As decent Americans, my readers all share the belief that voting is the cornerstone of our democracy. We know that it is through our votes that we the people compose the government we want to have.
But today, just two weeks out from the mid-term elections, it seems that everything is conspiring to shake our spirits, to make us wonder whether voting is even worth it. “The polls are tightening,” the press blares. “Republicans are gaining ground. Democratic leads are evaporating like snow in the spring sun.”
Don’t listen to this garbage. The press needs a tight horserace like a junkie needs a fix. Their business model depends on it.
Pollsters have all shifted to “likely voter” models rather than “registered voter” models because they can decide what constitutes a likely voter. No surprise: likely voter models skew toward Republicans. They make the races look closer than it may be.
And the prevailing opinion based on “history” is that the party in power probably can’t win in mid-term elections because it only happens rarely. But the logic behind following such “historical trends” is shaky. It may well be that in normal times people swing back and forth based on trivial matters. But this is not normal times. We are facing the end of American democracy if Republicans aren’t stopped from installing election deniers all over the nation.
History does not have the power to determine our choices. All we have to do to overturn a “historical trend” is stand up and do the opposite.
And that is the solution that is going to save America from the threat of Republican fascism. We decent Americans are going to look the “historical trend” in the face and say, “Not this time. This time, we win.”
We are the majority. If each one of us gets up, gets out, and delivers his or her vote, we cannot lose. We can help to make this happen by taking others to deliver their votes. Go with four or five friends. Buck each other up. (And bring your phones and cameras to take pictures of any Republican thugs you find trying to intimidate voters. Let them know you are recording them for posterity.)
If we disregard the Republican hate, if we razz the Republican glee at trying to “own the Libs,” if we turn out to register our deep disapproval of everything Republicans now stand for, we will not only save democracy—we will turn Republicans out of power for the foreseeable future.
And that will be a new “historical trend” for anti-democrats to chew on.