2008 Obama Campaign Co-chair Speaks, And It's Worth Hearing

One of my favorite speeches last night at the 2012 Republican National Convention, was given by 2008 Obama campaign co-chair and former Democratic Representative of Alabama Artur Davis.  The reason is simple: as he spoke he gave me confidence that those Americans, like him, that voted for and supported Obama in 2008 do, indeed, recognize that the results in the intervening 4 years have not just been inadequate, but poor. Frightfully poor.  Additionally, he provided insight as to the evolution of the Democratic party and how it moved away from him.

A little over halfway through he spoke directly to the convention viewers that do not often find themselves with those in the RNC. It follows:

To those Democrats and independents whose minds are open to argument: listen closely to the Democratic Party that will gather in Charlotte and ask yourself if you ever hear your voice in the clamor.

Ask yourself if these Democrats still speak for you.

When they say we have a duty to grow government even when we can't afford it, does it sound like compassion to you -- or recklessness?

When you hear the party that glorified Occupy Wall Street blast success; when you hear them minimize the genius of the men and women who make jobs out of nothing, is that what you teach your children about work?

When they tell you America is this unequal place where the powerful trample on the powerless, does that sound like the country your children or your spouse risked their lives for in Iraq or Afghanistan?

Do you even recognize the America they are talking about? And what can we say about a house that doesn't honor the pictures on its walls?

John F. Kennedy asked us what we could do for America. This Democratic Party asks what can government give you. Don't worry about paying the bill, it's on your kids and grandkids.
…

Bill Clinton, Jack Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson reached out across the aisle and said meet me in the middle; but their party rammed through a healthcare bill that took over one-sixth of our economy, without accepting a single Republican idea, without winning a single vote in either house from a party whose constituents make up about 50 percent of the country.

I urge my fellow New Hampshirites and Merrimackians to read what Rep. Artur Davis said at the convention in its entirety (or view it here).  $16,000,000,000,000 of debt, 4 straight years of $1T deficits, a health care program that is estimated (at this time) to cost of $2.6T, 42 straight months of unemployment over 8%, and on and on and on.  We can’t afford moving forward in this direction, and the debt must be paid. It will be our children and grandchildren paying for our indiscretions.

I ask not for you to give up on other issues, but simply to consider those issues with these just outlined and prioritize.  Some issues can be debated ad infinitum, math isn’t one of them.