Speech given at the Democratic Campaign Institute
By Steve Fradkin
Most people are content to watch history happen. The rest of us — and that includes every one of us here in this room — the rest of us would rather make it happen.
Most people think “reality” is a handful of people trying to survive on some tropical island. The rest of us know that reality, for millions of people, is trying to survive on lower-than-poverty wages in an increasingly expensive world.
Most people think “health care” is a choice between Advil and Tylenol. The rest of us know that health care is too often a decision between medicine and supper.
Most people will go to great lengths to TiVo The Amazing Race. The rest of us go to even greater lengths to save the human race.
That's the kind of people we are. The kind of people our friends laughingly call “political junkies.” For us, holding a sign is more fun than a birthday party. We can't talk on the phone without asking for money. Some of us even allow our jobs to occasionally interfere with our political work.
We're selectmen and senators, councilors and committee people. We're field workers and fundraisers, spokespeople and speechwriters. We hammer lawn signs in the ground, deliver fliers door to door, and cheer for our guy or gal at the end of election day — win or lose.
We're activists. I know, I know… some would call that a dirty word. But we wear that badge proudly. Activists. From the Latin actus — to drive, or to do. An activist is someone who cares enough to do something.
We have a mission. And that mission is more than just campaigning. More than getting more Democrats elected. More, even, than taking back the corner and oval offices.
Our mission is — our mission must be — to get more people to care about the things we care about. To get more people to want a better society. A society that educates its young, feeds and houses its poor, cares for its sick and disabled, and cherishes its elderly. A society that doesn't kill in anger or for financial gain — and doesn't allow its government to do so either. A society that insists on protecting the rights of even the smallest of minorities. A society that cares enough to do something.
Our mission — as activists — is to create more activists. When we do that, our government will follow.
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