Democrats Urge Support for Warren

Grafton's current and future representative in Congress spoke out against the current Republican leadership at a breakfast yesterday at a breakfast meeting of town Democrats.

They urged voters to return a Massachusetts Democrat to the Senate this fall by electing Elizabeth Warren.

Republicans in Congress have “used the deficit and debt to launch an all-out assault on poor people, middle-class people and working families,'' said James McGovern, who will represent Grafton in January when redistricting goes into effect.

He described House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor as “even more frightening in real life than they are on TV.’’

McGovern, Warren and Grafton's current congressman Richard Neal spoke at the Grafton Democratic Town Committee breakfast held yesterday morning at the

Supporting Democratic ideals and candidates is especially important in areas such as Grafton, where the political landscape "is becoming more difficult for people with a D next to their names.,'' Neal said.

With the Republican/Democrat split so close in the Senate, electing Warren would make an important difference for Democrats, McGovern said.

He said the Republican party has made decisions that hurt people, noting that Republicans agreed to provide more help to those with student loans by cutting back instead on preventive health care.

"Those are the kind of choices you have to make,'' he said. "It really is quite sad that these are the priorities of the Republican party.''

Warren promised she would “work [her] heart out’’ for the people of Massachusetts if she were elected.

She said she would focus on “making sure the best conditions are in place’’ for future generations to succeed as she was able to.

She said she learned that people can work together and make a difference when she helped establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

She did that, she said, despite concerns by cynics that the issue would never be approved in the Senate because of intensive lobbying by financial interests.

She succeeded, she said, because she was able to encourage “real people to get engaged.’’ When that happens, she said, they become “the wind in our sails’’ and things can happen to help the average citizen.

Neal urged fellow Democrats to support Social Security, which he said Republicans often and unfairly blame for the nation’s economic ills.

“Always remember: You can outlive an annuity, but you can’t outlive Social Security,’’ he said.

Social Security, he said, represents a team effort: While one generation works to support seniors, that generation will in turn receive the support when they retire.

“In our youth, we pull the wagon so that in our old age we can sit in the wagon,’’ he said. “Social Security is the reason your mom and dad are not living in your attic.’’

Neal received the committee’s Fremont-Moroney Leadership in Action award. 

Charles N. Bolack, the “unofficial mayor of Grafton,’’ was honored with the John F. Sullivan Citizen Activist Award.