Resistance is growing
a message to the DNC and Democrats from Tom Perez
This week I rallied with Democrats in front of the US Capitol just before House Republicans cast their shameful votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Ultimately, our efforts to stop them fell short, but our fight is far from finished.
The 24 million who could lose access to health care is not just a number — it represents fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers and even newborn babies with heart diseases or cancers that are too costly to treat without affordable insurance. Worse still, the GOP plan would also decimate women’s health care in particular and defund Planned Parenthood. As the bill heads to the Senate, the DNC is firing on all cylinders, organizing Democrats and our allied groups to fight back. Regardless of whether or not Trump and the GOP succeed in repealing the ACA, they will face the consequences for their assault on our health care on Election Day.
On Democrats Live Wednesday night, DNC Deputy Chair Keith Ellison hosted Congressman Dan Kildee who represents Michigan’s 5th congressional district. They discussed the Flint water crisis, the Republican effort to roll back consumer protections and repeal the ACA, and how Democrats are fighting to help people who are still hurting in the aftermath of the financial crisis. You can watch their conversation here.
Folks from across the country have been submitting tens of thousands of questions and hundreds of thousands are viewing the DNC’s live broadcasts. Follow Democrats Live on Facebook, or at live.democrats.org.
Today we kicked off our inaugural meeting of our Unity Reform Commission. The Commission was established at our convention last summer to review our presidential nominating process, make recommendations to increase participation and inclusion in our primary and caucus process, and encourage more voters to participate. Veteran strategist Jen O’Malley Dillon and labor leader Larry Cohen have graciously agreed to serve as our chair and vice chair. You can find out more information about the commission and share your feedback here.
One of the most effective ways we can bring more people under the big tent of our party is to make sure we’re always telling the story of what it means to be a Democrat. We need to take our message into communities we’ve neglected for too long — whether they’re urban communities we’ve taken for granted or rural states we’ve written off. We can’t just talk about how Trump and Republicans are moving us backwards. We also have to share our vision for how Democrats will move us forward.
As our Party grows and changes to better serve the people we represent, our resistance against Trump and the GOP is growing too. From the Women’s March on January 21st to last weekend’s Climate March and the surging opposition against ACA repeal, millions of Americans are standing up and fighting back against an administration that is anathema to the values we hold dear. That energy shows no signs of waning, and we’re working every day at the DNC keep it growing.
We all succeed only if we all succeed.
Best,
Tom
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