It can be unnerving at first—going door-to-door in Nashville and talking with complete strangers (that is, if they decided to open the door). Making cold calls is also far beyond my comfort zone. But as I spoke with more people, at their doorstep and on the phone, the task became easier. And knowing that my small efforts might just sway one or more voters to get to the polls on Election Day made all the awkwardness worthwhile.
As with most everything, there is good news and bad news.
The good news is that the Democrats I chatted with were revved up and ready to vote. They were gracious, kind, compelling—and thankful to volunteers. More importantly, they understood the gravity of Tuesday’s midterm election. They know a big win could give us the seats needed to stop Trump, and start cleaning up the pugnacious damage he has perpetuated since Inauguration Day. We can start impeachment proceedings for a number of offenses committed by the man who continues to spit on the U.S. Constitution. We can rid Congress of the majority of weak-kneed, compliant Republican lawmakers who serve their wannabe dictator/king, who in turn serves them (only as long as it benefits him). And the Democrats I spoke with knew that if we win big, they could breathe a sigh of relief knowing that if a Supreme Court seat came open in the next two years, we could stop Trump from filling the position with another person like Brett Kavanaugh—an accused sexual abuser/rapist who’s far from impartial, in addition to being dishonest and unable to control his own temperament under pressure. If Democrats come out to vote and we have a fair election, we will fill the next SCOTUS seat. We’ll be swimming in good news.
The bad news is Republican voters are just as revved up and ready. Many of them voted early, so we can’t assume the majority of those early votes are Blue. I have some decent and generous (and confused) Republican friends with whom talking politics is off limits. It was hard to hide my discontent when I saw their “I voted early” stickers. And then there was last Wednesday evening, when I walked into a nearby church out of curiosity. Two very nice elderly women welcomed me and escorted me to a women’s Bible study (awkwardness abounds). Surprisingly, the study was enjoyable until comments were made on how we should spend our spare time. You would think the answer would be to use that time to pray, but no. These women, with an average age of about 70, were campaigning and making calls to get out the vote and talking about it in church. And now they were encouraging others to do the same—in church. Though they didn’t mention candidates at the time, there was no doubt in mind what party they were working for. I walked out in disgust. That’s how clever Republican propaganda is.
Although the heat is clearly on, my takeaway from this week is that if Democrats merely show up to vote, and we vigilantly demand a fair election, we’ll win. I refuse to say “we got this” when we don’t—at least not yet. Right now, we can talk with Democratic, liberal and progressive friends and ask them if they’re going to vote Tuesday. Some will say, “Why bother?” but perhaps a simple confab may be just what they need to nudge them towards to polls.
Back to the good news—we still live in a country where the goodness in people outweighs and triumphs over the bad, but it often depends upon how much we’re willing to fight for it. On Tuesday, the way to fight for it is by voting. And on Tuesday, the way to resist this administration is by voting. As Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said last year, when it’s time, ”The pendulum will swing back to Democrats.”
Here’s to the Resistance showing up. Here’s to democracy. And here’s to making America better than ever.
Get Out The Vote.
For information on voting, visit Vote.org. Thank you to all the volunteers who’ve given their relentless time and energy to bring this election home. My contribution in this form of support was a mere couple of days. Some of the volunteers I met had been giving their all for a couple of years.