DRAFT 46th 2018 PLATFORM
OUR VALUES
“When they go low, we go high.” First Lady Michelle Obama
We are Democrats and we believe cooperation is better than conflict, unity is better than division, liberation is better than oppression and bridges are better than walls. We are stronger together. Yet, to remain strong requires us to humbly acknowledge the past, specifically that many of our Democratic forbearers promoted, defended and benefitted from the enslavement, exploitation and marginalization of certain peoples, including communities of color, womxn, religious minorities, people with disabilities and people who identify as LGBTQ. Many Democrats excluded these groups from party membership and leadership and suppressed their right to vote and to participate as full members of our democracy.
We offer this platform in the spirit of hope, healing and reconciliation. We commit ourselves to addressing the critical issues of our time, such as civil rights, inequality in all its forms and climate change. We strive to make the American dream a reality for everyone, with quality schools, jobs, homes and medical care grounded in a government that serves and protects its people.
We fight:
- To eliminate poverty and income inequality
- For the middle class and the working class
- To protect and restore the environment
- For quality and affordable health care
- For equal rights for all
- For economic justice, with living-wage jobs and fair tax policies
- To protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid
- To fund quality public education from preschool to career
- For fiscal responsibility, integrity, transparency and accountability in government
- For a fair and just judicial system with equal protection under the law
- For a justice system that heals communities and prepares those incarcerated for successful reentry
- For the separation of church and state
For the right of all Americans to actively participate in our democracy