Editor,
The promise I intend to pursue is the intention to keep doing what we've been doing every day since the Democratic primary season was taken away from us - giving our perspective on the most important issues we're facing from a moderate, Hillary Clinton Democrat's point of view.
Something happened in the last few months of this race: Republicans and Democrats came together, not to agree on everything, but to work for a common goal. If we did this, if we came together to stop Barack Obama and save America from his particular brand of socialism, then imagine what we could do if we continue to work together going forward.
What if we tabled the issues that distract and divide us and instead work on the ones that we basically agree on? Clinton and John McCain both want America to be energy independent. Clinton and McCain want Americans to have secure jobs with a special focus on permanent, steady, well-paying jobs in the emerging sustainable energy sector. Clinton and McCain want all Americans to have the best health care possible. They may disagree on how to get there, but it's a priority to both. Even the best of friends never agree on everything. Twins don't agree on everything.
None of us are clones. But we feel all of us have come to realize that underneath our partisan rhetoric, we're all Americans, and when America's facing challenges, the people of this great country come together like nobody's business to get the job done.
So that brings us to the favor we want to ask of all of you: Going forward, we want all of you to remember that in 2008, we saw Democrats, Independents and Republicans join together in an alliance for a common goal. Since Nov. 5, we need to identify the next set of common goals we can all continue to work on across party lines, because the energy, cooperation, determination, passion, intelligence, verve and civic-minded goodness we've seen voiced by all of you is too important and too rich in potential for us to ever allow it to slip into the ether.
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After this election, many volunteers will take much-deserved breaks or slip back into their old lives. I'll probably do that too on some levels, but I am going to continue to do what we've been doing in terms of getting information out there. Regardless of who won on Election Day, I urge you to all do whatever you can in your own lives to achieve these goals, because together, we can change this country. We can work together on issues that need cooperative spirit. And there are so many of those.
America needs bipartisan action, and that can start with all of us. McCain and Clinton are willing to work for this. Are you? Can we all stay friends and allies going forward even if we won't agree on everything? We know McCain and Clinton are going to work well together. I really hope the Democrats and Obama folks join us.
Daniel Martinez
UNM alumnus
