I don’t usually write about politics, but lately, I grow more and more frightened as we approach the midterms and as I look at far-right shifts in nations across the globe. Felt the need to vent, to see if others are feeling similar despair and dread.
For the past six months or so, I often lie in bed before rising and imagine waking up the day after the midterms in a scenario where we have lost the house or the senate or both. That Trump has already announced his plans to run in 2024. Then I really start catastrophizing a worst-case scenario in which the reconfigured House and Senate overturn the 2020 election and Trump is back in the White House. I think of the 2020 election and the past two years as a type of hiatus from reality. We’ve accomplished some wonderful things, but everything feels so precarious.
These fears and horror are so much more disturbing than when the Supreme Court gave the 2000 election to Bush, worse than the Trump victory in 2016. I often feel powerless, that the little amounts I can do will have negligible difference. I start to think about my age and where I could move outside the United States. I wonder if my daughter and her partner would come with me or take me with them. I can imagine a not-too-distant future where being a Democrat in this country will be dangerous. There is so much at stake here: the Ukrainian war, the Paris Agreement, the national and global economy. The growing chatter on social media about a civil war coming to America.
On days when I am feeling such foreboding, I usually make a contribution to a campaign or one which is split among campaigns. I’ve signed up to begin phone banking this weekend, but quite honestly, I am so inundated and frustrated by the volume of political messaging I just can’t believe others won’t feel the same and just ignore the outreach. Having texted and phone banked in elections since 2004, I know how unrewarding this work can be.
The Guardian, in a story US midterms 2022: the key candidates who threaten democracy succinctly sums up what’s at stake as we approach election day:
There are several races on the ballot this fall that will have profound consequences for American democracy. In several states, Republican candidates who doubt the election 2020 election results, or in some cases actively worked to overturn them, are running for positions in which they would have tremendous influence over how votes are cast and counted. If these candidates win, there is deep concern they could use their offices to spread baseless information about election fraud and try to prevent the rightful winners of elections from being seated.
Among the candidates the article evaluates is Doug Mastriano (R) who is running for governor in PA. He had a significant role in the 2020 election for TeamTrump, was instrumental in putting together fake electors. Not only was he present in DC on the 6th, he also organized buses and rides for others to come.
Mastriano has said he has already picked out who he would choose as secretary of state and rumor has it he would go with QAnon-affiliated Toni Shuppe. Mastriano has also said he would “decertify election equipment and cause all voters in the state to re-register to vote.”
Mastriano is currently running behind Democrat Josh Shapiro, although a late surge in grassroot support is widdling into Shapiro’s lead.
Another candidate, Mark Finchem, an Oathkeeper, is on the ballot for Arizona secretary of state. Finchman was also at the capital on the 6th and is a proponent of the “big lie.”
“It strains credibility,” he told Time magazine in September of Biden’s victory. “Isn’t it interesting that I can’t find anyone who will admit that they voted for Joe Biden?” When a reporter asked him whether it was possible that people he didn’t know voted for Biden, Finchem said: “In a fantasy world, anything’s possible.”
These two elections deniers have a good chance of winning jobs overseeing elections
New polling conducted by CNN shows election deniers in Arizona and Nevada running strong in their bids to be the top election officials in their respective states, a concerning development as the country begins to prepare for the next presidential election.
In Arizona, Republican Mark Finchem takes 49% among likely voters to 45% for Democrat Adrian Fontes in the secretary of state race. In Nevada’s secretary of state contest, Republican Jim Marchant is at 46% among likely voters, while Democrat Cisco Aguilar takes 43%. Both results are within the margin of error, meaning there is not a clear leader in either race.
In a recent Marist poll, Republican Greg Abbot led Beto O’Rourke by four points. The most important issue potential voters were concerned with was inflation (28%), followed by fear about the future of the county (21%, abortion (16%), immigration (13%), and health care (10%).
With the way the political process is unfolding here in America, nothing strains credibility anymore. That’s what makes this midterm season so unsettling. I don’t know about you but I find it hard to talk to people about this. For starters, I wonder how many people are actually paying attention. And if they are, they may be feeling as worried as I am and we’re all feeling that if we don’t talk about it, we won’t give it any space, thus making it less real. Less likely to happen. And what can we do anyway?
Yesterday, I listened to a podcast featuring an interview with John Fetterman who commented on the attacks being leveled at him by Dr. Oz regarding his stroke this spring. I became so irate at Oz, I immediately started RTing pro-Fetterman tweets and sent some money to his campaign.
We have only 3 ½ weeks left until the midterms. What are you going to do during this time to fight for the future of our democracy?
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