August 11, 2004

As I watched and took part in the excitement of the recent Democratic National Convention, some of my oldest childhood memories came back to me.

I distinctly remember watching Adlai Stevenson with my parents, although I can't say for certain whether it was 52 years ago in '52 when I was 5, or four years later when Stevenson, for the second time, became the Democrats' standard bearer.

I also remember wondering why thousands of adults would wear funny hats and behave so much like silly children. But I know that, as a child, I was filled with a sense of limitless and ever-better tomorrows, and a confidence that, like my parents, the world would provide the safety, love, challenge and support I needed. I knew only the bright colors of the morning, not yet the darker side of the human soul.

During this year's convention, I came to finally understand the connection between those funny hats and adult partying and the dreams, hopes and sense of endless possibilities that are the hallmark of childhood.

I will admit to having gotten caught up in the exquisite rhetoric, the wonderful production and, more to the point, the new dawn that is this election. The Democratic Party came together in Boston, having refound its soul. We've taken our party back and we're about to take our country back. We've been reminded that, as only an innocent child can really know, you never have to stop "thinkin' about tomorrow."

I will also admit that there have been times when I was ready to give up on the Democratic Party, to give up on any faith in the political process.

Nationally, I see · our soldiers injured or killed in a war launched on a lie, fueled by arrogance, and leaving us isolated in the world and more vulnerable at home; · an assault on the civil rights and civil liberties I believed were inalienable and unassailable; · a reversal of years of thoughtful action for the environment and economy; · a widening gulf between rich and poor, and a President who thinks that's the American way; · an illegitimate, stolen Presidency in the first place; and · a health care system and public education system, each crying out for creative new approaches and action, not the petty tinkering or not-so-benign neglectful sloganeering that passes for debate today.

And, in Massachusetts, I see a Governor I thought was going to help us with some new ideas but who has left me disappointed by squandering precious opportunities for leadership in the state. He seems motivated more by his national ambition than by a passion for doing things right and doing the right things here at home.

And I serve in the Massachusetts House of Representatives under a Speaker who doesn't speak for me on matters of policy, process or politics.

But, after the convention, I am, again, proud to be in politics and proud to be a Democrat.

The convention and the upcoming election are about getting back to who we are as a nation and as a Commonwealth, getting back to the values and spirit of 1776, getting back to the combination of patriotism, optimism, determination, and hard work that will make us whole again.

The adults gathering in Boston for the convention no longer looked so silly to me. They looked like the people I want to be around, the people I want exercising leadership in this country and in the Commonwealth: People who can dream like children, and people with the intelligence, wisdom, judgment, determination, and maturity to lead like adults. People who see, know, and honor the bright colors of the morning and simultaneously recognize that it's their job and their passion to build a strong, healthy, sustainable community for all our children and for our children's children.

That's what it means to be a Democrat and to be in public life, and I am honored beyond measure to be able to do my share.