Get out there and vote!
by David Atkins
It’s super primary Tuesday today. That means Wisconsin recall, and primaries all over the nation, including in South Dakota, California, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Montana.
If you live in Wisconsin, you know what to do. Get rid of Walker and his lackeys in the state senate. Clear that ugliness out of that beautiful capitol building in Madison and give back to teachers, firefighters and so many other working families in Wisconsin the right to negotiate for a decent standard of living.
If you live in California, Howie Klein has a list of great candidates, including fantastic progressive Norman Solomon. There are two initiatives in the state, propositions 28 and 29. Prop28 adjusts term limits from 14 years to 12 (sounds bad!), but crucially it allows legislators to serve all twelve years in one chamber. Please vote on 28 if, like me, you despise term limits. Prop29 is the tobacco tax to fund cancer research. I’m a yes on that, but make your own decision as you see fit.
If you live in Los Angeles, chances are you fall into a district with a battle between Brad Sherman and Howard Berman, and/or Torie Osborn and Betsy Butler. The progressive choices there are Sherman and Osborn, hands down.
If you live in Ventura County, there is a huge Congressional race that is #1 on the national radar right now. There are four Democrats running against the execrable Tony Strickland and the deficit-obsessed, just-switched-from-Republican-to-“independent” Linda Parks. Fortunately, the strongest Democrat in the race is also the most progressive of the bunch, and that’s Julia Brownley, author of the campaign finance disclosure bill in California and a great champion for education and the environment. Overlapping Ventura and Santa Barbara counties is also a State Senate race featuring a Republican (Mike Stoker) and two Democrats (Hannah-Beth Jackson and Jason Hodge.) Hodge is the very definition of a conservadem, while Hannah-Beth is an admirable progressive. Please vote for Hannah-Beth Jackson.
I don’t know much about what’s happening in the rest of the states, but if you have recommendations, especially in Dem vs. Dem primaries where we can help change the Democratic Party for the better, list it in the comments, and I’ll update this post throughout the day.
And for those of you who are going to pipe into the comments and insist what a waste of time voting is because it’s all controlled by the oligarchy blah blah bah, I’m sorry for you and I’m also not listening. Even if you’re right, people in other countries are dying for the right to do what you throw away so casually. It only takes two minutes to vote. Even if you believe voting effectuates practically no change at all, it’s also the very least you can do. Just get out there and do it, please, in the most progressive way you can, however you interpret that. And then go back to making legitimate complaints about the system and organizing in other ways for the rest of the 364 days, 23 hours, and 58 minutes for the next 12 months.
Today we vote. And no matter what happens, tomorrow we keep on fighting for progressive values as best as we know how.
Update: In the comments, Carl Manaster has an excellent reminder: In California’s CD52, please vote for Lori Saldaña, a strong progressive over a lazy weak establishment Dem – competing to take out Brian Bilbray. http://lori4congress.com/ I was up at 5am delivering vote reminders to her declared supporters.
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