Winter is not ready to fold its tent and make way for spring. More snow is in the forecast, several feet they are saying. The only thing worse than my heating bills are the premiums I pay an insurance company that is looking for every reason to cancel my home insurance. Seeking a diversion, I turn on the news. Car chases, car crashes, falling bridges, and tragedies as dramatic as the anchors can make them seem to be the stories of the day. Well okay, they do squeeze in some fuzzy kitty stories and other feel-good fluff as well as enough jovial prattle among themselves to let us know they do not let the stories they dramatize bum them out. They also give us the show biz news (gossip) and the sports report (gotta love March Madness).
When I’ve had enough of the mind pap and fluff, I hum the dirty laundry song and tune in the political madness! Judging by the exodus of Republicans from the house of representatives, it appears as though there are real conservatives who can no longer bear sharing the kennel with the rabid Greene dog and her nihilistic, fascist pack. Yay, something to cheer. Some congressional seats to turn! Will enough Republicans vacate the house in time to give the Democrats a majority there before the morons unseat MAGA Mike? How sweet is the sting of that! I know it is unseemly, but I really find it amusing.
At last night’s meeting of the Democratic club, we were discussing voter registration, and how we can increase the number of people who cast their ballots. The big question soon became: what do you say to a person who insists that voting is a meaningless gesture because it will not make any difference? At the time this question was posed my thoughts were still influenced by the weather. “Tell them virga will never be a river,” I said. One of the members of the club said that people who don’t vote will not understand such a sophisticated comment. I had to admit that she was probably right. So save your explanations Dalas Raines! They are wasted on people who don’t vote. People who don’t vote don’t give a damn about why the weather does what it does. They just want to know if the sky is going to dump on them tomorrow. One would think they would also want to pay enough attention to figure out which politicians are going to dump on them, but they don’t. Futility is their excuse for not learning what they need to know to make informed decisions. Why bother if your vote does not matter. Like foul weather, corruption and exploitation are just God’s will. Given this belief held by far too many non-voters it is little wonder that the most popular advice about what to say to people expressing such futility is, “thank you for your opinion, and for not voting!” Having said that, however, I should point out that we Democrats do not see reaching out to the non-voters as being a futile gesture. There are simply too many red line issues that even the ill-informed care about.
Do want politicians in your bedroom and doctor’s office? How many kids do you want!
Do you prefer roads without big potholes, and bridges that are not in danger of collapsing?
Do you prefer food servers who do not carry infectious diseases because they have access to health care?
These are just a few of the issues to help the uninformed understand what is at stake and which politicians are dumping on them. Granted, we will never get the attention of most of the non-voters, but we can’t get the attention of any of the non-voters if we don’t try. One door at a time, as the salesmen say. Every vote counts.
I am actually feeling optimistic about the upcoming elections. I find it hard to believe that the rudderless Republican ship of fools can survive bashing itself against rocks if we show voters our alternative.