Posted on 10/30/2004 8:08:24 PM PDT by dukeman
MIAMI (BP)--The Democratic League of Miami-Dade County has announced it does not endorse John Kerry for president, mainly because he is part of the current party leadership that has rejected the moral values and ethical principles of the vast majority of Democrats across the country, according to league chairman Eladio Jose Armesto.
With more than 1,000 members and a reach that expands to 100,000 pro-life, pro-family Democrats in Miami, the Democratic League was chartered by the Miami-Dade Democratic Party in 1989 and is primarily led by Hispanic-American Democrats.
The league released a statement Oct. 27, saying the Democratic presidential candidate stands "at a polar extreme of American public opinion" on certain issues, including same-sex "marriage," partial-birth abortion and human cloning.
"Sen. Kerry's voting record and public statements reveal a candidate who has disqualified himself from receiving the endorsement of pro-faith, pro-freedom, pro-life, pro-family Democrats," the release said. "We believe the Democratic Party is rooted in the values of faith, freedom, family and country. If our party is to once again be a guiding light in America, it must do much, much better than extremists such as John Kerry and John Edwards."
The group listed 10 reasons why they cannot endorse Kerry for president, including:
-- Kerry's stance on the definition of marriage. The Democratic League "supports civil marriage and all its benefits as being reserved exclusively to one man and one woman." Kerry endorses homosexual civil unions, the league noted, and is against "protecting American taxpayers from being legally forced to extend government approval, financial benefits and moral legitimacy to sexual relationships other than civil marriage."
-- Kerry's failure to support the right to life. "He has adamantly voted against the right to life in the U.S. Senate and he has sought and accepted the highly dubious endorsement of every major anti-life and anti-family outfit operating in the United States," the statement said.
-- Kerry's attacks on the dignity of the human person. "He is against any and all ethical regulations stopping the National Institutes of Health from funding research on human dignity-degrading 'human cloning.'"
-- Kerry's support of embryonic stem cell research. "He has voted against banning embryo-destructive stem cell research, thereby placing an anti-life political ideology over ethical principles and the common good," the league said.
-- Kerry's failure to support the partial-birth abortion ban. The Democratic League "supports outlawing the barbaric crime of partial-birth abortion where a child is forced partially out of the mother's womb, then murdered by piercing the back of the skull."
Other reasons the Democratic League cited for opposing Kerry include his stances relating to parental notification laws for abortions, euthanasia, school vouchers, assisting families in developing Third World countries such as Mexico, and the appointment of Supreme Court justices.
"We don't check in our consciences, our moral values or our ethical principles at the party hall door," Armesto told Baptist Press. "We refuse to be censored, silenced or discriminated into submission to a political agenda that has been adopted against our consent and our better judgment. We will not read the current party leadership's script nor will we tow a party line which we may find objectionable or contrary to the best interests of the Democratic Party.
"Within the Democratic Party, the league demands respect for our pro-family, pro-life conscience," he added. "Only by tolerating and respecting Democrats such as ourselves will the current Democratic Party leadership be able to win elections and stand before the public and demonstrate that the party is the 'big tent' that they claim to be."
While the league rejects Kerry, who Armesto said "is not a real Democrat," it does not endorse President Bush.
"As a Democratic Party organization we can only endorse or support Democratic candidates," Sara P. Espinoza, a spokeswoman for the league, said in an e-mail to Baptist Press. "However, just because a candidate is a Democrat does not mean we are obligated, under party rules, to endorse or support them. We do not feel compelled to rubber-stamp party candidates because that would not be in the best interest of the party."
Armesto said the league did not endorse Al Gore for president in 2000 because he also had rejected the values of rank-and-file Democrats.
"They have been rejecting the moral values and the ethical principles of the vast majority of Democrats across the country," he told BP. "That's why the Democratic Party has been losing so many elections. That's why we have been unable to endorse a Democratic candidate."
Armesto observed that Democrats “have been losing ground because the party has been taken over by a small cadre of retrograde dogmatists, political extremists, ideological fanatics and social misfits who do not care, sending the Democratic Party to crushing defeat on election day as long as they get their anti-social agenda into the 6 p.m. newscast.”
Espinoza said no party in America should be under the control of individuals who put their extremist ideology above the good of the nation.
"American political parties can disagree on the war, the budget and the best way to get to the moon," she said, "but they should never disagree on faith, life, freedom and family. Faith in God, strong families and hard work is what's right with America, not what's wrong."
Good for them.
Isn't this an oxymoron?
These Hispanic Democrats are much better conservatives than the Buchanan/Tancredo anti-Bush anti-immigrant crowd.
The media is telling us Kerry is making gains among Cuban Americans..this is clear proof of this....bhahahahaa
My belief is that the Hispanic vote for Bush will be much than anyone has predicted and will be one of the great surprises of this election.
The Castro endorsement did not help French Kerry.
"We believe the Democratic Party is rooted in the values of faith, freedom, family and country.
SOUNDS LIKE THE REPUBLICAN PARTY TO ME!
TIME FOR THE LOCAL REPUBLICAN PARTY CHAIRMAN TO MAKE A VISIT TO THEM AND LET THEM KNOW THAT JOHN F. KENNEDY IS DEAD! FOR 40 YEARS.
Well, that's gonna go over like a warm bowl of pus on the Kerry campaign charter.
Heh-heh.
I may have to join that party - unlike the rnc & dnc that refuse to promote decency, honesty and morality.
I do not like the Constitution Party simply because of the official religious platform - smacks too much like theocracy.
The Libertarian Party is close but a bit too much for me.
"Libertarianism without Conservatism is anarchy. Conservatism without Libertarianism is fascism."
If this were a Republican group coming out against the POTUS if would be on the front page of every newspaper and the talking heads would be barking it non stop.
I have read about many, many more democrats swapping sides than I have Republican's.
It's nice to see that there are those who see the whole picture instead of just empty promises.
The 20th century Democratic Party has never stood for any of these.
And that includes JFK, who was about as useless President as Clinton was.
I know that in my town, the puerto ricans who are normally dems are voting for Bush.
They cite concerns with Kerry not being able to defend our country as th ereason why.
I think the mainstream media will also be surprised by the level of conservatism of young voters and Bush's gains with black and Catholic voters. I personally think Bush will win more comfortably than he did in 2000.
In Connecticut, I call it the lesbian state, they say Dodd is getting 64% in the polls but Kerry is only getting 52%... I think that says something.
The writer is much too P.C. - these people are AMERICANS of Cuban descent mainly --- they do NOT call themselves "hispanic" - a contrived word created by the communist carter administration to further split the Republic of the U.S.A.
Not only is Kerry not a real Democrat, he is not a real man...real men protect the life of the unborn and do not allow babies to be murdered. How easy it would have been for Bush not to go into Iraq. He took the high rode and at great risk to his political career, something Kerry could never understand. He detours and backtracks so much he gets lost. Someone without any sense of direction and
moral compass is the last person who should be President of this great country.
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