Riding a Blue Wave?

We keep hearing of the blue wave supposedly sweeping across our country and no one hopes it’s true more than me. But we can’t sit back and simply assume it’s going to happen here in Clinton County, here in the PA 76th or here in the Congressional 12th.

We will still need to get out and work to make certain it happens. We will still need to reach out, we will still need to engage with people, and that means both Democrats AND Republicans.

Always remember, we have much more in common with our Republican friends than not. Think about it, many of them are your sisters and brothers, your parents, your cousins, your co-workers, your neighbors, your high school friends, people you have coffee with, people you bowl with and in most cases, they are deeply concerned about the same issues as we are.

So, just ask them:

Don’t we all believe that this country succeeds when everyone is given a fair shot, when everyone does their fair share and when everyone has to play by the same rules?
Don’t we all believe in giving every man, woman and child access to a quality education, access to quality health care, access to an affordable place to live, food to eat, clean air to breathe and water to drink?
Don’t we all believe that this would create a level playing field and what someone does from this point going forward is now up to them?
Don’t we all believe that we need to focus on issues like jobs, equal pay, gender equality, protecting the environment, getting money out of politics, protecting social security, Medicaid and Medicare?
Don’t we all believe in making the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes?

Seriously, I can’t believe that most people you talk to would disagree with any of this.

So, our work is cut out for us and it’s going to be far from easy…but just take a moment and consider the option.

Having said that, most of you realize by now that my term as chairman of the Clinton County Democratic Committee is soon coming to an end. I want you to know that the last 4+ years have gone by in a blur and there wasn’t a single day during that time that I wasn’t proud to be your chair. I sincerely enjoyed getting to know you, working for you and working with you, and hopefully I can now count many of you as new friends.

I’m confident in stepping away knowing our new chairperson, Rose Reeder, will do an absolutely exemplary job and I’m looking forward to helping her and the committee in any way I can to continue moving our party forward.

In closing, I would like to ask you to do everything in your power between now and November to make this blue wave become a blue tsunami of historic proportions.

Thank you for the last 4 years and sayonara.

This column was written by Joe Waltz, Chairman of the Clinton County Democratic Committee, for the CCDC’s monthly newsletter.