I haven't posted anything in a long while and that's mostly because I've spent the past year putting my money where my mouth is. I joined several local political groups including, the Women's Democratic Alliance of Howard County and the Ellicott City and Western Howard County Democratic Club. I've spent several Saturdays knocking on doors for Dan Medinger who is running for the Maryland House of Delegates in 9B.
I spent today in Washington, D.C. attending the March for Our Lives. One of my first real world memories is of the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr and Robert F Kennedy when I was three years old. These were big events in my house and happened as we were making a big move overseas, lodging them in my young memory. If the song "Abraham, Martin and John" comes on the radio it always makes me cry.
I'm now back home from the march and watching some of the coverage on television and MSNBC announced a crowd estimate of around 800,000. The speakers at the march, all kids, did an incredible job and I think this may be just the wakeup call we need. The kids chant that "Enough is Enough" is right on. The crowd also chanted "Vote Them Out!!" in between speakers and therein lies the key to making change happen if we really want it.
In 1994 the Clinton administration signed the Assault Weapons Ban and that fall the Congress flipped. People who are against laws that limit gun ownership in any shape or form turned out to vote. Similarly at the State level, politicians who vote for any kind of limitation on gun ownership get voted out of office. Gun owners are single issue voters and they turn out to vote.
The rest of us have been willing to accept a mixed bag of support on issues we care deeply about as long as the person we voted for was a member of the party we aligned ourselves with. We can no longer afford to do that. We need to vote for people who will fight for the issues we care about no matter what side of the aisle they sit on and including third party candidates.
We can no longer afford to sit out primaries because that's where we can really make our voices heard first. We must find out who is running and what they stand for - and that means not just watching political ads or looking at party affiliation, but reading about candidates in local newspapers and going to meet them and talk to them. The local political clubs have been holding candidate forums and they've been getting a big turnout. These are real chances to talk to your candidates and find out where they stand and why. At a picnic last Labor Day I asked a gubernatorial candidate where he stood on universal health care and his answer was not what I wanted to hear and so he doesn't have my vote in the primaries coming up in June. Candidates are also holding events themselves and sharing that information on various political pages on Facebook and elsewhere. Take the time to find out what they stand for, and don't be afraid to ask them tough questions.
It's also imperative to work for the candidate you want to get elected. From knocking on doors or working the elections (I'll be working the early voting days) every little bit helps. And of course, if no candidate matches up to what you want, then maybe its time to think about running yourself.
Voting has always been important, but maybe finally we're understanding just how important it actually is. We need to be laser focused on the issues we care most about and we need to turn out to vote for the people who will fight for those issues. Our lives depend on it.
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