• Blog
• Our Party
  • What We Stand For
  • The 50-State Strategy
  • About the DNC
  • Party Organizations
  • Democratic Leaders
  • Party History
  • Delegate Selection
• Action
  • Get Your Democracy Bond
  • Write a Letter to an Editor
  • Create or Find an Event
  • Create a Fundraising Page
  • Start a Blog
  • Write to Congress
  • Find Local Democrats
  • Join an Online Group
  • Get on the Email List
  • Invite Your Friends to Join
  • Volunteer
  • Register to Vote
  • Make a Contribution
• Agenda
  • Honest Government
  • Real Security
  • Energy Independence
  • Economic Prosperity
  • Affordable Health Care
  • Retirement Security
  • Protecting Our Environment
  • Civil Rights & Justice
  • Election Reform
  • Immigration Reform
• Local
• People
  • African Americans
  • Asian Amer./Pacific Islanders
  • Disability Community
  • Faith in Action
  • Hispanics
  • LGBT Community
  • Native Americans
  • Rural Americans
  • Seniors & Retirees
  • Small Business Community
  • Union Members & Families
  • Veterans & Military Families
  • Women
  • Young People & Students
• Press
  • Latest Releases
  • Radio Addresses
• Contact
• Español

The Importance of Electing a Democratic President

This past weekend, the West Virginia Federation of Democratic Women held its 43rd Annual Meeting in Huntington, West Virginia, and there was a lot of discussion about why it is so important, particularly for women, to elect a Democrat to be the next President of the United States. While the answers may seem obvious, the need for a change is profound.

A Democratic President will work diligently to get us out of Iraq. A Democratic President will work towards ensuring that all Americans have good health care and insurance coverage. A Democratic President will fight hard to protect the environment, and will make sure that college is affordable to everyone seeking higher education. A Democratic President will enact policies that promote social and economic justice.

These goals reflect a major distinction between the values of the Democratic Party versus the objectives of the Republican party. For example, Democrats are trying to establish a national health insurance program through legislation (H.R.676) sponsored by Representative John Conyers (D-MI 14th) along with 78 Democratic co-sponsors, while no Republicans have cosponsored the bill.

When it comes to the rights of women, Democrats are the ones leading the effort to reverse the reactionary holding by the Supreme Court in the Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber case in which the Roberts Court denied compensation to Lily Ledbetter for the sex discrimination she suffered after years of being paid lower wages than her male counterparts. Legislation in both the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R.2834) and Senate (S.1843)has been introduced to restore fairness and equity between men and women in the workplace.

Democrats have also been the ones to introduce in both houses of Congress, The Paycheck Fairness Act, which if passed and signed into law would enhance enforcement of anti-discrimination laws, in addition to provide better data collection to help develop a clearer understanding of the causes and extent of the problem, as well as what to do about it.

There is also the bill sponsored by Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT 3rd), along with 16 other Democratic cosponsors interested in restoring the credibility of the Food and Drug Administration as a premier scientific body rather than an ideologically driven governmental entity. H.R.2503, the FDA Scientific Fairness For Women Act will protect the health of women and the integrity of the drug review process.

Thanks to the Democratic leadership in the Senate, the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program, one of the federal governments most successful small business development programs that has helped women and minority owned businesses throughout the country, remains intact after House Republicans stripped the program from funding. Perhaps the Senate Democrats will also be able to finally ratify CEDAW: The United Nations Convention On The Elimination Of All Forms Of Discrimination Against Women.

Working together with the Federation and all of the other allied women's groups, environmental groups, labor organizations and other progressive activists, we can elect a Democratic president and increase the number of Democrats in all local, state and federal offices. The time for change starts with working on behalf of Democrats and that time is now.