I feel very connected to my newly elected senator. Mind you, I only met him once, in that Mexican restaurant, and some of his charm might have been due to the margarita. But he keeps in touch! I hear from him two or three times every week.
I’m questioning whether it’s a healthy relationship though. You see, he keeps hitting me up for money — sometimes for himself and sometimes for his senatorial friends who apparently have fallen on hard times. (I understand. It’s a difficult economy right now.)
I want to be helpful. Even though I don’t have a lot of money, I use what I have to do what good I can.
The thing is, I don’t feel confident my contributions to the campaign of any member of Congress are going to be meaningful when Republicans are enacting laws in so many states that will prevent people from voting.
If we don’t have a functioning democracy — if we acquiesce to permanent rule by the least informed minority — then none of my contributions are going to bring about the policy changes we would vote (have voted) for. At best, my contributions will just keep me on the senator’s mailing list.
Sure, we might help my state’s other Democratic senator keep his seat in 2022, but what’s the point if we also lose the Senate majority due to voter suppression? What’s the point if we lose the House due to gerrymandering? Moreover, why is my senator asking me to help reelect the same crew who weren’t willing to use their majority power to change things in 2021?
Now, I can already hear him sobbing on the phone, wailing about how he’s not the problem, “it’s Manchin, Sinema!” Thing is, dude, you asked for this job, and you campaigned on the premise you’d get people to cooperate and get things done. It’s time to show results, or we need to reevaluate our relationship.