Dr. Martin Luther King’s life is an example of how great a democracy can be: without ever holding an elected office or government post, this minister from Georgia used his strong character and deep convictions to change the world.  Like Lincoln, he took a divided country and created a nation.

King was a beacon for those who sought to make a better America.  There will never be another like him, but today, on the day we celebrate the man, his legacy, and the myriad of gifts he left us, we should all be thankful for the sacrifices he made and the life he led, because we are all his beneficiaries.

I’m a proud Progressive, and I’ve run this campaign for Congress without pulling any punches.  I’m the only candidate in Pennsylvania’s 3rd District absolutely committed to supporting Universal Health Care for every American.  I’ve been vocal in my opposition to triangulating and capitulating on critical legislation, and to the weak behavior of our majority.  I’ve called for a withdrawal from Iraq, reforming our education system, creating a new energy policy, and restoring our Constitution.

I’ve run to be a leader the people of the Third District can be proud to vote for.  But now, I want everyone in America to vote for me.

My name is Mike Waltner, a member of Democracy for America, and I’m running for Grassroots All-Star.

In the richest country in the world, in our own communities, on our own streets, our neighbors are suffering and in some cases dying because they can’t afford health care.

Our neighbors are suffering through illnesses that are preventable and treatable, because they couldn’t afford preventive medicine and can’t pay for treatment.

One out of every seven Americans is uninsured.  More than forty million Americans are completely unprotected in the event of a medical disaster.

This is more than a national tragedy: it’s a national travesty.

I’ve never been one for New Years’ resolutions.  But then, this is not a year like any other.

For me personally, this is a year of great change.  This will be my first year as a candidate for Congress.  And this will also be my first year as a father (and please ask, because I’m dying to share some pictures of Elena!).

But for our country, this is going to be a year of even more profound change.  It has to be.

So let’s resolve to make it so.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt would be ashamed at what’s going on with his party in Washington today.
Over seventy years ago, he uttered these words in the shadow of the Capitol:

This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory.

If he could see how his party had forgotten his admonition, it would likely break his heart.

(Cross-posted at Street Prophets.)

Too often people forget just how important the Democratic Party is to a district like mine – PA-03, here in the northwest corner of Pennsylvania. The story of this district is the story that Democrats are supposed to represent: the struggle of working people to make it into the middle class.

Historically this party has been comprised of people who chose their affiliation not on the basis of culture wars or hot-button resentments, but literally to put food on their tables and to take care of their families. My grandmother was one of those people.