If you’re clinging to the hope that El Idiota won’t be the Republican nominee, you’re denying reality. If you’re clinging to the hope that even if El Idiota is the Republican nominee, he won’t be president, you’re being more rational. There’s definitely hope that we won’t have a Trump administration, but it depends on Democrats getting out the vote. Disappointingly, neither Clinton nor Sanders has mobilized impressive numbers of primary voters. Shame on them, but once primary season is over, it’ll be shame on us Democrats if we can’t outnumber Republicans at the polls in November.
Getting Democrats registered and to the polls on Tuesday, November 8th is how we avoid a Trump presidency and all the scary consequences that would mean. Would you vote Republican on that day? If so, then stop reading this. Would you vote Democrat? If so, then make sure you’re registered and then make sure every Democrat you know is registered and planning to vote. Send emails, texts, snail mail postcards of Chicago, whatever it takes, but it’s time for action. LET’S GET OUT THE DEMOCRATIC VOTE and let’s start now with voter registration.
Yeah, we thought because the United States had elected a Black president that meant we’d turned a corner. Sure, we expected that from now on the American people would move ever closer to plurality and inclusion. Not so! It’s because of all the social progress of the past eight years that the backlash is so strong. To invoke Public Enemy’s album title from 1989, the fear of a Black planet has large parts of the conservative, English-dominant, white, mainstream American population totally ready to back a guy like Trump (note: many people of color support him, too). So what if he’s a bully? The frightened part of white, mainstream America thinks it needs a bully to protect it from violent black and brown people. So what if he offers little solid or coherent policy recommendations? Who cares if Trump himself has employed undocumented workers? What difference does it make if he shows little respect for anyone, throwing insults and dismissive smirks wherever he goes? He’s going to save the U.S. from the colored folk, and that’s the most important thing to a disturbing amount of people!
So stop trying to rationally understand him. Stop arguing against his candidacy. Stop saying, “I just don’t get it. How can anyone support him?” Just stop it! All that crap is just spinning your wheels in a mud pit of denial. Get registered. Get other Democrats registered. If you are legally unable to register to vote, make sure every damn Democrat in your Gmail contacts is registered to vote. Do it now while there’s plenty of time for your friends to say, “Oh, yeah! I never registered since my last move. Yeah, I’ll get to it.” Then you follow up a week later. And a week after that. And a week after that, until they do it. Let’s ALL do that.
This is what we do. This is how we defeat El Idiota’s demagoguery and fear-baiting: with the power of the vote.
Thanks, Steve! I left out the problem of Republicans trying to reduce voter turnout with various strategies, but that'll be another post.
Right on, the best way to defeat El Idiota is to get out the vote.