Jesse Jackson- Protecting Our Franchise

Twenty years ago, I stood before the Democratic Convention in San Francisco, a candidate for the presidency of the United States, to speak of the hopes and dreams of Americans who, lacking voice in their everyday lives as well as the political process, took an apathetic attitude toward voting. That night I challenged the party to expand its center, to make room for America's working poor, our struggling middle class, those at the bottom who were and are the heart of the multi-ethnic, multi-issue Rainbow Coalition -- the organization that spurred my 1984 presidential campaign. In 1984, we registered 2 million new voters. In 1986, we helped return the U.S. Senate to the Democrats. [more]