“Good Evening, Cascade County Democrats. I’m Melissa Smith, and I’m running for House District 23 in Great Falls.

I have a confession to make. In 2016, I belonged to a secret group. I was a member of Pantsuit Nation. We passionately supported Hillary Clinton from the relative safety of emails and private social media pages. We were her “stealth” weapon. Woman of privilege, a sisterhood, saving the world by being quiet, good girls. We fretted about her “flawed” candidacy over wine and cheese, and hoped Hillary would win. Some were complacent in the belief that Trump just could never be President.

We did nothing publicly to actually support her candidacy.

Well, we all know what happened on Election Night in 2016. Pantsuit Nation retreated and cocooned in grief and pain. After I had dried my tears, I personally vowed never again to be secret about my politics.

Now here we are, in 2022.  And, as the last election cycle taught us, it’s not enough to hope our Democrat candidates win. We might not be perfect candidates, but we are your last line of defense before a complete Republican takeover of our state.

We face another hurdle here in Cascade County: public perception. We have to work harder to be seen and heard. I look around and I know all of you are helping candidates, and I’m so grateful for your support. Still — we must do more. Support us. Flood your lawns with our signs. Talk to five friends a week, and tell them to talk to five friends, and so on.  Post on social media. Make our candidates go viral.

Our Democratic values are on the right side of history.

Believe it and live it.

This is another “2016 moment”. Are we going to fail again, to do enough to stem the tide of right wing extremists who would ban all abortions, and rewrite our Montana constitution, taking away our rights to a clean and healthful environment, to privacy, to a quality public education?   Are we going to fail again, to stop extremists who would take away our voting rights, our understanding of the complete history of where we live, with Indian Education for All, and our right to love who we want to love, and to be free to be our authentic selves?

This is your call to action: Democracy is not a spectator sport — get down from the stands, join us on the field, and WE WILL WIN!

Thank you.”

The post Address at the Mansfield Dinner – September 23, 2022 first appeared on Melissa Smith.