Shades of Blue: Why Am I A Democrat?
Article in the Nogales International
September, 2006
John Michael
Raul Romero’s thoughtful letter to the editor "Oh, them Democrats" (August 4) set me thinking. Why did I change from a Republican to a Democrat 12 years ago? Why now – with no real prior history s an activist – am I doing everything I can to elect Democrats to public office in the state and the nation?
What changed for me 12 years ago was that the Republican Party continued to move to an extreme. Ronald Reagan said so long to trying to balance the budget while maintaining conservative fiscal policies. At the same time the Administration and the Republican Party kept marching away from a society based on opportunity and persisted in denying the sense of social responsibility the better off have toward the less advantaged in a civil society.
Basing electoral success on dividing society is truly leading the nation in the wrong direction. This Administration particularly has a pattern of responding with force - punish first and reason later and use every public issue as an excuse to lower taxes.
I don’t know anyone from either party that actively advocates raising taxes. However, when our state is ranked 48th or 49th in education nationally, why is it more important to lower further an already very low income tax rate than to spend revenue to enable the children of Arizona to earn their own living and make our communities better places?
A more universal question for each of us is whether or not our national government is working effectively. Our government is based on the principle of separation of powers of the legislative, executive and judicial branches. It presumes a tension that keeps each branch in check. That is not the case now. The legislative branch has become a place where senators and representatives hope the president will volunteer to obey the laws they pass when the mood suits him. We all learned in American history classes that this is certainly not the way our government is supposed to work.
I hear all the time, "The Democrats are just as bad and they would do the same things if they were in power." There is some validity to the argument. But the Democrats are not in power and because of that I will do everything I can do to elect officials to return balance to our State Legislature and Congress. If you agree, you will vote for State Senator Marsha Arzberger; Rep. Manny Alvarez; Pat Fleming, the Democratic Candidate for the second seat in Nogales’ Legislative District; Gov. Janet Napolitano; Attorney General Terry Goddard; Israel Torres, Democratic Candidate for Secretary of State; Ric Boyer and Mark Manoil for the Corporation Commission and, of course, Jim Pederson for the Senate and Raul Grijalva for the House of Representatives.
None of us is perfect and no candidate is perfect. But changing the composition of the State Legislature and Congress may mean a more civil society with real solutions proposed for real problems. That will mean less posturing from the extreme.
