Balanced conventional military forces which will permit a response graded to the intensity of any threats of aggressive force.ģ. Deterrent military power such that the Soviet and Chinese leaders will have no doubt that an attack on the United States would surely be followed by their own destruction.Ģ. This is the strength that must be erected:ġ. To recover from the errors of the past 7 1/2 years will not be easy. They have also admitted that our conventional military forces, on which we depend for defense in any non-nuclear war, have been dangerously slashed for reasons of "economy"-and that they have no plans to reverse this trend.Īs a result, our military position today is measured in terms of gaps-missile gap, space gap, limited-war gap. They have admitted that the Soviet Union leads in the space race-and that they have no plans to catch up. Before Congressional committees they have testified that the Communists will have a dangerous lead in intercontinental missiles through 1963-and that the Republican Administration has no plans to catch up. It has been persistently made by high officials of the Republican Administration itself. This is not a partisan election-year charge. Over the past 7 1/2 years, our military power has steadily declined relative to that of the Russians and the Chinese and their satellites. The Republican Administration has lost that position of pre-eminence. Most free nations had confidence in our will and our ability to carry out our commitments to the common defense.Įven those who wished us ill respected our power and influence. When the Democratic Administration left office in 1953, the United States was the pre-eminent power in the world. The new Democratic Administration will recast our military capacity in order to provide forces and weapons of a diversity, balance, and mobility sufficient in quantity and quality to deter both limited and general aggressions. If America is to work effectively for such a peace, we must first restore our national strength-military, political, economic, and moral. Our objective, however, is not the right to coexist in armed camps on the same planet with totalitarian ideologies it is the creation of an enduring peace in which the universal values of human dignity, truth, and justice under law are finally secured for all men everywhere on earth. Today, three billion human beings live in fear that some rash act or blunder may plunge us all into a nuclear holocaust which will leave only ruined cities, blasted homes, and a poisoned earth and sky. The common danger of mankind is war and the threat of war.
It is our continuing responsibility to provide an effective instrument of political action for every American who seeks to strengthen these rights-everywhere here in America, and everywhere in our 20th Century world. In 1960, "The Rights of Man" are still the issue. In periods of national crisis, we Democrats have returned to these words for renewed strength. If you’re a Socialist, you believe that through cooperation, everyone can do their part and share the fruits of that hard work.īut what about if you don’t feel at home within any of those parties? That makes you an Independent, which means that you don’t vote based on political affiliation but rather on where each candidate falls on the actual issues.In 1796, in America's first contested national election, our Party, under the leadership of Thomas Jefferson, campaigned on the principles of "The Rights of Man."Įver since, these four words have underscored our identity with the plain people of America and the world. If you’re a member of the Green Party, your values mirror many of those in the Democratic party with more of an emphasis on environmentalism.
If you’re a Republican, you identify as more of a conservative and believe in the importance of upholding Judeo-Christian values. If you’re a Democrat, you tend to swing more liberal and are passionate about helping those in need by creating a level playing field where everyone can succeed. Luckily, there’s an easy way to find out where you fall without having to do tons of research: just take this quiz and let us do the research for you!īut what happens once you get your result if you still don’t know the difference between a Democrat and an Independent? And what about how a Democrat differs from a Socialist? Do Republicans usually support raising the minimum wage or same-sex marriage? And where do Green Party candidates fit in? Let’s take a minute to break down the different results before we get started. You’re going to want to go into your polling place as educated as possible before you cast your vote. If you’re not very familiar with where the different candidates fall in terms of policies and values, staring at a ballot filled with dozens of names can be pretty daunting. It’s Election Season! With so many candidates and opinions, it might be hard to see where you fall on the spectrum.