First, I should not have to tell you to vote for Hillary Clinton when the only real alternative is Donald Trump. I voted for her on Saturday, along with Steve Cohen for Congress, I wrote in Tami Sawyer for House 90 (Sorry, John Deberry, you aren't getting my vote as long as you keep taking that Charter School money), and I voted NO on the County charter amendment and YES on the City Charter amendment.
It's hard for me to get excited about the Clinton campaign when I realize that it is nothing more than a defensive vote for me. How excited I get about her Presidency will be determined by her willingness to push as much of the Sanders platform as possible.
I cannot possibly know what it feels like to have a woman President, since it should have happened long before now, and I wish I could share that excitement now that it's about to happen. I know, you cis-white-straight-male privileged bastard! Well, it's who I am, so get over it. I think she realizes the state of things enough to know that she has work to do to prove she's not a triangulator like her husband and like her 2008 campaign indicated.
I still am not convinced that she will be able to do anything with a GOP House and she will only get judicial appointments approved if we get the Senate back and Schumer does what he has needed to do and kills the filibuster. It needs to happen, people.
It's been 8 years since she served in the Senate and Congress has changed. The Republicans that ARE there and WANT to govern are petrified of the Koch-fueled Teabaggers who simply want to destroy our form of self-government and turn it all over to corporations. I have my doubts about all of it.
Sorry to be Debbie Downer here, but I am voting for her for no other reason that I am about to turn 58 and I don't want the country destroyed, which is what will happen if Trump wins the Presidency.
So, you say, Trump is going to win the state any way, why not vote for Jill Stein? Because she is an unqualified idiot, that's why. I agree that the Greens, the Libertarians and the Constitution parties should all be on the ballot at ALL levels without having to jump through hoops. It would show the two major parties that they don't have as much pull with the electorate as they once did, and that we are a nation are ready for a multi-party system. (If we can be honest here, a stronger Green Party here would wake up some of the complacent Democratic office holders that only have to worry about winning primaries. I am not naming names; you KNOW who you are.)
So, that's why you haven't seen me out and about this year. I still haven't really gotten over Sanders losing, even though I completely understand why he lost; he simply could not break through with non-whites at a high enough level to challenge Clinton. That is on him, she won fair and square.
My main concern in Shelby County as a Democrat this year is Dwayne Thompson, who is going hard at Rep. Steve McManus in House 96 (Cordova). If we are going to get anywhere again in Tennessee, we have to flip GOP districts. Period. So, if you have any time between now and November 8, go help Dwayne, this is a winnable district.
After having another stent put in my heart a month or so ago and then having the Cubs make their World Series run, I just haven't had the energy to do much. However, I voted, and took two people with me, and met two more for a voting event, so there is that.
I want, more than anything else, for the Cubs to win the next two games, for Hillary to get 400 electoral votes, and then prove that she can do what she says she will. If she can't, we are all doomed in the long run.
So, VOTE EARLY if you can, you have now through Thursday at 7 PM to do so. If you are still undecided, I don't have the faintest clue what to tell you because I cannot possibly imagine what you still need to know.
Go Cubs, Go Hillary, and I will talk to you soon.
