A Letter from a Democrat
Wednesday, December 25, 2024
Mostly on my own, but with a little help from GPT, I put together a letter that I intend to send to Democratic Party leadership at the local, county, state, and national level presuming I find their mailing addresses. I hope to write more in 2025 on some kind of regular cadence, with each letter narrowing in on a specific issue where I think we need to be doing a better job.
Dear person:
My name is Matthew. I’m a 46-year-old, white, cisgender, gay, 20-year career public servant, and lifelong Democrat. I vote in every election, but I’ve never written a letter like this. I’m writing because I’m angry, confused, and scared about the direction in which the Democratic Party continues to head.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’re in it—and we’re in it deep. We’re failing. Unless we take bold, novel, and unwavering action and begin putting forth bold, novel, and unwavering candidates, we’ll keep failing.
The GOP is an abysmal cesspool of power-hungry, greedy, hypocritical criminals, and the Democratic Party treats them like an annoying neighbor. We keep extending a hand across the fence in the name of bipartisanship, and every time we do, the GOP lobs it off with a machete. The blood may be on their hands, but at the end of the day, they’re still waving to everyone like prom queens in a township parade while we’re sitting in the emergency room writing and selling memoirs with our one good hand.
Stop it. Tell our elected representatives to stop it right now. Stop pandering to the American middle. It’s killing us. Apathetic, ignorant people too lazy or unwilling to pick a side are not the voters we need to court. We are alienating voters like me—voters who want unapologetic, progressive leadership from the Democratic Party.
Stop listening to washed-up pundits and cable news star strategists. They are out of touch, out of reach, and out of time. Quit giving them a shred of credence.
Stop propping up platitude-pushing politicians who only reach out to constituents when they’re looking for campaign donations. Seriously, quit with the incessant “urgent $25 donation” texts and email drip campaigns. These tactics aren’t engaging voters—they’re alienating us.
Above all, stop compromising with the GOP on anything. Compromising with a party that spreads lies, fuels division, and legislates hate is not bipartisanship—it is surrender. Stop legitimizing their lies. Stop treating them as if they are anything other than a direct threat to the American people. Stop giving them a seat at the head of our dinner table. They are clown car cannibals sitting down to supper with us, and we just keep wondering why it’s getting so hot in here.
Do not agree with their policies. Do not meet them halfway. They are not interested in governing. They are interested in power, control, and money. Not a single Democratic vote should legitimize any of their ideas or policies, ever. Ever.
I see billboards in every poor neighborhood aimed at recruiting people without any other options into the military. Why don’t I see billboards calling out Republican lies? Why don’t I see billboards with facts from the January 6 report? Why don’t I see billboards with photos of NRA donation recipients and the number of gun deaths in their states? Why don’t I see billboards with big, bold numbers quantifying Democratic accomplishments?
This is not a time for politeness. When Republicans throw mud in our faces, we need to fling it right back in theirs. The GOP makes it abundantly clear that their only goal is power at any cost. They gain it because we are meek. We don’t go high when they go low—we cower. We relent. We campaign the way we’ve always campaigned. And then we lose.
If this party continues to compromise, capitulate, and pander to the middle and the right, it will continue to lose elections. But if Democrats find the courage to refuse Republican demands outright, to expose their lies and cruelty at every turn, and to stand unapologetically for progressive values, they might actually inspire people to believe in this party again.
That is the only path forward.