After watching Trump win on election day, I’ve been emotionally sick (I’ve also lost 7 pounds in the little over a month, which would be good thing if my heart didn’t keep trying to pump its way out of my chest, so I’m having to increase my blood pressure medication). This election just doesn’t feel right. There’s something about this group of Republicans together — Trump, Bannon, McConnell, Ryan, Comey — that just feels like a storm is coming, that things are going to change, and that I can no longer just sit around reading blogs and annoy my “friends” with articles about Trump. So my wife and I attended our first Democratic County group meeting here in Texas.
Because it was so close to Christmas, it was more of a meet-and-eat, but there was plenty for us to talk about. The people I met are very much Democrats and very determined. My county is about 1/3 Democrat, so, barring a miracle, it will be kind of hard for Democrats to win office. But that doesn’t stop them. One of the members, a retired engineer, ran for the state House seat. She lost, but that hasn’t slowed down her, her husband, or the rest of the group. I found out from many of them that they were angry at the election, angry at who was elected, and angry about where he could take us. But last night, they were celebrating being together, and being ready for next year to come. We sang Christmas songs, and my wife and I got our names onto the lists for breakfasts and to be notified of other meetings.
Roughly a third of us were new people, and those of us there all felt the same thing: We needed to do more. During the election, I had pushed my family and friends to vote, and they did, for Clinton. While I knew that Texas didn’t flip, and my county will probably only flip if Christianity is outlawed by Trump, it just seems that sitting and reading blogs will no longer cut it. I can no longer say “My county won’t be Democratic, so there’s nothing to do.”
And I can’t solve this problem alone.
Which is my call to action: Find the local Democratic party in your area and join. We can’t solve this just sitting at this blog. We’re a self-selected group that does a good job of keeping ourselves informed (and occasionally angry at each other). But the local party groups that could use our energy to help our towns, counties, state and country. We can build up the local parties like they should be. Some of us could run for office, supplying names with Ds after them in those slots that have only had an R.
This is outside my comfort zone. I’m not outgoing. I prefer a small group of friends that I’ve built over time. I can stand up to bullies when I need to, but I am going to have to go beyond that, and go beyond sitting at home. We all are. It will be awkward and confusing at first, but the people in the local group are ready for us. The only way to defeat Trump and McConnell and the White Supremacists is for all of us good people to stand together. And I’m ready for that.