I don’t know about you but I am fired up! The Democratic National Convention this past week was so lit it was on fire. Speaker after speaker, performer after performer, and vibe after vibe just made me feel joyful, hopeful, and so uplifted. The synergy between Vice President Harris and Governor Walz is just so respectful and dynamic. How can one not want to follow them for a better brighter future! To move forward, not backward.
There were so many great positive phrases to come out of the convention:
• When we fight, we win! (Harris)
• None of your damn business! (Walz)
• Forward! (Harris)
• Don’t boo, vote! (Barack Obama)
• Do something! (Michelle Obama)
• Decency and respect are on the ballot! (Winfrey)
• Freedom! (Everyone)
All which are calls to action. We are being invited to help not only make history, but to save our democracy. Harris and Walz have made a solid case for why we should vote for them for a better tomorrow. It is no longer a vote against Trump and his sycophants, but a vote for something. I haven’t felt like I was voting for something since Obama’s candidacy. Anyone who says we are voting for one of the lesser evils has not been paying attention and needs to feel ashamed for continuing to use that tired old phrase for this election.
I am fired up to do something, to fight to win, to move our country forward!
The challenge is what to do and with whom. I’ll definitely continue to blog and write my feelings. I’ll definitely continue to give what I can to not only the Harris/Walz ticket, but also to both nationwide and local campaigns. I’ll definitely continue to try and spread the word through my social media feeds. I’ll definitely continue to talk up the local and national candidates I support.
But, what more can I do, what more can you do, what more can we do?
If you are the outgoing type, reach out to your local Democratic Party headquarters to see how to get involved with canvassing door-to-door.
If you enjoying conversing with people, find out how you might help with phone bank calling.
I am not any of the above types as I am not a small-talk kind of person nor do I enjoy talking on the telephone making cold calls to strangers. Having to do any of these two things would just be torturous to my inner-being.
However, if you are like me, and prefer behind the scenes things in which we don’t have to interact with people, there are still plenty of things to be done.
During the 2020 and 2022 elections, I helped in two ways (not including financial contributions), that I didn’t know was a thing. The first was being part of a texting bank. All I needed was web access and the programs did the rest. It was pretty simple in that I just had to click on a few buttons and like magic, the text was sent to hopefully inspire the recipient to get out and vote.
The second thing was handwriting postcards. I was writing to voters in Georgia encouraging Georgians to get to the polls for Senator Warnock. Since he did emerge the winner, I like to think the postcards I sent helped in at least some small way. This one does require a little bit of a financial investment. I had to buy my own postcards and postage, which wasn’t really all that costly. It was also a little more of an investment in time as I had to write out the statement provided to me as well as address each postcard, then post them. As someone who struggles with masterful penmanship, it was a little more challenging as I had to be slower and deliberate when completing the postcards. Even though it was a little more tedious, I did it because I know how much a personal message can mean to a person.
This year my goal is to again take part in text banking as well as postcard writing. I also want to volunteer to deliver yard signs. If such a thing exists, I also want to volunteer to drive people to the polls regardless of their party affiliation because everyone deserves the chance to exercise their right to vote.
I invite you to volunteer in some way, and if you can, to donate funds directly to your local candidates. We can’t forget how important our local elections are as we are pumped up for the Presidential Race. Most of the important decisions that affect our everyday lives are by local elected officials.
The most powerful offices in the land are actually those who hold state representative and senate seats. They make the laws of our states, such as access to reproductive care, gender rights, voting laws, education funding, and district gerrymandering. In my state, gerrymandering has created space for a super majority of Trumpist-Republicans to thwart the will of the people for the will of the corporations, both locally and nationally in being able to live as free as possible without government or religious interference, especially for women. As many speakers at the Democratic Convention stated, voters should choose their elected officials, not elected official select their voters.
As always, I strongly encourage and invite you to do the most powerful thing you can do in a democratic republic, which is the power of your voice as a voter. It isn’t enough to just register to vote, to think about voting, or to maybe get to voting if time allows. You must get to the polls, either during early voting, on election day, or via mail-in ballot!
I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it, when you get in the ballot booth, think about the candidate that has stated point blank she is for “you the people” and the other candidate who only uses the word “I” when he is talking about anything. Which candidate is for creating a living wage, who wants to help with buying your first home, who believes you and your doctor know best, who believes we should be able to love who we want and create the families that we want, who wants to protect birth control and allow for IVF, and most importantly, which candidate wants us all to be able to vote and who wants to suppress our votes.
The choice to me is clear, Vice President Harris wants to help lift us all up. Candidate Trump wants to lift himself up and the hell with the rest of us (remember he has stated he doesn’t care about his voters), and will use Project 2025 as his framework for a second term.
Let’s lift us all up for a better life. Vote Harris and any other democratic candidate on our ballots from dog catcher to state representative to governor to president. A vote for democrats is a vote for freedom, for moving the country forward, a vote for us.
When we fight, we win!
Now go do something to make it happen!
P.S.—As election day approaches, make sure to check your voter registration status. Republicans across the nation are purging voter rolls, kicking hundreds of thousands of people off voter rolls, thus hindering their legal right to vote. Check your status at vote.org at least weekly to make sure you have time to take any necessary action to have your vote counted should you no longer show as being registered.
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 