Note: On January 6, 2024, the third anniversary of the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, President Joe Biden spoke at a college near the historic Revolutionary War battlefield in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The full text of his remarks is available HERE, and you may view a video clip on C-Span HERE.

As Biden noted, “America, as we begin this election year, we must be clear: Democracy is on the ballot. Your freedom is on the ballot.”

Rosa Colquitt, PhD, chair of the Democratic Party of Oregon, offers these thoughts on the significance of Biden’s remarks in this election year of 2024.

I listened intently to every word of President Biden’s speech. As a person who appreciates clear choices, the President very passionately delivered a clear message on the choices that all Americans face — Trump’s America that we saw on January 6th, or an American democracy that we can depend on for all of our other freedoms. For me, President Biden gave us a powerfully impassioned speech in which he showed us who he is at the very core of his being — a leader who is committed to protecting the nation from the existential threat posed by Donald Trump and his MAGA extremists.

There were many lines in the President’s speech that reached into the deepest recesses of my heart, such as, “We will never again bow down to a king,” but my favorite, most memorable line was this question: “Is American democracy still the sacred cause of this nation?” Clearly the answer is an emphatic “yes.” I look forward to hearing President Biden and Vice President Harris’s message of democracy to all voters as it resonates throughout the campaign. 

Rosa Colquitt, PhD
State Party Chair, Democratic Party of OregonOregon Admin, National Coalition of Women for Biden-Harris

From l to r: Rosa Colquitt, PhD, Joe Biden, Marcia Schneider, at a Portland campaign stop, fall 2022.