12/13/2023 0 Comments Avowed repI have heard the arguments made as to why I, or any other delegate, should just get in line and vote for the platform. And in the final analysis, because of that belief, I could not vote for a platform that lacks a clear statement supporting Medicare for All. I believe that moving away from a profit-based healthcare system is the moral issue of our time. In my view, 2020 presents us with another such issue. Likewise, in 1968, I also believe that I would have stood up and not supported a platform that failed to clearly call for ending the U.S. Those who stood up and demanded a plank for civil rights in the platform fundamentally changed our party's direction. In 1948, there was going to be a split in the Democratic Party regardless of the national convention's vote on civil rights. Yet history teaches us that the Democratic Party has sometimes faced an issue so great that it alone should be the yardstick for measuring the wisdom of voting for or against the platform. "I will be voting 'No' on the platform because when we say that healthcare is a human right, we must truly mean it-and fight for it." There's much progress embodied in the platform. Among its breakthroughs is a call for a federal minimum wage of $15 an hour. And I recognize that the platform includes many positive planks. I know those who worked on it did so with a strong sense of purpose, wanting to make this a better party. To be clear: I respect and appreciate the people who worked to put this platform together. At the same time, after much deliberation, I am announcing via this article for Common Dreams that I will not be voting for the platform (pdf) that has been put in front of Democratic National Convention delegates for our approval. I will do everything possible to help end the disastrous presidency of Donald Trump, and that means emphatically supporting Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
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