The one message voters are sending with the unprecedented upsurge in the primary turnouts is that they are determined to turn the page on 35 years of ultra-right control of their destinies.
They want a president and a Congress that is on their side in their struggles for the American dream: decent jobs, income, housing, health care, education and retirement security. They are more than willing to work hard for these things, and in return all they want from the government of the country they love is the representation they need to make sure this dream — the fruit of their labors — is realized.
A second message coming through is that no matter how hard the Republicans, their friends in the media, or others try to slice, dice and divide people into demographic groups inalterably opposed to one another, the vast majority in the mosaic that makes up this country are united in their determination to achieve that American dream. Given the chance, they will work together to help each other get there.
Recently, a young Latina batter on a women’s baseball team hit a ball out of the park but tore leg and arm ligaments in the process. Two members of the opposing team, one white and the other Black, carried her in their arms around all the bases so she could touch her foot onto each of them and win the game. This is how all working people like to behave when they are not sliced, diced and divided against one another.
Barack Obama said May 6, when he won North Carolina, that he didn’t believe all the talk about his supporters not being willing to support Hillary Clinton if she were the nominee. Likewise, he said he did not believe all the talk about her supporters not being willing to support him if he, as expected, wins the Democratic nomination. He noted that unity is a prerequisite for the change needed in this country.
With more leaders talking like that and more people acting like the women on the baseball team, the days of the ultra-right’s control over our politics surely will be numbered.
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