An Evening with 21st Century Democrats

Last night I had the opportunity to attend the 21st Century Democrats' gala celebration after winning the tickets at a drawing at the Take Back America conference. I attend a lot of Democratic and progressive events, but what struck me about both the conference and the gala was that they both provided a rare forum to come together to talk not just about who should win elections, but why we must win. Winning means affordable education, health care for all Americans, clean and fair elections across the country, the return of civil liberties and respect for the constitution, an end to the war in Iraq, and a serious effort to combat global warming. Throughout the conference and the gala people talked about issues, not candidates. At a time when many people are firmly entrenched in their candidate's corner, I think we sometimes lose sight of what is at stake and the chance that we have to concretely better the lives of others and our planet through electoral politics.

While the presidential debates spiral away from substance and the campaign trail gets increasingly muddied, the 21st Century Democrats' gala and the Take Back America conference provided the chance to collectively affirm our common progressive goals and remind us what winning back the White House and strengthening our representation at all levels of government really means. Let's hope that next year we can reconvene at these two events to celebrate all that we've accomplished and continue to push forward our progressive values!