Election Day for millions of American voters has already started with early voting from Nevada to California to Texas and North Carolina. The excitement is brewing and the race for the Democratic nomination remains fluid. The ninth debate is crucial and I believe every American will be in for a treat.

When this race started, Democrats were looking at more than two dozen candidates. Today, we are down to fewer than 10 with 3,914 pledged delegates unspoken for. The Democratic Party is searching for America’s next leader. As voters, we get to choose that individual in the coming days, weeks and months.

After the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, President Lyndon Johnson observed, “We have lost the South for a generation.” Quite a bit longer, as it turned out.

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But today’s Democratic Party is trying to make a comeback in the three states that gave President Trump the winning margin in the electoral margin: Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Now it’s up to millions of Democrats and others to choose a candidate who can not only defeat an incumbent president but help unite a divided nation.

Faced with a definitive election amid the roiling tides of history, Democrats must choose wisely by selecting the candidate that best represents the core Democratic values of equality, justice and inclusion.

Our challenge as citizens is to live up to those values and our duty as voters is to elect a president who embodies them. With the field of candidates still in the Democratic race, we have a fighting chance to do exactly that.

I’m not going to advocate one candidate over the other. Nor will I choose between a progressive and moderate approach to governance. We will undoubtedly need both in facing the challenges we have before us.

Whether you prefer bold new directions, traditional pragmatism or a combination of both, you can find what you’re looking for in the Democratic field. What you won’t find is xenophobia, bigotry and endless vitriol.

One very good reason to support Democrats up and down the ballot is that they are not “Trump Republicans.”

The fact that President Donald Trump has such a vice-grip on the Republican Party is symptomatic of a party that has lost its way.

The party that once touted a belief in balancing budgets has now given us the largest federal debt in history and a 50 percent increase in budget deficits under President Trump.

The party that once valued a strong defense now has a leader who attacks decorated veterans, military institutions and our intelligence community.

The party that once stood for pragmatic foreign policy has now abandoned and ridiculed our traditional allies and the multilateral institutions that have protected world peace since the end of World War II.

A party that once at least gave lip service to environmental protection now presides over the dismantling of all safeguards for clean air and water.

In their fear-fueled fever to please their leader, Republicans in Congress – save one, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah – no longer defend the values that define us as a nation such as the integrity of our elections, our concept of one-person one-vote, our cherished identity as a nation of immigrants, our rule of law and our bedrock belief that nobody is above the law.

This election is not only about the impeached president, but it’s also really about who we are as a people and a nation. Ultimately, we move forward or backward as a society, not as a collection of individuals.

You’ve heard it said that nobody is free until everybody is free. Similarly, all of us are less prosperous while any of us are poor.

There will always be those who stumble and fall. If we lend a hand now to those less fortunate, they will rise to help our nation move forward instead of holding it back.

And certainly, we are all better off when we choose to embrace the values this country was founded on: equal rights for all people, the rule of law, the belief that nobody is above the law and the sanctity of free and fair elections protected from foreign influence.

When our nation’s values are degraded by those in power, it’s not to help America – it’s to keep them in power.

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We voters hold the ultimate power in this country, at least for now. We will be ultimately responsible for the kind of country our children and grandchildren inherit.

Your vote isn’t about what you think about Trump. It’s about who you think we are as a nation.

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America deserves a president who asks, "What can we do together?" We deserve someone who does not mock citizens for public gain. And use social media as a weapon to vilify those who simply disagree with his administration.

It’s your turn as voters to take control of our beloved country’s values, identity and future. For the love of all we hold sacred, choose wisely and please get out to vote.

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