Truman National Security Project

Editor’s note: This post is by Josh Altman, a friend of the Truman Project and a Georgia State Delegate to the Democratic National Convention. 

What does a Washington state labor activist, a living legend who marched with Dr. King, and a young Army lieutenant from Georgia have in common? As those three individuals and thousands of others have gathered for the first two days of the Democratic National Convention, that has emerged as perhaps the most revealing of questions for a young delegate to answer.

It is a question whose answer strikes deep at what is means to be a Democrat today. It is a question whose answer highlights the true diversity of the Democratic Party—a diversity rooted in something far deeper than skin color. It is a diversity of experience. It is the experience of Congressman John Lewis, who marched alongside Martin Luther King for human dignity. It is the experience of the farm and labor activist from Washington, who has knocked on doors on reservations and in the Rio Grande Valley, helping others overcome the strains of poverty and inequality. It is the experience of the Army Lieutenant, fresh out of OCS,  who believes so strongly in the future of our country that he could not just ask others to defend it.

I don’t know where else such different people find themselves together, people from walks of life with virtually nothing in common. Yet, these different people have found that though their experience differ, they share the values that make all of us here in Charlotte believe so passionately in President Obama and his vision for our country. Their stories form single strands of the collective Democratic story, and the collective American story, a story whose next chapter will be written by this election.