I have been a Democrat since I was nine years old.

My Grandfather (God Rest His Soul) indoctrinated me while my Republican parents were on a business trip, a business my Grandfather passed down to his son-in-law, my Republican father.

He told me about how he was a milkman during the Great Depression, and about how a man named Franklin Delano Roosevelt brought this nation out of it's misery and made it great again.

His daughter, my aunt, told me first-hand stories of sit-in's in the late-60's at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she was tear-gassed for speaking out against the War in Vietnam.
Intro
You must enter an Intro for your Diary Entry between 300 and 1150 characters long.

I have been a Democrat since I was nine years old. My Grandfather (God Rest His Soul) indoctrinated me while my Republican parents were on a business trip, a business my Grandfather passed down to his son-in-law, my Republican father.

He told me about how he was a milkman during the Great Depression, and about how a man named Franklin Delano Roosevelt brought this nation out of it's misery and made it great again.

His daughter, my aunt, told me first-hand stories of sit-in's in the late-60's at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she was tear-gassed for speaking out against the War in Vietnam.

These are our ancestors as Progressives, as members of the Democratic Party.  I am proud to be a card-carrying member of this party.

Yet today, when our party should be poised to quite easily take back the reins of the Executive Branch, I see a party divided.  Not on principle, but in regard to whom shall be our standard bearer as our candidate for the Presidency.

We have two great potential candidates, both of whom should make us proud should our party choose them as our nominee.  One of them happens to be a woman, which would make for an historic appointment in and of itself.  

Another happens to be an African-American with adolescent roots in Indonesia, and in the interests of full disclosure, happens to be the candidate I prefer in this primary/caucus process.

That having been said, I think this divisive nonsense within OUR party needs to stop NOW!  We are all Democrats, and when it's all said and done, the candidates we prefer do not differ greatly in regard to the issues we all care about the most.

We all agree that the war in Iraq has been unnecessary, poorly planned, and that an immediate exit strategy that takes into account the security of the Iraqi people is of the utmost importance.

We all agree that there is a serious national health care crisis, and that people that cannot afford to buy in to the current system need to be able to do so.

We all agree that reliance on petroleum-based energy is not only going to hurt us environmentally, but economically as well.

There are many ideals which many of us agree upon, yet we have been divided by which candidate for President we happen to prefer.

This has caused a large contingent of us in the "blogosphere" to revolt against one another.

This will only work against us.  In Sun-Tzu's "The Art of War," seemingly the most certain path to victory is to "divide and conquer."

Let's not let this apparent division work against us.  We all have the same goals as Democrats, yet we may have a different candidate which we feel represents our means for reaching those goals.

I personally find that one candidate meets these goals we share more than the other.  However, should my candidate not be the nominee of my party, the Democratic Party, I will still stand up and vote for him or her proudly, as they represent the ideals and principles for which I stand.

I propose that we set aside our differences and support whomever happens to be the candidate of our party.

After all, are we not Democrats?