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Editor’s Notebook: Live from Charlotte DNC
Preceded by Rep. Karen Bass of California and Rep. Al Green of Texas, it was the Missouri lawmaker who drove the message and the enthusiasm deeply into the audience: “President Barack Obama has been lampooned for speaking of hope; hope for a better America. I want to encourage him and all of us to continue to hope for an America that remembers, recognizes, and fervently protects its greatness,” said the lawmaker, who is also a Methodist preacher.
While the Republicans may deride the Democrats as the party with a caucus for everyone, including those who have no caucus, it is diversity that makes the party and country strong, Rep. Cleaver argued.
“God did not burden the United States with a diversity of backgrounds, ideas and religions, he blessed America with them,” continued Rep. Cleaver.
There is too much division in Congress, which is hurting the country, and leaving work needed for ordinary Americans undone, he said.
Democrats have fought for fairness and progress of everyone, whether Medicaid, Medicare, fair wages, or the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy that allowed gays to serve in the military, he said.
Protecting those gains against Republican determination to go backward and faith in the future requires “marching through our communities to make sure everyone is registered and ready to vote,” he said.
“And we, with our diversity and our differences, are all in this together,” he declared as the crowd roared. The cheering grew louder as he proclaimed the “we” was bigger than Blacks, bigger than Democrats and included “all Americans,” who are suffering.
“America, it is up to us, right now, to make the decision on the type of country we will have. Either we move forward towards securing an economic future built to last with a strong middle class at its core, or we revert to a place where America’s promise is only fulfilled for a select few,” added Rep. Green.
“We must use that power today, so that we do not lose it tomorrow,” she said.
“More than 41 years ago, when the Congressional Black Caucus was founded, that was our charge, and it still is—a vote and a voice in choosing our leaders, passing our laws and setting the course for our nation. And for the future we seek, a future of greater opportunity for all of us, we stand with president Obama in setting that path forward,” Rep. Bass said.