens, Chair, Anderson County Democratic Party:
When we lose an election, we accept the results. We will not be turning to violence. We will turn to organizing. We will not turn to or be stopped by threats and intimidation; we will not let the pure hatred in the hearts of the other side leech into our own. But don’t assume that means we won’t fight and resist. We know our laws, we know our constitution, we know our rights, and most importantly we know how human beings should be treated and we will not let those foundations of our country be forgotten over the next four years.
“This is not the time to throw up our hands, it’s time to roll up our sleeves.”
We have a lot of work to do now. We had hoped it would be a joyful work, but now we know it will be a somber and serious work. But we can’t let our joy be lost. We must continue to find the joy in helping our community.
We must stay involved in the community, we must be seen and heard in all of the spaces and the rooms of our community. We must not be scared and hide over these next four years. I know your instincts may be to hide and to stay quiet and to get through this. And it’s understandable. This is scary. But that’s exactly how we lose this county over the next four years, that is how we end up with the school and library boards we have now.
For the moment our focus will be on civic training, attending and raising issues at every single council and board in the county and helping our community through Democrats Care. And let’s not forget the joy. We will be continuing “Drinking Liberally” so we can be together socially every month with the only topic to be lighthearted together and to show the other side that we are simply more fun to be around.
We must find the reason only 47% of Americans identify with the party that looks out for the rights of 100% of Americans. The results are clear. Clinging to the middle, trying to appeal to Republicans, alienates true liberals and young people. We are not going to change the mind of our Trump neighbor. And if we did, it would be by doing our work without worrying about his opinions; it would be the slow realization that his life and the lives of his children and grandchildren improve when Democratic principles prevail.
We must reach and activate new voters and nonvoters. We lose elections because not all liberals or progressives are Democrats. We fight amongst ourselves while letting the other team unify and run away with it, time and time again.
It is time to unify, as Democrats, for the future of our country.
