Hi Salon. Like many websites on the internet, now and again I end up visiting your articles and finding something interesting to read, or having something from you shared my way. As with any editorial effort, I respect the fact you are giving writers a platform to speak their mind and talk about big issues. Maybe you don’t need my advice, and I’m not here to give it as to what you publish; that’s certainly up to you. Let me say, though: Sometimes I sit wondering what inspires choices we make in life and why we think it matters. In a recent article published at Salon, two-time Donald Trump voter Rich Logis tells the story of how he was wrong, how he will only vote for Democratic candidates now, and how he wants to see the nation repaired.
First, I want to say I completely support this attitude. Some of the most important Democratic candidates and elected officials are former Republicans who abandoned their party. In fact, some of the most important people in any organization are those who have had a change of heart and fervently represent that change. U.S. senators, religious leaders, and even myself who grew up in a Republican household have all had our “Saul on the road to Damascus” moment, so to speak.
Hey, I get it. Logis isn’t even trying to contend that he came over because he supports Democratic policies. He just wants a mercy killing of the Republican Party, he says, because they have gone too far in some ways. He contends he believed everything they were selling: that Democratic candidates wanted to grab your guns and Hillary was part of a conspiracy. Not only was he buying what he was being told, as he notes at the top of the article, but he was selling it too, making a decent living as a political pundit selling his conservative-baiting content to Fox News and others. Having spoken to Logis via Twitter (10/4) Logis denies this, stating he made zero income on anything he wrote or his podcast, where he lost money despite his investment of time and effort. While Logis may have personal success through his private consulting business, I will acknowledge his direct correction here. He now regrets it.
I’m glad he has regrets. I’m glad he’s going to vote Democratic. All of that is fine. Welcome. It’s one more vote. But there is a key problem here: None of this entitles you to lecture the Democratic Party on how they take votes for granted.
It is important to acknowledge you were wrong. Acknowledging you were wrong has meaning to a whole lot of people as a recognition that an error was made and you will work to fix it. Throughout the article on Salon, Logis acknowledges the error of his ways and seeks to adjust for it. He says that he will make amends and he sees the wrong that has been done. After all, working to fix a problem is ... oh ... wait ... hold on ...
My new organization, Listen. Lead. Unite., is dedicated to healing America's political trauma by bringing together communities and elected leaders to collaborate on nonpartisan economic, educational and quality-of-life solutions.
We Homo sapiens are a binary species; I believe Americans deserve a healthy two-party system.
In my view, the Democratic Party is relatively healthy, although it has two major blind spots: It takes for granted many historically Democratic voting blocs — such as religious minorities, LGBTQ citizens and Black and Latino voters — and it almost entirely ignores rural America.
Oh yes. I’ve heard this before. He’s found help. Now please donate to support his efforts to keep him going. He needs your money to build out more community healers. Humans, after all, as he points out, are a “binary species” (we are not) and then, within the context of the article he goes on to point out that the Democratic Party is in decent health but takes for granted LGBTQ+, Black, and Latino voters. This is being said during a time when the Democratic Party is actively pushing to secure the voting rights of Black and Latino voters while Republicans are pushing back, and Democratic Party members are working to enshrine the right to marriage equity in the law while Republicans are refusing. So I guess when it comes to “taking them for granted,” Logis’ definition is something very different than anything I am remotely aware of as I have always assumed it means doing very little or absolutely nothing. In the last two years and under Obama, more advancements were made than ever while Donald J. Trump and his own favorite Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis—to whom he refers as someone he saw as reasonable once—worked hard to stomp out the rights of immigrants, potential voters, LGBTQ+ residents, and students who just wanted to learn.
The Democratic Party does need continued effort in rural America. Kansas has proven multiple times it can be done, and other states have too: Alaska recently showed that we can succeed in rural America when we are prepared to share our message.
I’m glad Florida will have your vote, Rich Logis. I’m hopeful you change the minds of others around you. That is fine by me. But before you think that maybe you have the guide on how you would change the Democratic Party, and before you decry what the party takes for granted, you might actually do something, anything to support that claim.
First on that list? Donate to some Democratic campaigns. Second? Maybe instead of siphoning money for your own organization, you encourage your friends to donate to the Democrats too.
I don’t know. Just something I’m thinking about today.
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