I wrote this personal political manifesto and it got some press after Mat Marshall posted it on his blog:

here are other blogs reporting on it:
Delaware Liberal:
http://delawareliberal.wordpress.com/2007/08/18/why-tim-is-a-democrat/

Kilroys Delaware: http://kilroysdelaware.blogspot.com/2007/08/new-kid-on-blogs-soapbox.html

Mat Marshall's Blog:
http://matmarshall.blogspot.com/2007/08/manifesto.html

THE MANIFESTO!
I am a Democrat because I because I believe that government should be proactive, not reactive. Because I believe that government should be a vehicle for progress in social, economic and foreign policy.

FOREIGN POLICY
I am a Democrat because I believe that a foreign policy rooted in the almost arrogant belief that "God is on our side," is wrong, but rather that we should hope, as [ironically Republican] President Abraham Lincoln said, "that we are on God's side." I believe that war should be a last option, only after all diplomatic opportunities have been exhausted; I believe this in word and deed, a difference between the Republicans and Democrats. I believe that wars based on intentional misrepresentation and lies are wrong. That when a policy has turned out to be a failure, to alter it. I believe that the United States, as the last remaining military superpower of the world, has a moral obligation to help end genocide around the world, and that includes the continent of Africa! But that this belief in our international responsibility isn't taken by the leaders of our country as an excuse to inflict our way of life on people who live in different types of cultures.

EDUCATION
I am a Democrat because I believe that education is a priority of our government, and that a free and excellent education is a right. I believe in investing in our schools, not offering vouchers for students to try to attend private schools, schools which are already turing away kids that can afford them...thus having the rejected students forced to return to an even more under funded public school. I believe in the arts, and that maintaining an arts curriculum is necessary in developing the creative side of our minds. I believe that the policy of "No Child Left Behind" is a failure, and that it promotes mediocrity, rather than excellence. That while it is important to measure success and progress, that high stakes testing have reduced each student to a mere test score.

HEALTH CARE
I am a Democrat because I believe that just as it is our responsibility to protect our citizens from the likes of Osama bin Laden, it is also our responsibility to protect our citizens from the smallest of enemies; disease and illness. I believe that the current health care system which promotes profit over health is the wrong one. I believe that the insurance companies have had ample time to address the issues of the 45 million Americans that are uninsured, and have failed, thus it is the governments turn (and responsiblity) to protect it's citizens- just as they have done in other major western countries. I am a Democrat, because I believe that it is the moral responsiblity to ENsure that all of our citizens are INsured.

EQUAL RIGHTS
I am a Democrat because I believe in equal rights and opportunity for all, regardless of race, gender, age, or sexual orientation. I believe that the 1500 state and federal rights not granted to same-sex couples is a severe breach in the rights of up to 10% of our nation's population. And while I believe that government should reflect the popular belief, it should also not infringe on the minorities rights just because the majority want to - why else do we have a Bill of Rights. A good leader does what is right when it is popular, but more importantly does what is right when at that point in time, it my not be politically popular. The cliche, "what is popular isn't always right," I believe, is something our leaders could learn when it comes to equal rights.

TAXES
I am a Democrat because I believe in a progressive tax, one which each citizen pays their fair share of their income - the rich paying a larger percentage of their income than the poor. If this means that a person making $15,000,000 can't get that extra car or pool that he or she wanted, so be it, I don't believe that a progressive tax reduces the incentive for someone to succeed...because in America, when it comes down to it, the incentive is not a flat tax, but the idea that we will leave our children a better country with more opportunities than we had.

PRIVACY
I am a Democrat because I believe that the overarching theme of the Bill of Rights and the Ninth Amendment (declares that the listing of individual rights in the Constitution and Bill of Rights is not meant to be comprehensive; and that the other rights not specifically mentioned are retained elsewhere by the people) grants the people of this nation a "right to privacy" and that under that right to privacy,the government should not be able to tap our phones without due process of the law (including the fifth amendment), should not infringe on a woman's ability to decide what she will and will not do with her body, and that what we do in our bedrooms is our own business, not the governments.


GUN CONTROL
I am a Democrat because I believe that guns are not the solution to the problem, guns are the problem. I don't believe that any citizen outside the police force and the military should need assualt weapons. In other countries with stricter gun control laws, we see a lower homocide rate (proportionally as well as in actual numbers). Need I remind you that the father of modern conservatism, Ronald Reagan, was shot while being surrounded by the "best trained ARMED guards in the history of the world." I am a Democrat, because I don't believe that guns are a deterrant.

WAGES
I am a Democrat because I believe that all of our working citizens deserve a livable wage. That the Republican Congress failed to raise the minimum wage while inflation went up 3X the level it was when the last wage hike was inacted is sad. I believe that it doesn't hurt small businesses when the minimum wage is increased, it only helps families - families who will now be able to spend more at those same businesses.


I am a Democrat because:
I believe in "Freedom of Speech"
I believe in "Freedom of Religion" and thus a "Seperation of Church and State"
I believe in "Due Process of the Law"
I believe in the "Freedom to Assemble"
I believe in "Equality"
I believe in "Respecting other nations"
I believe in "Honest and Open Government"
I believe in a "Right to Privacy"
I believe in "Education"

And most of all, I am a Democrat because I am patriotic. And while I certainly love our flag, what i love more are the ideals behind that flag. I believe the true meaning of patriotism isn't the kind of blind patriotism that liberals and Democrats are so often accused of lacking, but rather a coming together of our people and community to SACRIFICE in order to build a stronger, better nation.

For those, and other reasons, I am a Democrat.