Two weeks ago the Blue Hen Poll found that 66 percent of university students identify themselves as Democrats. More than 80 percent of this campus voted in the 2008 general election and 75 percent of us supported Barack Obama. Our generation elected the first African-American president, and we did so without hesitancy and with confidence.
The Democratic Party is our party, the party of young people. Our decision in 2008 reflects not only our strong desire for change in this moment, but also our demand for change in the future. On several fronts, Democrats have embraced our values and formed coalitions with moderate Republicans to advance our issues: marijuana legalization, equal marriage and support for women's rights, just to name a few. Our generation has said "no" to torture and enthusiastically said "yes" to universal healthcare, and with an overwhelmingly Democratic Congress, a Democratic president and moderate Supreme Court, we must act now. There has never been a better time to be a College Democrat.
Ours is a generation that asserts its liberties and believes in freedom. In California, Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has initiated a conversation about legalizing marijuana in the state. The political and economic dimensions of the issue are rapidly unraveling, as a recent California Field Poll shows that 56 percent of the state's residents support legalizing marijuana for recreational use. Marijuana decriminalization will earn the state $1.3 billion in sales tax revenue and save millions by taking drug offenders off California's incarceration rolls. It is true that the Obama Administration has shown hesitancy toward addressing the issue of marijuana decriminalization; however, Attorney General Eric Holder halted the Drug Enforcement Agency's immoral crackdown on suffering medical marijuana patients in California just two weeks into the Obama presidency. Nationwide, a Zogby Poll released last week reported that just over half of Americans -52 percent- support legalization, and since California's Proposition 215 passed in 1996, 14 US states have enacted varying state statutes decriminalizing marijuana under specified circumstances.
We are a generation of tolerance and liberty, and we support equality. A recent CNN poll shows that 58 percent of us support same-sex marriage. Five states-most recently, Maine- have legalized same-sex marriage, and numerous other states, including New York, New Jersey and New Hampshire, are moving at rapid pace to push marriage equality bills through state legislatures. At this pace, within 10 years,we will be able to challenge the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act with a federal 14th Amendment equal protection claim before the U.S. Supreme Court, and reapply the full faith and credit clause of the U.S. Constitution to marriage. Our generation is surfing on the tidal wave of change -and the battle ahead is not with those among us, but with those older than us.
We are a compassionate, idealistic generation that believes in equal access. According to a June 2007 New York Times/CBS News poll, 62 percent of us support a universal healthcare system, compared with 47 percent of the general public.
The Republicans assert that America is a center-right nation. They believe that Americans still embrace the dogmatic traditions of the past. Inevitably, their refusal to accept more moderate positions will be their downfall. Their standard bearer in 2008, Sen. John McCain, echoed former Vice President Dick Cheney's refusal to moderate the party's positions just last Sunday saying, "I don't want to moderate, either." Certainly, they have lost touch with mainstream America, and it's my hope they rediscover who they are.
In various other arenas, the Obama Administration is making progress. Two weeks after taking office, the President upheld the equal pay for equal work standard for women when he signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act of 2009. The bill overturned the Supreme Court's 2007 decision in Goodyear v. Ledbetter which made it more difficult for women to collect on workplace pay discrimination. The president ordered the closure of Guantanamo Bay within 12 months, told the world that the United States maintains a firm commitment to human rights by not torturing detainees, and passed a $789 billion stimulus package. Progress is being made.
Yet progress is not solely the province of the president. We have a duty, as Democrats, as young people, as American citizens to speak up and make change a reality. The issues addressed in this column may not be representative of all the Democratic Party platform, but they are representative of the collective positions of the College Democrats. We are young Democrats-the new generation of the party. And with 75 percent of this campus at our back, maybe it's time to flex our muscles and show a little backbone.
Paul Ruiz is the president of the UD College Democrats. His viewpoints do not necessarily represent those of the Review staff. Please send comments to pruiz@Udel.Edu.
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