Many of the contested seats for the House and the Senate are very close. I stopped watching the polls a week or so ago, and I no longer believe in them. They are often wrong, and they tend to depress the vote if your candidate is either far ahead or far behind. Ignore the polls and get out and vote if you haven’t done so already.
I voted last week, but I’m still biting my nails. It’s unbelievable to me that some of the Republican candidates are in the running, even though they spout the Big Lie, praise the insurrectionists who tried to overturn the peaceful transition of power, and in some cases have said they won’t concede if they lose. They don’t believe in our system of government.
Are we in a period of national madness? Call it the Trump Effect. His Attorney General told him he had lost; his White House Counsel told him he had lost. A parade of decent, responsible people who worked for him told him he had lost.
But he’s a sore loser. Even though every legal challenge his representatives filed was thrown out of court, including twice by the Supreme Court, he found flaky attorneys to stoke his huge ego.
Trump spoke to a largely Hispanic audience in Miami yesterday, where he said “The socialist, communist and Marxist direction of the radical Democratic Party is one of the biggest reasons that Hispanic Americans are joining our movement by the millions and millions and millions,” Trump said. The crowd cheered him and chanted, “We love you.”
The question before us in tomorrow’s ballot is whether we will uphold the norms of our democracy and our Constitution or whether the aggrieved Trump followers will destroy our democracy by electing people who don’t believe in it.
My advice: VOTE BLUE, NO MATTER WHO.
Vote as if our democracy hangs in the balance: It does.
Vote as though the election hinges on your ballot: It does.
The following races are crucial for maintaining Democratic control of the Senate:
Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire.
Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia.
Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona.
Senator Catharine Cortez Masto of Nevada.
If you have friends or family in any of these states, call them and urge them to vote.
Remind them : EVERY VOTE COUNTS.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I’ve read a news piece yesterday interviewing traditional Republicans in Arizona who have voted Republican all their lives, who were quoted saying they were holding their noses and voting for Democrats for the first time in their lives.
Good sign!
One of our state rep candidate’s line for republican friends and colleagues in our very red state (that’s reality and a metaphor) is:
“Do us a solid, just this one election, vote Democrat to stop the craziness”
They & their noses are warmly welcome!
Done voted. Just waiting for the damage assessments to come in. Even in the unlikely event Democrats lose just a couple of key races, continued progress toward killing democratic-republican governance will move on.
Vote and encourage your sane family and friends to vote as well. The choice is fascism and anarchy versus democracy. It shouldn’t even be a battle, but it is. Hard to believe.
Trump is the worst thing that has happened to this country since the Civil War. If things go south tomorrow on Election Day, history will look back on this period as the era when Democracy finally ended after a good 240 year run. It won’t change overnight, but it will be the beginning of the erosion or outright ending of long standing institutions & norms which have held the country together. Can we live under an autocracy? Sure, as long as we acquiesce to whatever the “leaders” in charge want. If you’re a person of color, gay, trans, immigrant or even a free thinking woman—look out! Could it ever happen here? We’ll soon find out.
I’m sorry to say that despite best efforts, I won’t be able to vote this year, & usually I don’t miss even off-years. I broke my ankle badly, needed surgery & am confined to a nursing home/rehab for 2 months. By the time the dust settled it was too late to mail in application for mail-in ballot. The Social Worker at the nursing home provided me w an application, BUT due to the late date it had to be dropped at NYC Election Bd in person.
My adult daughter’s in college, working as teacher assistant, as well as helping her mother, my wife, at home recovering for heart surgery. My wife’s doing very well, but still needs care; until the ankle I was her main caregiver. Our daughter’s got enough on her plate, & I couldn’t pile yet another thing on, so for the 1st time — of all times — it seems I just have to let it go this year. I know this sounds like a real sad sack story — if it wasn’t mine I’d be rolling my eyes — but it’s the truth, just the way things worked out, everything at the worst time. I’m actually overall in good spirits, except for the disappointment about voting.
I’m just posting this because although I’m not an educator (husband of school social worker & former school parent), I’m a regular w this blog & it helps to tell some supportive people.
Here’s wishing you a speedy recovery, Lenny!
Thank you, Bob!
Lenny, I hope your ankle heals soon. I’m sorry you can’t vote. But sometimes it’s impossible.
Thank you, Diane! I think in spite of the circumstances, I feel guilty about it, like there’s one more thing I could have tried, one option I didn’t think of. I like to think I gave it my best shot.
(“Lenny, if you don’t stop feeling guilty, we’re all going to be very, very disappointed in you.”)😀
Wishes for you to Get better
Thank you, Roy!
Sorry to hear about your ankle. I hope you are in a blue state. Being in a rehab center with Repubs would be the worst.
I’m glad your wife is recovering well.
Thank you, Linda! NY is overall a blue state, I think largely because of the high blue concentration in NY City, where I am, so yeah, I am spared that (happy thought for the day!). There are some very red areas, though. However, in the week I’ve been here, politics haven’t come up, which is just as well with me.
Lenny, sounds like Murphy’s Law is alive & well! Glad your wife’s recovery is going well. & here’s a silver lining on that ankle [speaking as someone who broke left one in ’95, right one 5 yrs later]: even a particularly bad ankle break appears to take at least 15 yrs to even start becoming arthritic… ;-D
Meanwhile, on my vast ability to feel guilty about stuff: OK, me & hubby’s votes mailed in 10 days ago, & today I got one son still using our address on registration to sign off on his so I can drop it in box… but I’m not even going to ask other son whether he voted, as he’s barely landed on feet after an upsetting situation requiring him to suddenly move, to much higher rent (RE inflation), needing parental $help which he feels terrible about, & doubt he thought to register at new address, & know he won’t be able to get to other district to vote tomorrow yadda yadda… see? I even feel other people’s guilt by osmosis!
Hi Bethree – thanks for your encouraging words!
Your capacity for guilt is truly prodigious. I bow to the Master! I never even considered adopting second-hand guilt, though now that you mention it, it seems obvious & positively intriguing. Amazing — all this time it’s been before my very eyes, & it never occurred to me to explore it!🤯 You’ve opened up whole new worlds to me. Thank you from the heart of my bottom!😀
😂
Lenny, you absolutely shouldn’t feel guilty for not voting – you are obviously a committed regular voter who experienced circumstances and hardships well beyond your control this year.
But, just wanted to give you this information in case it is relevant in future years: you can request an absentee ballot on-line in NYC now — the deadline is about 2 weeks before the election. (So if you have enough time, you aren’t dependent on the mail for your request, just to mail the actual ballot back). I know that’s irrelevant when you are in a situation where the dust doesn’t settle until after that deadline, but if you do ever happen to know early, you can just fill in a form on-line and you will get the ballot you can mail in and it’s valid as long as it is postmarked by election day.
And wishing you a speedy recovery.
Youngkin’s teacher snitch line is dead (reported by MSNBC 3 days ago).
”Are you now or have you ever been a purveyor of Divisive Comcepts?”
”Concepts”😬
Thank you NYCPSP, for your good wishes & helpful information. Good to know (though I’m hoping I won’t need it in the future!).😀
Stop blaming Trump . Trump is the Cat Scan that identified the cancer. A tumor that that seeded in 1619 was forced into remission In 1865 and has metastasized since. 47% of Americans think Trump and Walker share their values. From wife beating to girl friends pressured into abortions. Trump is their man .
Joel,
Sadly you are right. If Trump were vaporized tomorrow, there would still be a very large number of people who think he is Jesus.
Although I have maintained that the Republican Party has been off the rails since Goldwater. Even before I read David Corn’s new book “American Psychosis “. It details the sad history of the Trump Party very well . The ultra radical nationalist right has been there since Goldwater
Voting (tomorrow) and volunteering and donating. Even pushed my young adult kid attending school in another state to be sure to request an absentee ballot before the (relatively early) deadline and mail it back (success!) because in NY every vote will matter.