Dear Editor:
I read the letter from Mr. Smith titled “Parties need young intelligent leadership” in the Jan 18 edition with great interest – initially. Then I discovered that beyond one swipe at the Democratic Party and another at the Republican Party, the remainder, even though it did address an extremely serious problem, didn’t have much to do with the original theme. Nevertheless, I need to object to two stereotypes the author brought up. The first is a reference to the Democratic Party being dead and the other is that the Democratic Party is controlled by a “group of liberal politicians led by a northern senator who is an admitted socialist.” Both are wrong on several counts. In this letter, I would like to address the first misstatement.
The Democratic Party is far from dead as evidenced by the many things the Democrats have delivered to the American people, and that includes all the citizens of Bradford County, plus the things they are still trying to get done. In all the vitriol being spread around today, it is easy to forget that it was the Democrats who delivered enough vaccines in less than four months to protect any American who wanted to be protected. How many of you remember facing financial ruin if the Democrats hadn’t delivered the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021? For decades, both parties have been trying to pass an infrastructure plan – the Democrats delivered on that as well. Even locally, the Bradford County Democrats’ “We Care” initiative; bundled together $26,000 in donations in 2021 to help various churches in our area provide food, meals, and supplies to those who needed it because of the pandemic. Personally, I don’t think that qualifies as “all but dead,” but “very much alive and well”!
Further, from where I sit, even though faced with internal squabbles, the Democratic Party has a very good chance of delivering major portions of their Build Back Better plan to provide things like free, universal preschool, so important to the development of young minds (which would provide the young, intelligent leadership Mr. Smith rightly suggest America needs). Or, affordable childcare – what Bradford County single mother or father doesn’t need this? Or, ramping up clean energy projects to help save our dying planet?
Only time will tell what else this very alive Democratic Party can deliver.
Scott Belford
Bradford County resident
