I'm Dreading Midterm Election Results

I voted. For what, I'm not sure.

Photo by Manny Becerra on Unsplash

I voted.

It took two hours out of my afternoon. There were people next to me sniffling and throat clearing. The woman behind me kept coughing and wiping her nose on the back of her hand. Obviously, no mask. I had no idea how she might vote. You see this kind of thing from liberals now, too.

This woman probably considers herself a good person. She’d probably get upset if I called her out. She’d accuse me of fearmongering.

That’s how it goes these days.

There’s no real chance of ever flipping the state where I live. I voted anyway. I know my vote serves as an example to people everywhere else, including places where we stand a chance. I criticize my party. I criticize my president. Once or twice this year, I said I wasn’t inspired to vote. I think Democrats are doing a pretty pathetic job right now. All of that remains true.

They say if you don’t vote, you can’t complain. Well, progressives like me vote and we still get blamed for every loss. Rich liberals and “moderates” act like they’re entitled to our vote. That feeds a lot of resentment. Every two years, we’re expected to shelve it and head to the polls, while our politicians pander and cater to middle-class white assholes who will never, ever vote for them.

Go figure.

Still, I voted because even this lackluster status quo beats the hell that fascist republicans have planned for us. If they win the senate, they will pass a federal abortion ban. They will continue dismantling the last little bit of voting power we’ve got. They will speed up the destruction of the planet.

I know that.

What I don’t know is why the Democrats in key states are doing such a horrible job campaigning. I don’t know why they continue to run “safe” campaigns that avoid talking about the real threats we face.

Well, they’re probably bought off.

That’s one theory.

Anyway:

A billion crabs just died. The largest river in the U.S. just dried up. Crops around the world are failing. Bizarre new viruses are cropping up, and the old deadly ones are coming back stronger than ever.

We should be scared.

We should be living in a state of emergency.

I’d love to see climate emergency as a campaign platform. I’d love to see feed the poor and fairness on yard signs everywhere.

It’s not there.

I voted, but I’m dreading the midterm election results. I’ve been following the key races. The kind of candidates republicans are running? They shouldn’t even stand a chance. Adam Laxalt in Nevada? Herschel Walker in Georgia? Dr. Oz in Pennsylvania? Vance in Ohio? They’re all fascist con artists.

And yet, the senate majority leader was caught on a hot mic recently telling the president that we might actually lose Georgia, to an ex-football player who doesn’t believe a single thing he says.

How sad is that?

The speaker’s husband was almost killed by a pro-fascist lunatic, and the so-called liberal media paints it as part of a “crime wave” enabled by progressives. Sorry, what makes the liberal media so liberal again?

I voted. I can’t exactly expect everyone else to go vote. Take a single mom working two jobs. She probably doesn’t have two hours to stand in line. She might not qualify to vote by mail. She might be pissed off at the tone-deaf messaging from Democrats over the last year. I’ve seen it, too.

It’s been really uninspiring to see Democrats put almost everything else ahead of the things voters like us actually care about:

• Covid

• Climate change

• Corporate greed

• Women’s rights

It’s really uninspiring to hear them talk about how well the economy’s doing. Most Americans are struggling more than ever. They’re watching the last of their dreams circle the drain. It’s really uninspiring to see them pretend the pandemic is over. People are dropping dead from Covid all over the place. Doctors are seeing a massive surge in chronic illness and heart disease.

It’s uninspiring to hear them talk about increasing oil and gas production when our rivers are drying up as we speak.

It’s uninspiring to hear Democrats say supporting women’s rights is optional for their candidates, while republicans plan to strip them away. It’s uninspiring to hear them fearmonger about immigration.

That’s what Catherine Cortez Masto is doing.

It’s really uninspiring to hear them bash student loan forgiveness.

That’s what Tim Ryan is doing.

With Democrats like these, I can understand why a lot of people wonder, what’s the point? If Democrats are going to pander to white middle-class voters, if they’re going to cling to fossil fuels, if they’re going shrug over women’s rights and the environment, if they’re going to engage in the same anti-science wishful thinking as their counterparts, how are they different?

Don’t blame us if Democrats lose.

I can spend my afternoon at the polls. I can outline the stakes the best I can. What I can’t campaign for are candidates who go out of their way to sabotage themselves. I can’t help politicians who undermine their own platforms.

All I can say is that if we can keep republican thugs out of the senate, there’s still a chance. Even if we just keep our politicians deadlocked and fighting each other, that’s better than giving fascists a free pass to destroy the world even faster, which is exactly what they’ll do.

I’m dreading the midterm results. The Democrats in key states have run awful campaigns. They have not stood up for what’s right. They squandered their early leads. They pandered to people who never had any intention of voting for them, while alienating their own base.

That’s the fundamental difference.

Republicans play to their base.

Democrats do the opposite.

I voted anyway.