I don’t know when I’ve ever been more proud to be a Democrat. President Biden, arguably the most successful president of my lifetime, placed the country’s interests ahead of his own last week and stepped aside to make way for a younger candidate. As for Vice President Kamala Harris, she’s hit the ground running, already bringing in a staggering $126 million in campaign donations and over 100,000 new volunteers since last Sunday. Wow!

What struck me the most over the last few weeks, though, is the stark difference between the two parties. The GOP is not so much a political party anymore as it is a cult, which can be defined as devotion to or adoration of a particular person. Their person demonstrates almost daily that he is consumed with advancing his own interests. He demonizes entire groups of people, normalizes political violence, and idolizes dictators.

By contrast, we Democrats have a real political party that isn’t dependent on any one person to define us. As a community, we cherish freedom, celebrate diversity, prioritize the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power, and put the welfare of everyday Americans ahead of billionaires and big corporations.

For anyone still not sure which party has their interests at heart, let me recommend brushing up on Project 2025, or as it’s described on joebiden.com, “Trump’s plan to take your power, your control, and your money.” Developed in a major way by former Trump administration officials, it’s a 900-plus-page blueprint for another Trump administration – and it’s chilling.   

At its cold heart, Project 2025 is a plan to disrupt our democracy in order to bend the government to the will of extreme conservatives. It calls for broadening presidential powers to an alarming degree and:

·      Cutting taxes for the well-to-do and raising them for everyone else.

·      Eliminating the Department of Education and taking partisan control of the Department of Justice and the FBI.

·      Making it possible to fire thousands of civil servants and replace them with Trump loyalists.

·      Severely restricting a woman's right to make her own decisions about reproductive care.

·      Scaling back environmental and climate change regulations to favor fossil fuel production.

·      Making it more difficult to qualify for food stamps, and eliminating the Head Start program for young children.

Over here in the Democratic Party, we can be sure Kamala Harris won’t try to balance the budget on the backs of the most vulnerable – children, single mothers and senior citizens among them. We can be sure our Democratic representatives will uphold the Constitution and advocate for all Americans, because this is who we are.

“The question we face is what kind of country do we want to live in,” Kamala said in a recent speech in North Carolina. “Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion and rule of law? Or a country of chaos, fear and hate?”

That’s the key question we Democrats have already answered, and it’s the one to pose to any voter who’s still on the fence.