Yes, Virginia, your Vote DOES Count!

It's Election night. I'm signing people in at our County Dem headquarters, where people have gathered to watch election results and share wine and snacks. A woman who has been volunteering to make out of district calls to help Democrats in red districts comes over to chat. "I live in [large town in our County]," she says, a town which has had a very contentious race between a long time County Supervisor and someone trying to unseat her. "But I didn't vote," she goes on. "I voted in all the other races, but I could not decide who to believe when it came to the Supervisor race."

This race has been in the paper for weeks, months. The candidates have been walking precincts, sending brochures, attending debates and forums all winter and spring. The Democrats endorsed the incumbent. How could she not know who she wanted to vote for?

It turns out she was what's known as a "confidential voter," who doesn't show up on the voter roles because of some issue of safety, say a stalker, or a bad domestic violence situation you are escaping from. So she received none of the usual materials from candidates.

However, she is on our Democratic email list. She can read the local press. She can attend candidate events, and she could have asked friends, neighbors, or others she trusted. Instead she saw only TV ads, and decided she trusted neither candidate. My mind was exploding. This promises to be a close race. How could an otherwise educated, seemingly informed and involved person, be so unconcerned about the one race that will actually affect her life?

Votes are still being counted all over California which allows vote by mail ballots to be postmarked on Election Day so long as they arrive within three days. But it looks to be a low turn-out election, even with all the hype about the possibility of "a big blue wave." We are heartened that in some red districts, Democrats are in second place in some contests for Congress, but that will mean we have to get out our voters in November in big numbers to have a chance.

This woman will help out with that effort. She is very concerned that we take back the house. Why oh why then, I  think, does she not even bother to learn about what's happening in her own back yard? elections have been won and lost by a single vote. Your vote does count. When will people get it?

If you Support Bernie, Vote Hillary

Let me preface this by saying I am a Bernie Sanders supporter. I was a Bernie Sanders Delegate to the Democratic National Convention. If you're a regular reader of this blog, you saw my posts, and photos from Philadelphia. I sat up in the almost nosebleed section way to the left of the stage with the other California Bernie delegates, who waved signs and chanted and some of whom walked out in protest after Hillary secured the nomination, the night that Bernie, in fact, nominated her.

I would like nothing better than to write in Bernie Sanders on my ballot, but I won't do it, not even in safe California.  Why? Because for Bernie to succeed in the Senate, for any of the hard-fought planks of the Democratic Platform so many of my fellow delegates helped craft, and to keep this Revolution going, we must elect Hillary Clinton as the next President of the United States and we must do it overwhelmingly.

And for the record, I waved my No More Wars sign and chanted as loudly as the others did when Leon Panetta spoke in glowing terms of the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden; and when Hillary herself reprised the same theme. And I waved my Ban Fracking and No TPP signs when Kaine and Jerry Brown spoke. I felt it was important to protest and to send a message. But I felt and feel it was and is just as important to support our candidates, both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, as Democrats and as the bulwark against a Trump victory, and even more critically, a Trump movement of fear, racism, misogyny, climate change denial, and so much more that will only grow stronger and more hateful in the face of weak Hillary victory.

We can't afford to let that happen. 

The Clinton nomination wasn't a surprise to anyone who had been paying attention, but it didn't stop the loyalists from calling foul. There were, after all, leaked emails from some DNC staffers who seemed set on doing everything they could to make sure Bernie did not get the nomination. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chair, was rightly forced to resign on the eve of the Convention because of it. 

But now, the only way for our progressive values and the Bernie Sanders campaign to be more than a footnote of history, and to defeat the venom of Trump is to hand Hillary a landslide victory. No, the Donald will never stop his poisonous rants and inciting violence and hatred among his followers, but if she gets a humongous popular vote on Election Day, it might dim the momentum of whatever evil deed he plans for after the election, claiming it was "rigged, so rigged" and that he's the rightful Commander in Chief and she is a pretender to the throne.

She needs to have a large popular vote to show she can govern without a split citizenry; she must win the trust of vast numbers of American voters to govern effectively. And she must win decisively to create a tidal wave of down ballot votes for Democratic candidates in Red States and Districts.

Writing in Bernie Sanders or voting Third Party not only diminishes her influence and her credibility in the White House, it hinders any progress on progressive issues. It casts a pall on the legitimacy of any strides attempted to be made by Democrats. It emboldens the Republican obstructionists in the House and Senate. We live in a divided nation. One thing the Donald's toxic campaign has shown us is just how far we are away from a truly just and equal society. Why then would we even further divide our nation, by splitting ourselves, supposed the rational, humane, environmentally and socially conscious ones, into splinter groups each wedded to our own form of purity and self-righteousness? Now is not the time for dissension in the ranks of the left. As Michael Moore says in his brilliant new movie Michael Moore in Trumpland, "Hate Hillary, but force yourself to vote for her anyway."

I have been called out by my fellow delegates. I've been labeled a "Troll" and a "Hill-bot" for listening to Bernie Sanders when he said we need Hillary Clinton in the White House. But, here's how I see it. The ones who have betrayed their progressive values, who have turned their back on their (our) candidate Bernie Sanders are the ones now urging a vote for Jill Stein or a write-in vote for Bernie they know is nothing but a protest vote. A protest of a system we all know is far from perfect. So I do understand their anger, their disappointment and their protest. But I also believe Bernie when he says "Now is not the time for a protest vote." By turning their backs on Bernie now, by abandoning the Democratic Party (yes I know many of them were never Democrats to begin with, just played one to get to the Convention), is to ignore the real strides made in this revolutionary, historical campaign that netted Bernie Sanders more than 1800 delegates to the Democratic National Convention. And yes, I am very proud to have been one of them.

I was and am proud of the platform Bernie helped fashion with the hard work done by many of these same delegates who now gloat over Hillary's emails, while virtually ignoring Trump's sex scandals, hatred and ugly greed. No, now is not the time for a protest vote. Now is the time to be united. Then keep the movement alive on November 9th and beyond. Do it for Bernie.

Let's not throw our precious vote away.

Election Day

Today is Election Day in several states, chief among them California.  Do not stay home because your TV says Clinton has locked up the nomination. Remember this simple truth. Super Delegates do not vote until the Democratic National Convention in July. They may have pledged to vote for Hillary, but some of them may change their mind. They are allowed to. They are actually considered Unpledged delegates until the Convention. If their States vote for Bernie, they may go with their constituents.

In any event, there are other important races on your ballot. Read it. See if there are Supervisor or County Commissioner races; City Council or School Board seats; How about judges, special districts?

Are there ballot initiatives for bonds, advisory measures? All those are important. They may determine the future of your County, City or Town. Your State. In California, we have important primary races for State Senators and Assembly people. We have a primary in the all important election to replace our wonderful retiring Senator Barbara Boxer. Big shoes to fill. You deserve a say.

Whoever you are supporting, get out there and vote for them. Do it now. The lines are long.

And by the way, if you are a No Party Preference vote-by-mail voter, and have not turned in your ballot yet, and want to vote in the Democratic Primary, you can still do so. Ask for a Democratic ballot at your local polling place, and relinquish your mail in ballot.

A Recipe for Disater? Or a Time for Cross-Generational Hope?

This Presidential primary has all the makings for Disaster Stew. A Republican candidate who is bombastic, juvenile, rich as Croesus, mean as a junkyard dog, and as bigoted as they come. His rivals are not much better, just somewhat more polite, unless they are on stage with The Donald and then it's Katy bar the door. Cage fighting is more civilized. Mud wrestling cleaner, and cock fighting fairer. Talk about cock fighting...if you saw the latest debate, you know what I'm talking about.

How low can you go? And what is the appeal of an oligarch whose claim to fame is firing people, kicking out small businesses for his mega casinos and serial misogyny? And why am I even talking about this lout on my blog? Here's why. If Trump (real name Drumpf. Look it up) is allowed to win, he will be serving up major does of toxic slop to you and me alike.

Compared to that Epicurean nightmare, Moose Turd Pie is a gourmet delight.And don't be fooled; if any of these bozos on the Republican bus have a chance at the White House, expect to choke on your dinner for at least four years, if you even get any dinner. You could be deported, interned in some desert encampment or conscripted to be cannon fodder in a never ending "War on Terror." Never ending that is, until someone on one side of the conflict or the other pushes the button.

I'm not going to give you a recipe today. No Disaster Stew or Toxic Slop. We may all learn more than we want to know about that soon enough. I am going to offer my antidote: Get off your duff and vote. (I'm talking to you Democrats and independents; Republican go back to your Fox News broadcasts)  Not just in the primary, but in the General, whoever the candidate is. I'm for Bernie, no secret there. But I'll vote for Hillary in a heartbeat if she gets the nod. We need to build an ongoing effective coalition of progressives this year and beyond. The way to do this is for millennials and baby boomers to start working together now on a common future. If your guy or gal is not nominated, do not sit this one out. Do not cast a protest vote for the Green Party candidate. Even if you are a Green.

Think George Bush.Think the Supreme Court. Think Nazi Germany; yeah, go ahead, think it. The stakes are too high. The youth and us old codgers who were young rebels once ourselves need to join forces, organize, vote, and then hold their feet to the fire.If not, it's gruel for you, me and everyone else for the foreseeable future.

If, like I said, there is to be any future at all.

Signs of the Times

Candidates cannot get enough signs. They love them and they must have them. And I understand - they are tangible artifacts of their campaign. They are big and bold and bright and stand right out there along the roadside with all the other signs.

They scream "look at me!", while their competitors shout just as loudly "No, look at me!" And the Kentucky Fried Chicken sign goes "Mmmmmm."

On Election Day how many votes will your signs bring to the polls? I think we all know the answer to that one.

Save money, bake a cake instead. Then go out and walk precincts, raise money and get that mail out in time for the absentee vote.  Reward yourself with a piece of cake for every $100 raised, 50 doors knocked, or 25 phone calls made. Yum!

Millennials might take a lesson from Boomers

So the Millennials will not be voting or even worse, those who bother to vote may be voting Republican.  So says an oped citing a Harvard poll in today's SF Chronicle.  Many of us Boomers didn't vote either, back in the day,we who were too busy making revolution, or smashing the state.  At least we got out and did something, even if it didn't work. Think of the power of all those votes that weren't cast.

Millennials have the power too, if they choose to use it.  If all the 30 and unders got out to vote, and even if they started running for office themselves, they could make a difference. They could drive the discussion, rule the elections, see the change they are now too cynical to believe will ever happen. (Can cynicism explain why the ones who say they will vote Republican outnumber those who will vote Democratic?)

If Boomers had voted in the numbers they had in the sixties, we may have seen a very different government over the last fifty years.  Think of it, then do something about the next fifty.

The future is in your hands.

.

Nightmare before Election Day

High anxiety the day before Election a day.  The S.F. Chronicle says turnout will be low, lower than ever even. And that Republicans vote in higher numbers traditionally in primaries. This is disheartening, as it may well mean my candidate has less of a chance than I would have wanted, much less.  If the Reps vote as they will they get an automatic 20+%. Maybe more and the big red postcard calling them to arms, will boost their vote even more,

Dems will naturally split the vote against the incumbent and voila, here in a solidly Democratic District, the Rep comes out on top (or on the top of the second place).  The so called "moderate" Dem wins easily in the fall.

Is this what top two voting is all about  the outcome hoped for?  Instead of a vigorous intra-party race in the primary for the best Democrat to go head to head with the Rep, it's all up for grabs as once, and the best Democrat may well be left in the dust,

.

I suppose that is what many wanted when they voted for top two, and open voting at that.  The Moderate Dem faces the weak Rep. The election is over in the primary, which it may  have been anyway in a strong Dem District, but it may have been more exciting, more issue driven, and a better Dem may have won. Traditionally the stronger candidate with more progressive values wins in the primary, while the one with the more conservative views wins in the Republican primary. That’s why Tea Party candidates often win primaries, then g on to tank in the General. Or not, of course, depending on the geography and demographics of the District.

Bah humbug. This all leads to inaction all around in the legislature. Good bills stalled as the moderate Dems kowtow to their corporate masters.  Who loses? Poor people, the environment, kids in school, minorities, older people, the disabled, the disenfranchised.

It's the age of gilt and steam and back room deals all over again. Is this what voters really wanted when they voted in the top two?  What were they thinking? may be the question to ask, if you thought there might be an answer.  

Make History - Vote! Two Historic Legislative decisions won on a single vote

Today marks the date in 1920 that Tennessee became the 36th State to ratify the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. One vote in the Legislature made the difference, a young man everyone thought was on the other side, a young man with a telegram from his mother in his pocket, Representative Harry Burn, switched sides with a vote that broke a deadlock and changed history.

How much difference can YOUR one vote make? A lot. For another historic one-vote decision that made history, a young legislator from Peabody Massachusetts changed his vote and broke a tie vote that would have reinstated the death penalty in Massachusetts in 1997. Visiting the home of my youth, I was in the gallery that day to watch the brave John P. Slattery from working class Peabody reverse course and vote not to reinstate. To this day, attempts to bring back the death penalty to Massachusetts have failed. (So far. Mitt Romney as governor tried to change the rules and a bill this year following the Marathon bombings was shelved after much bickering in the Legislature.)

Who's to say what would have happened if these courageous men hadn't bucked the tide that was sweeping through their respective States at the time?

As a campaign consultant, I have seen several close votes. I have seen elections where the vote change by few votes between election night and the time the final votes were counted from every last late vote-by-mail ballot, sometimes a full two weeks after Election Day. Your one vote could be one of these. Make it count.

Labor Day marks the beginning of campaign season. Even in these "off" years, there are elections for school boards, city councils and special districts (sewer, water, community service, etc.) Don't wait until the last minute. Save those flyers, read those editorials and attend those public forums. Your one vote just might make a historic difference in your town.

Make Good Use of Your Signs - Burma Shave!

You know the adage - Sign don't vote. It's true, so true, but one year, when I was the candidate and my good friend and co-conspirator in all things campaign (and so much more), Ginny decided Burma Shave signs would be fun and informative at the same time.  They would be sure to attract attention.

Burma Shave for those of you not in the know was a brand of brushless shaving cream started in the 20's, which came up with a clever ploy for advertising their product, roadside signs in rhyme, ending with Buy Burma Shave! The ads ran until the 60's.

Ginny said, "I know what let's do let's get some of my rancher friends to let us use their fences to put signs on." So we did. Ginny was active in saving West Marin County (California) ranchland, so knew all the old timers, who were happy to oblige such an engaging proposition.

The signs said "Someone to Listen" "Someone to Hear" "A new Supervisor" "Is needed this year" "Vote for Dotty!"

 This was not only great fun, but it got attention. Did it get votes? Not sure, as I did not win the election (although I did reasonably well).  But I got the bug from those signs and that campaign, and voila, my campaign consulting firm was launched.

So far, I have not made use of the Burma Shave idea in any of the campaigns I've run. But who knows, I might do it again. You can too.

Signs with a message. And some humor.  That's better. Than any rumor. Vote!

Democracy is Coming to the U.S.A.

At the County Fair this Sunday, I staffed the Democratic booth.  At first, the usual ho yum, yawn-worthy nothing happening day.  Then, we started noticing something. Kids were queuing up to play the "democracy game," something one of our members invented.  They would divide into teams, boys versus girls usually, or some might get a little coaching from mom or dad, but most of them (average age 12) were eager and bright, and knew most of the answers to questions like "Is the United States a constitutional Republic?" "How many stars/stripes on the US flag and what do they stand for?" and my personal favorite, "Does democracy require that voters be informed to vote?"

The creator of the game gave the answer of "SO True!"  meaning a real Democracy, a working democracy, needs informed voters.  However, most of the kids said "No," realizing as do most of you, I'm sure, that any idiot can vote.  

After I said there were no wrong answers to that question, I did my spiel on the importance of being an informed voter. But that alas, you don't need to know anything to cast your ballot.

Then, everyone got a kazoo for playing the game and joined in a rousing rendition of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

But the high point of the day was registering a young "Dreamer," a woman whose parents had brought her at age 6, seeking asylum. It took twenty-two years for their asylum to be granted, and their daughter, a real American, to become a citizen.   We were proud to register her to vote, and as a Democrat.