To the editor:
“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” These are words of advice. They have resonated through the decades because they are words of inspiration, suggesting that everyone listening has something to offer the country and, further, that all listening are united in the service of their shared possession: “your country.”
If Democrats hope to win the White House and possibly the Senate, too, those campaigning and their potential supporters cannot afford to stake everything on opposition to the president. Nor can they afford to divide themselves along lines of clamoring for what the country can do for people. If there is one thing the president knows how to do, it is to sow division and exploit any division he can among elected and campaigning Democrats.
If Democratic voters have any sense and want to clamor for something, they should clamor for unity, letting elected officials and campaigners know that, whatever differing positions they may espouse, it is political suicide to form factions and squads. If Democratic campaigners want to win the trust and confidence of voters, they should, of course, offer their plans for the country but with an expressed understanding that they are all aiming for the same goals. More important right now, however, they must counter the ugliness of what is shaping up once again to be the president’s call to naked prejudice, as he keeps forcing the country into dreadful darkness. Campaigners and elected officials must offer inspiration. There is so much good in this country, so much good among the people who live, work, grow, and serve in this country. People are hungry for words that will lift them up, inspire them to see themselves, their government, and their country in a lovely, shining light.
Heidi Dawidoff
Francestown