Viewpoint: A new year’s resolution for Montana Democrats

Eli Steinberg

With New Year’s arriving, I am sure most Montanans and most Americans have prepared their New Year's Resolutions. In this article, I would like to outline a political resolution I hope my fellow Democratic Party supporters, and for that matter, all Americans will take up: Become an active participant in American politics.

Any New Year's Resolution must address a problem, so what is the problem? The Democratic Party’s failure on election day and the sliding of the American constitution and American government into the hands of a Republican Party that wants to bend and break the constitution, to weaken the idea of government “of and by the people”, and to close off the prosperity of the American dream to be possible only for those who are already well-to-do.

In the wake of our most recent electoral shellacking, all Democratic politicians and voters have stood up on their soap boxes and explained why, in their view, we have lost. While there are many lessons this election has taught us (we need to win back the working class, voters don’t trust us, voters think we aren’t patriotic, voters think we represent the establishment, voters think we are weak on the economy, legacy media is no longer the best spreader of news) I would like to highlight one thing, one thing that could change the Democratic Party’s fortunes massively, something that can be done, not merely by party leaders and politicians, but by ordinary voters.

In this New Year of 2025, and moving forward permanently, I ask that every Democratic voter in Montana, and every Democratic voter in America do this: Become an active participant in American politics.

To explain myself, I shall answer two questions. First: What does it mean to become an active participant in American politics? Second: Why is this so important for the Democratic Party in particular?

To answer the former: To become an active participant in American politics is to go beyond voting, it is to go beyond donating to politicians, and it certainly is not, goodness forbid, arguing with the opposing party on social media. It is to volunteer. It is to go out and knock on doors. It is to make phone calls. It is to work the polls. It is to register voters. It is to attend County party meetings, socials, and events. It is to call and write letters to your elected representatives. It is to be realized in full government by the people. I firmly believe, with all my heart and soul, that democracy is not a mere voting system. It is a way of life. My fellow Democrats: live that way of life.

Now, with this in mind, Why is this so important for the Democratic Party in particular? Why is it important for a Democrat specifically to become an active participant in American politics? Very simply, to become an active participant in American politics is what it means to be a Democrat.

I am a very firm believer that the Democratic Party is, as political scientists would say, a “big tent” party. There are many different types of Democrats across the political spectrum and across the geography of our vast nation. Some people look at the Democratic Party and ask how such a wide group of people agree. How can moderate Democrats and progressive Democrats work together? How can urban Democrats and rural Democrats work together? How can young Democrats and old Democrats work together? To that, I say, our shared belief, our common ground as members of the Democratic Party is that we are two things: American Patriots, and believers in the power of public service to improve people’s lives.

The job of a Democrat is to prove that public service, that bridging divides in our communities, that reaching out to our fellow Americans works. The best way to prove that is by example, to do that work, that work of public service, that work of bridging divides, that work of reaching out to our fellow Americans. That is the way we not only will win over voters, and win elections, but win the hearts and minds of the American people too. Republicans win by making people cynical about politics. Democrats must put forward their response, that politics can be better.

Given that following this election, Montana has statewide Democrats no longer, I’m sure many Democrats in this state feel hopeless. That is how Republican operatives, and those who corrupt our government want you to feel. Democrats: make this election loss your (New Year’s) Resolution to strive for the success of your party and your country.

In 1961, a great Democratic president, President Kennedy said to his fellow Americans “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon.” Here, I say to my fellow Montana Democrats: let us shoot for the moon ourselves, let us, before this decade is out, commit to doing the work necessary to achieving in Montana a political and electoral victory that will send a Montana Democrat into the Senate, and into the Congress, and into the governorship.

Let us use this new moment, this new year to resolve to put forward, in 2025, and 2026, and all years to come, all passion and aspiration that we all have into the advancement and the success of the state and the country that we all love.

Ed Steinberg is state chair of the High School Democrats of America in Montana.