I retired in 2015 after a 38-year career as an attorney. All but two of those years were spent providing civil legal services to the poor, mostly as a policy advocate.
I’m frequently asked what I am doing in retirement – I call it “redeployment.” I usually reply, teaching poverty law at Chase College of Law, serving on various boards and committees, chairing the Kenton County Democratic Party, and serving on the Kentucky Democratic Party executive committee.
At the mention of these political activities eyes often roll, followed by comments such as, “gee, are there any Democrats left in Northern Kentucky?” Or, “that must be a thankless job.”
Well. It is not. Thankless, that is. Hard, yes. And often frustrating. Like herding cats at times. As Mark Twain said, “we’re not members of an organized political party, we’re Democrats.”
It is discouraging to lose elections. People prefer to win. And we don’t win much these days. The pendulum has swung pretty far in the other direction.
However, in the end, winning is not the only thing. The question is, have we remained faithful to our identity, our values? Do our candidates and campaigns reflect our values and beliefs?
Political parties exist to elect candidates to govern, according to their values and philosophies. We are Democrats for many reasons, but primarily because we believe that our values and principles are the right and best ones for moving us forward as a nation.
What are those values? “Liberty and justice for all.” Unity. Compassion, the belief that when we attend to the needs of all, all benefit. We believe we are our neighbor’s keeper. And they ours. We believe we are in this together.
We believe in democracy, in government by the people, of the people, and for the people.
We believe that free enterprise is the best system for supplying most of our goods and services. At the same time, we believe in government regulation of the economy, to insure that it does not endanger the interests of the people as a whole.
Thus: one is free to own and operate a factory to produce goods for profit, goods that benefit the whole society – but not to pollute the air we breathe while doing so. Government regulates on behalf of all the people. It insures that products, whether cars or prescription drugs or the food we eat, are safe.
Government protects us from those who threaten us – foreign or domestic – our lives, our health, our schools, our homes. Government provides services that we cannot provide for ourselves, or not for all of us equally.
For example: education. Those with extraordinary means can provide private schools for their own, and they do. But it is government that provides public education for all, for those with means and those without.
Similarly with health care. While many access the private insurance market, most with deep subsidy from their employers, those who cannot require the support of government.
Throughout the last century, beginning with the Presidency of Woodrow Wilson and his commitment to progressivism, the Democratic Party has done more than any other single force to civilize our nation.
From Wilson’s Fourteen Points, FDR’s New Deal, Truman’s Marshall Plan, JFK’s New Frontier, LBJ’s Great Society, Carter’s Camp David Accords, Clinton’s economic expansion, to Obama’s economic recovery and health care — the Democratic Party has led us forward to a higher standard of living and quality of life.
Given this tradition, I cannot lose faith. Hard work, yes. But not thankless or hopeless. In time the pendulum will reverse. The people will see what their choices have wrought, and will act in accordance with what they see. And our values and policies will win out.
Col Owens is retired Senior Attorney from the Legal Aid Society of Southwest Ohio and the Chair of the Kenton County Democratic Party. He lives in Northern Kentucky.