The cliché comes up every four years, but this year’s
elections truly reflect our nation at a crossroads. The choice has never been
starker, and the stakes have never been higher. With the White House, both
houses of Congress, and, ultimately, the Supreme Court hanging in the balance,
we are on the verge of a monumental decision.

President Obama and Democrats in Congress are still
fighting to undo the damage that preceded them and bring about a full and
lasting economic recovery from a debilitating recession that has affected all
sectors of our economic, political and civic life. Nearly 25 million Americans
are now either unemployed or underemployed; working families are making less
than they once did; housing foreclosures continue; and education and retirement
costs are becoming more and more
unattainable.

But precisely while the economy slowly rebounds,
Republicans continue to rally behind candidates and legislators who are bent on
digging us further into an economic abyss, where the rich get richer at the
expense of the other 97 percent of the populace. Republicans are single-mindedly
attempting to roll back decades of social progress and destroy the government’s
ability to function, even if the American people become collateral damage.

President Obama and the Democrats running for
election or reelection in Congress are not perfect, but our vision for
preserving the American Dream – and leveling the playing field to make it
accessible to all who work hard – is fundamentally different from the
laissez-faire, sink-or-swim ethos of the Republicans. 2012 is a genuine
opportunity to not only staunch the wounds of economic recession, but to make
progress as a country – economically, socially, environmentally, and
otherwise.