BOSTON, July 28, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The former ambassador to the Vatican and three-term Democratic mayor of Boston, Ray Flynn, has said that the average American’s opinions, especially on such matters as abortion and gay marriage, just isn’t being heard or welcomed at the Democratic National Convention and by the Democratic Party in general. “The Democratic Party delegates, hierarchy, [and] leadership are out of touch with American mainstream values,” he said, as reported by CNSNews.com.
Flynn is critical of presidential candidate John Kerry’s and the party’s views on such issue as abortion. He highlighted that the former Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, the late Bob Casey, was not allowed to address the convention in the past, because of his pro-life stance, and his Catholicism. Flynn bemoans the fact that liberal, left-leaning special interest groups often control the political agenda of the Democratic party. “[T]he feminists, the left-wing groups—they’re the ones that have the great impact on the Democratic Party now,” he said. “Where are the voices of just average people out there?”
Flynn emphasized that the responsibility of the party to be more inclusive of average Americans with traditional values is not solely that of politicians. He said that the average American with pro-life and pro-marriage values has a “responsibility to get politically involved.” In a Quote of the Week from the October 2000 Federalist Digest, Flynn said “Don’t vote for anyone who doesn’t strongly have a pro-life position,” urging his fellow Catholics not to vote for Al Gore. tv