I work in the financial industry where my co-workers freely admit they "vote with their wallets". I have always been in the minority at election time...and just about every other time too. I'm used to it and I fight the good fight, I think, by arming myself with talking points and facts about my world view. Today, I had help from Barack Obama himself.
Actually, I am sure the assist came from someone within his organization, but I am going to continue to believe it came from the Senator himself. Just before the stock market opened today (which is 6:30 a.m. in my location) I heard two financial advisors discussing taxes. One said to the other, "Have you heard Obama wants to tax anyone with a house 2400 square feet and larger?" The response was, "That's why we can't let him win."
Upon hearing this, I immediately went to www.barackobama.com and clicked on the "Fight the Smears" link, hoping against hope that there would be something about this topic. Guess what? There it was, with a copy of the error-filled email making the rounds on the internet and then a point-by-point response refuting each and every lie about BO's tax positions. Factcheck.org was the outside source for the response to these falsehoods. I calmly made two copies of the piece, highlighted the section where factcheck.org addresses the tax-on-houses-bigger-than-2400 sq. feet lies and laid a copy on each man's desk. I smiled sweetly and said, "You might want to check the facts about Obama's tax proposals. Please look at the section I have highlighted."
These guys are still going to "vote with their wallets" but I am not going to let them get away with their, um, shit any longer. Thank goodness for the "Fight the Smears" section on Obama's website. It came through for me in a big, moral-victory-type way for me today. I have a feeling I will be referring to it often over the next several months.