(Update) Wow. I have been refreshing this and responding to this on my phone for a while and didn’t even realize that it had hit the REC List. First time and definitely a little intimidated by it. A sincere thank you for the Recs and comments. Even though not everyone is always playing nice during the primary, it’s nice to see that so many understand what’s truly at stake when all is said and done. Your wonderful responses are also somewhat mitigating the trouble I’m in for choosing this particular photo. My little princess is not pleased!
Last week, I went out and voted in the Democratic primary here in Massachusetts. My first choice, Elizabeth Warren, wasn’t on the ballot so I had to choose between two candidates who by definition were not my first choice. Thankfully, unlike our friends on the right, I got to choose between two candidates that are more than qualified for the job.
I chose Hillary, but it was close. The truth is that from a pure ideological standpoint, I’m closer to Bernie but from a pragmatic standpoint, I’m closer to Hillary. That by the way is why I wanted Liz to run so badly as I believed her to be the perfect hybrid of the two.
Anyway, my reasons for deciding on Hillary are my own and I’m really not interested in rehashing the particular pros or cons of each candidate here. Instead, I’d like to focus on November 8th for a moment. What’s important about that date? Well, it’s the day that whoever wins the primary loses my vote.
Now don’t get me wrong, I will be voting that day. I just won’t be voting for Hillary or for Bernie. I’ll be voting for the beautiful little 10 year-old girl pictured above. I’ll be voting for my daughter Madeline. I’ll be voting for her because she’s not old enough to have a voice of her own yet. I’ll be voting for her because the next president may very well be in office until she is officially an adult and ready to head out into the world. I’ll be voting for her because as a parent, I care about her future more than my own. And that’s why I’m so utterly disgusted by what’s going on around here lately.
Even though it’s not the majority, there are far too many folks around here screaming about how they either won’t vote or will vote for Trump if their candidate doesn’t win. Now, because Bernie is currently behind, most of the people saying this are his supporters. But let’s no pretend that there wouldn’t be the same number of Hillary supporters doing the same thing if the situation was reversed. Either way, it’s unacceptable.
If you are a person that would actually stay home in November or even worse, cast your precious vote for a matted squirrel that attached itself to a sweet potato, then you are literally jeopardizing my daughter’s future and quite possibly her life. If you are this person, fuck you. I have absolutely no use for you.
Nobody is telling you to give up or stop supporting your candidate right now. By all means, get out and knock on doors for Bernie or make calls for Hillary. And certainly don’t listen to anyone that tries to tell you when this primary is officially over (even if that someone owns the site). It’s officially over when one candidate gets the required number of delegates and not a moment sooner. Just remember that come November, it no longer matters whether Hillary won or Bernie won because you’re not voting for them. You’re voting for Madeline.
You’re voting so that she gets a quality education that prepares her to be a successful adult. You’re voting so that she will have the right to choose what she does or does not do with her own body. You’re voting so that she can earn the same pay as a man that does the same job and have that pay be an actual living wage. You’re voting so that someone will protect the air she breathes and the water that she drinks. You’re voting so that she has access to affordable heathcare. In other words, you’re voting to protect all the things that every single one of us here believes should be a fundamental right, things that either one of our great candidates will fight to protect and things that the other side are actively opposed to.
Madeline thanks you for your support.
And for the record, she is an avid Bernie supporter. She doesn’t really know a lot about him, she just doesn’t want Hillary to win because she wants to be the first woman President. I’ll be soliciting donations for her in 2044 when she’s finally old enough to run!