by Ken Malovos
“I run for President as a proud Democrat. I come from the long tradition of the party that brought America Social Security, stock market regulation and jobs during the depression, freedom and peace at the end of two World Wars, Medicare, the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, nuclear disarmament treaties, a man on the moon and the strongest middle class in American history.
My party puts people over property, individual rights over corporate rights. I come from the party that proclaims the worth and dignity of every single individual. A party whose President challenged us to “ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country. We believe each of us needs to be responsible to do everything within our power to standup and be counted. And each of us needs to help our brothers and sisters along the way, those who were born with less and who are continually denied the opportunity to move upward.
We believe in a livable wage and basic fairness, fairness that has too often been neglected. We believe hard working men and women are the backbone of this nation. They have been forgotten by those who have reaped the rewards of others labor. Those who toil are not sharing in the wealth they have created. It is going to the privileged few. Workers have been left behind by automation and greed. They feel left out. To those at the top who have achieved so much, we must say, your profits come from the efforts of the working class who work hard at their jobs, pay their taxes, obey the law and help one another.
They are the ones who built the roads, who made the products in your factory. Their taxes on their wages help support the police and fire departments that protect your factory and maintain order. They are the ones who send their sons to war to keep our country safe so that you can run your factory and make profits. They go to work every day to support families. They give the best years of their lives to work they take pride in whether the automobile plant in Detroit or the aerospace company in California, the airplane factory in Seattle or the pharmaceutical company in Indiana. They are the ones who operate small businesses working long hours alongside employees, who like themselves have few of the benefits available to union workers in big companies.
Democratic Presidents built the greatest middle class in history. I am proud of my party and what we have accomplished for American workers and all of America. To the hard-working Americans who turn the wheels of free enterprise to make this the great country that it is, we Democrats say: Vote with us. We are with you as we always have been and always will be.
I am proud to be a Democrat and all our party stands for—freedom, responsibility and fairness. I would be honored to be your nominee.
