When it comes to both voting, and contributing, as an American citizen, lifelong Democrat, and a college history and secondary education major, with a minor in English to teach, and a Master's that includes plenty of what was called "Civics" and Constitutional principles coursework, I'm an easy mark. I've voted in every Presidential election, midterm, and off-year election since 1976, when I became eligible to vote exactly two days before the registration deadline.
I probably made some people mad by taking my sweet time in the voting booth on election day. No computers back then, the "machine" was a small blue table with a place to insert the ballot and mark with the pencil provided, which was a standard #2 lead on the same kind of scantron form schools use for tests. I made sure I voted for everything on the ballot. I'd have voted "straight ticket Democrat" if that had been provided but rules in that state at the time didn't allow it.
I can't tell you how much I have contributed to campaigns, a lot of it on the local level, or to the party itself, over the years. It's not a large amount, about a fourth of what I give to charitable causes. But I take satisfaction in the fact that all of those contributions added together--well, you know how that works.
Well, that's who I am. I'm still a Democrat, and I still contribute, though after 2024, I stopped the party contribution, and I am being far more selective about the candidates to whose campaigns I contribute. Having a [D] next to the name, even in a general election does not always mean I will mark the ballot on that line, like I once felt obligated to do, but I may choose to leave it blank for various reasons. In fact, I did this during the last general election in which I voted, and felt good about it. Keep that in mind.
So, A Candidate Wants My Vote, Huh? Let Me Provide Some Insights
The most disappointing election, for me, in terms of what I thought I got out of it from the Democrats I supported, was 2020. We got rid of Trump, though it wasn't easy, and his attempts to subvert the Constitution, which should have triggered an immediate response and instantaneous work by Congress, with a sitting Democratic President, to not only undo the damage, but to put safeguards and precautions in place that the pervious four years, and the few months between the election and the inauguration, proved to be absolutely necessary.
And I'll answer the inevitable question, "So what could we have done?"
A bold, forward looking Senate Majority Leader would have begun taking steps to change the Senate rules, including destruction of the undemocratic, archaic, idiotic filibuster, to pave the way for amending the Judiciary act to create five, six,, seven, new seats on the Supreme Court. This is what a majority of Democrats clearly wanted, there had been plenty of conversation about it and five new Biden-appointed judges could have made quick work of any future Trump problems.
They could have overturned Citizens United and the stupid Presidential Immuity rules they created specifically for Trump. They could have expidited his trials for all of the indictments that were eventually handed down and they could have simply swept corrupt federal judges like Aileen Cannon out of the way, taking the cases themselves and nullifying the delaying tactics. Once Jack Smith finished his investigation, a quick trial and boom, Trump is in prison and ineligible to run.
The objection to that, from the old liner, old school, old heads was, "But that would look too political!"
And take a poll and find out who cares. I don't.
The good ole boys love their filibuster and the objection to ending it, the one that mattered most, came from President Biden himself. That does not diminish his record or reputation, as far as I am concerned, but it's old line, old fashioned thinking. And old line politics has proven disastrously inadequate in protecting American Democracy.
So my vote, and my money, will not support a candidate who can't see the future, and is more interested in preserving some kind of non-existent status quo in government than in taking steps by which they might risk their ability to be re-elected in some cases. If getting re-elected takes priority over doing what's right, or over bold moves to keep up with the changes in politics, then do not expect my vote, or my campaign contribution.
When it became clear that nothing was going to be done beyond the painstakingly slow, cumbersome way that our juestice and legal system has developed, and that the incompetent and inept attorney general we had at the time was just going to sit and collect salary while doing less than zero about it, I began making changes in my support and where my vote was going. I narrowed my priorities, atopped every monthly contribution, including what I had been giving for decades to the DNC, and narrowed my focus.
Endorsements That I Value
If Bernie Sanders or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez put their label of approval on someone in my state or district, they get my vote. They are consistent, realistic, and their politics hits at the very heart of what has gone wrong with American Democracy. If either one of them says something that doesn't sound like it's in the ballpark, at least in my perception, I check it out and discover why, and there's always a good reason, or something that I didn't consider. The fact that neither of them just blanket endorses anything gives them credibility. They get it.
My former monthly DNC gift now goes to Leaders We Deserve. This is the organization led by David Hogg, and he is impressive. I can't say enough about his leadership, his bold risk-taking, because he says things that are true and doesn't hold back when it comes to whom it may offend, including Democratic Party leaders. He's going to get a nice, strong slate of young leaders elected in November, and they may very well be the people who are the bold risk takers we've needed for a couple of generations now.
Right now, I'm contributing to one political candidate for office, and he's not running in my state, so sadly, I can't vote for him. Zach Shrewsbury is the best choice to replace long time do-nothing, ineffective, inept Shelly Moore-Capito, in West Virginia, if she manages to get re-nominated, since there appears to be opposition to that. No wonder. She's never represented or taken any interest in the people of West Virginia, beyond what she and her husband can get out of them. This one may not be as much of a long shot as some people might think. In all the time she has spent in the Senate, Capito-Moore is a zero when it comes to putting forth legislation, period, much less to help the people of her state. She is not one of those people. She lives there, off of them, not in any kind of helpful way.
He, on the other hand, is a real West Virginian who understands he is running to represent a state where economic hard times have gotten more desperate than ever, because of the Republicans who have represented it. The last time anyone from West Virginia in Congress did anything for their state, it was a cooperative effort between President Biden and Senator Manchin to save the only emergency room and hospital in one of the poorer, coal-minisg counties. Shrewsbury is from deep in the heart of coal country, a Marine Veteran who has made providing flood and poverty relief his career.
My governor, J. D. Pritzker, uses his endorsements sparingly, to help team-build effective political service, and he is the best in the nation at doing so. Fund raising appeals from him are virtually non existent, though he does ask for my vote, and he's getting it, along with anyone else he thinks would do a good job in Congress. Governor Pritzker is the kind of person who gets things done. Some Democrats seem to be kind of timid about moiving forward without bipartisan support, and perhaps there was a day and time when that was necessary, or politically prudent, but I'm of the opinion now that if the GOP just dissolved, it would not be missed.
So It's Not Hard to Get my Vote and My Contribution
As a teacher and school administrator, I appreciate people who use their education, not who set it aside and chase conspiracy theories. And I do not see the endless cycle of running for congress, raising money, running for congress, raising money as being productive. Some of the most successful members of Congress, the cabinet, the Presidency, in this country's history chose to serve a single term and did not consider their office as personal family property or an entitlement, because it belongs to we, the people, not to the office holder. Career politicians don't impress me. A career politician couldn't ever do what I do and succeed at it..
I must confess to a little bit of religious bigotry. Having been raised in a conservative, Evangelical church and denomination, and seeing where the influence of most of these people have led us, I have trouble casting a ballot for a conservative Evangelical, or a Mormon or a Catholic who doesn't move in progressive Democratic party circles. Generally, this is not a problem because even the Democrats who are Evangelical--and there are some--are genuinely Christian, not the pseudo-Christian variety like the Heritage Foundation clowns who run the GOP.
I'm open to campaign persuasion. Let the election season come and may it produce a Democratuc majority.
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