Activist Says Party Needs More Truman Democrats
Rachel Kleinfeld wasn't hard to spot at the Nebraska State Fair, wearing a T-shirt with the words "Are you a Truman Democrat?" and a picture of a man saluting.
The political activist took some teasing when people learned she was a Democrat who traveled to this red state in a bid to transform her party.
But she said even Republicans were receptive to her message: The Democratic Party must become stronger on issues of national security.
"The fact that Democrats are not seen as credible on these issues has really hurt our democracy," she said.
Kleinfeld was in Nebraska this week promoting the Truman National Security Project, a movement calling for a new national security vision that is coherent and strong, based on bedrock Democratic values and offering a clear alternative to the GOP.
An Alaska native and a Rhodes scholar, Kleinfeld, 29, said many of her group's members are young Democrats from red states. Among the 100 principal founders is Scott Kleeb of Dunning, who is running for Congress in Nebraska's 3rd District.
Kleinfeld also met briefly with U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., who she said was very supportive of her group. She said Truman Democrats believe in a robust military to deter threats, promoting democracy abroad, strong alliances and coordinating military, intelligence, diplomatic and foreign aid policies to meet U.S. security goals.
The Democratic president from whom her group gets its name, Harry Truman, understood that projecting power to make Americans safer didn't involve just dropping bombs, she said. His administration also produced the Marshall Plan, using American aid to help Europe recover from World War II.
