This will historically be one of the most important midterm elections. And we all have the opportunity to raise our voices by voting and getting others to vote.
In this election, you have a former president pushing candidates who still want to overturn the 2020 presidential election. There are many of these candidates who, if elected, would be willing to overturn the popular vote in their states.
Again, one party is using race, crime, inflation, and immigration as a way to incite fear in their base and some unaffiliated. What they are pretty much silent on is abortion because of the Supreme Court’s decision which caused such a firestorm and inspired so many women to register and vote.
Many of us follow all of the polls. While years ago, there were just a couple of polling firms now we see many pollsters each claiming to have the latest data. More often than not, they are anything but accurate.
In today’s market, you do not have just three major television companies as was the case so many years ago, and a limited number of major newspapers. Now you have many news organizations with 24-hour programming. There are fewer newspapers but there are the ever-active social media.
Then in comes all the DARK MONEY in this election and it is more than a billion dollars. No, this is not money from people of color. Instead, it is money from the super wealthy – mostly right wing – who do not have to tell the public who they are. And these billions can influence many low-information voters no matter how much fact-checking is available.
There are some voter groups that don’t seem to be contacted by polling companies. These include people of color, women, youth, the LGBTQ community, and formerly incarcerated individuals. And it should be noted that many states – in particular Georgia, Texas, Florida, and others – have made it harder to vote.
At the same time as of the writing of this article, you have many more who are voting early, more than in other midterm elections. And some of this is driven by the candidates, stricter mail-in voter regulations, fewer drop-off boxes, and the limiting of the days and hours for voting.
Today, we have candidates who moved into a state just to run for office. There are candidates who were at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and one candidate who is accused of violence and paying for two abortions while being supported by the evangelicals. We must nonetheless examine all candidates and their qualifications and platforms.
We must always be ready to criticize any administration’s programs, but the opposition must say what their plans are and how are they different from the present administration.
I have my personal politics, but I spend much of my time – from year to year – participating with nonprofits that register any and everyone in a nonpartisan effort. I appreciate our democracy and wish that most of the eligible voters are registered and voting. Today, I live in Georgia in DeKalb County where the vast majority of all eligible voters are registered. Now the trick is to get them all out to vote.
Registering voters is serious work but we must work even harder to get everyone to the polls and save our electoral system. And if the turnout is strong, we will take a big step forward to protecting our democracy.
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