Democrats say they are the party of “freedom,” not the Republicans

“Freedom” was a key theme at the 2024 Democratic Convention. For years, Republicans have called themselves the party of freedom. But this week, Democrats are reclaiming the word, particularly on the issues of abortion and gun safety. During his opening night address at the United Center, Congressman Jamie Raskin called this year’s DNC the “Democracy Convention” and the “Freedom Convention.” Senator Raphael Warnock warned in a stirring speech that “anti-democratic forces are currently at work in Georgia and throughout the country.” And Kamala Harris, who came to “Freedom” from Beyonce, In a surprise appearance on the stage of the party conference, he vowed to “fight for the ideals that are dear to us.”

On Tuesday, Michigan’s governor said at a gathering of Everytown for Gun Safety and Planned Parenthood, two of the most prominent groups on the front lines of gun safety and reproductive rights, Gretchen Whitmer urged those in attendance to use the language of abortion and gun safety, noting that women have been “on the front lines” of these movements. “Be bold,” she said. Don't treat any of the issues “as a third track that nobody wants to talk about,” continued the governor, a rising Democratic star. “We need to engage and talk about it.”

The right to abortion has long been viewed as a matter of personal liberty – an issue that has proven effective at the ballot box since the conservatives on the Supreme Court roe in 2022. But gun control, another key issue for the Democratic coalition, has been portrayed by the right over the past few decades as a government attack on gun owners' Second Amendment rights. During the panel discussion — where the two groups unveiled a joint ad supporting Harris —Angela Ferrell-Zabala, The executive director of Moms Demand Action, a volunteer network that is part of Everytown, described the issues as two sides of the same coin. “We know that these two issues are about our freedoms,” Ferrell-Zabala said. “Our freedom to make our own decisions about our bodies and our freedom to live safe from gun violence.” President of Planned Parenthood Alexis McGill-Johnson agreed: “We are in a radical realignment with respect to freedom.” McGill Johnson sharply criticized the “freedom deniers” in the Republican Party and praised their supporters on the “front lines in the fight against fascism.” “People value their basic freedoms,” she said.

On Monday evening Joe Biden asked an electrified crowd at the United Center, “Are you ready to vote for freedom?” The support in the arena was palpable. “Are you ready to vote for democracy and America?” he continued. “Let me ask you: Are you ready to vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz“- who made the battle cry “Mind your own shit” into “President and Vice President of the United States”?

The demand for a life without fear and for autonomy over one's own reproductive health is an energizing message for Democrats, who are emphasizing the unity of their party here in Chicago. “We know what our task is,” McGill Johnson said Tuesday morning. “We have to bring freedom fighters back to the White House, and we have to give that White House a governing majority.”