The race to become the next Democratic nominee for President of the United States is getting heated, drawing figurative blood.  But if we step back and take a look, where does the race currently stand?

This is a serious moment for America. And the American people understand that. They're in a sober mood.

Every single Democrat who speaks before you today is going to have something important and valuable to offer. Over the next year of a primary and the next two years leading to the election of the next president, the campaigns...

(APPLAUSE)

... the campaigns shouldn't be about making each other look bad, they should be about figuring out how we can all do some good for this precious country of ours.

(APPLAUSE)

That's our mission.

And in this mission, our rivals won't be one another, and I would assert it won't even be the other party. It's going to be cynicism that we're fighting against.

(APPLAUSE)

It's the cynicism that's borne from decades of disappointment, amplified by talk radio and 24-hour news cycle, reinforced by the relentless pounding of negative ads that have become the staple of modern politics.

It's a cynicism that asks us to believe that our opponents are never just wrong, but they're bad; that our motives in politics can never be pure, that they're only driven by power and by greed; that the challenges that we face today aren't just daunting, but they're impossible.

And if this is true, then politics is not a noble calling, it's a game, it's a blood sport with folks keeping score about who's up and who's down.