Plan to Vote
I don't care whether voters have some beef with some minor issue like the price of gas or the price of their toilet paper. Be realistic. Is that a trade-off for what we would get if the orange headed menace makes it back to the Presidency? We're not fighting this battle politically at that level because there are people who have sold their soul to this perpetrator of evil and those little nuances are meaningless. Will the price of toilet paper matter when there's no more free speech, or when those who protest grievances to the government are shot down by the National Guard?
For those who don't like the actions and policy the President has taken regarding the Israeli-Hamas war, how will staying at home, or voting for some third party candidate, achieve the result you desire? First, be realistic. Israel isn't going away. Second, be more realistic. The Palestinian population of Gaza and the West Bank will become refugees living somewhere in either the Sinai desert, or in the no-man's land between Jordan, Syria and Iraq if Trump is elected Pressident. Those who are their advocates will be silenced, their resources no longer permitted to provide aid and whatever political resolution that is hoped for will not be achieved. There's no guarantee that every problem will become immediately resolved under a second Biden administration, but a two-state solution, which will at least provide some opportunity for relief and some hope for a realistic future, is possible.
Latino voters shouldn't think Trump has any plans to address their concerns. Once he uses you, he loses you. Listen to the rhetoric and believe it. He considers all Latinos as immigrants, not Americans, not even Puerto Ricans who are citizens by birth. He's repeatedly said as much. And these threats to station the military at the borders aren't just to beef up the border partrol. The intention is to shoot those who try to come across. How humane is that? And how humane will it be when any members of Latino families are separated when birthright citizenship is repealed? Not to mention the fact that Trump does not see opportunities for economic opportunity as applying to "immigrants," meaning all Latinos.
He's a bigot, and his language in reference to Latinos is a clear indication of exactly how he feels. America is a land of opportunity for Latinos, we are strengthened and made better by their presence, and your vote needs to keep it that way.
For those who aren't happy with inflation, neither am I. But we have a healthy economy and the President's administration is taking the steps to do something about it. I trust his administration with a solution a whole lot more than I trust the economics of a second Trump administration. Part of the problem can be fixed by making sure there's not a Republican majority in either house.
Fighting Against the Antiquated Electoral College, a Vote for a Third Party Candidate is a Vote for Trump
We've still not managed to get rid of our antiquated, fear-based election system in choosing a President, so staying home isn't an option, nor is voting for a candidate who can't win. That just gives votes to the other side. Vote for Biden, and that is the best pathway that exists to keep America secure, and to keep us as a constitutional democracy of, by and for the people, not just the billionaires and their pretenders. RFK Jr. isn't going to solve any problems from behind a microphone, nor is Jill Stein or Cornell West. They can't and won't win, but they can help Trump win. So make it sure and certain, and cast that ballot for Joe Biden for President.
Do More
In every possible forum I have available to me, I advocate for Biden. My barber and his partner bring it up all the time in the barber shop, especially when they know they've got another Biden supporter in the chair or in the waiting area. Sometimes, it's been lively, and the most common outcome is that the Trumpies eventually fold up and go silent. But the image is being projected that there's an active effort to keep the orange headed buffoon from winning the election. And when his people aren't in the majority and can't control the narrative, or have to listen to facts instead of his lies, they're not happy about it.
That's just a chance to communicate a message. This is our country too, and we're not going to give it away again.
I contribute. It's not much, it won't make or break a campaign, but it adds up to the others, millions of small donations, that are contributing and helping. One of the strategies the Biden administration is using is what the Obama campaign called its "ground game." They're spending money on getting people registered and getting the registered to the polls. They're making sure the registered are informed.
I write this blog online and promote it. It does have a following, about 4,500 readers a month, averaging sometimes as many as 150 hits in a day when a controversial subject is posted. And it does get comments, some from supporters, some from enraged Trumpies who, for the most part, make it easy to respond and inform.
I will volunteer to make phone calls. During the last two elections, 2020 and the mid-terms, I helped the Democratic party in Southeast Wisconsin canvas voters and get them to the polls. I spent the day before the election knocking on doors. Although my personal effort was probably small, the Democratic vote in those two counties was much improved over 2018 and 2016. In fact, during the special election for the state Supreme Court, when Democrat Janet Protasiewicz was elected, by an 11% majority, the democratic vote total in the region exceeded the GOP for the first time since 2012.
For some people, being an antagonist comes naturally, while it's hard for others. But I've found it satisfying, when the rare opportunity presents itself, to show up at GOP town halls and gatherings and bring facts and figures along to correct the politician's lies and exaggerations. I usually only get one opportunity to ask a question and bring up an incorrect assertion that needs correcting, but there are always people afterward who come up and are thankful for the information.
Be a Defender of Democracy
We seem to be slow to learn the lessons of history and slower to take steps to protect and defend our democracy from its internal enemies. The fact that a former President can illegally attempt to use his power to organize an insurrection intended on preventing the peaceful transition of power guaranteed in the constitution and go unpunished for almost four years after the fact, and then, be able to hide behind circumstances and delay prosecution because of a political quirk no one imagined when the constitution was written is a flaw that has unimaginable consequences.
Do we, as Americans, believe in being a nation of law and order? Isn't that a conservative political claim? How can that be, when the law is ineffective and unable to prosecute a former President who abused his power and appointed corrupt judges to the federal bench, for a lifetime, who he expects to rule in his favor instead of rule by the law? It's going to take a cycle of elections, starting with this one, to get politicians in place with enough power and authority to clean out the corruption in the federal justice system and make it work for the people to whom it is subject.
The re-election of President Joe Biden is the light at the end of this dark tunnel. This is a democracy under a constitution of, by and for the people. We still have the ability to vote to protect the power we have and to use it to defend ourselves from all enemies, foreign and domestic, and Trump and his cronies are a domestic enemy. We need to convince ourselves that we can still be a democracy and save our democracy by giving this evil demagogue the electoral beating of his life. He's never won the full confidence of the American people and we need to make sure he doesn't even come close in November.
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