#2018 midterms
me sitting here two weeks before the midterm elections watching my twitter and tumblr feeds fill up w/ memes and discourse about how voting is useless and democrats aren’t gonna save us: uh guys? guys? hey guys? guys? you guys? guys? hey you guys? you guys? guys? uh guys? guys? guys? guys?
one of the most common tactics of the right isn’t to change who you vote for. they know that’s unlikely to work. it’s to do everything in their power to make sure you decide to stay home.
republican turnout wasn’t actually that high in the last election. democratic turnout was just fuckingabysmal,because of attitudes like this.
speaking as a staffer on a Real Life Congressional Campaign currently happening Right Now (it’s happening so much, I am so tired, why am I on Tumblr dot com) I’m seeing a bunch of commentary about how the Democrats are a bunch of trash because they like CAPITALISM, and even if you do vote you’re gonna have to go vote the garbage Democrat out eventually, and if that’s the case then it is really even worth it to vote for anyone?
I’m on a campaign in rural Arkansas, pals, and my dude is for: Medicare for All, a $15 minimum wage, ensuring that wages are tied to something to keep pace with cost of living, restorative justice, dramatic shifts in climate policy, civil rights for trans and non-binary Americans, expanding rural broadband and treating the internet as a public utility, fixing all our broke-ass infrastructure, reproductive freedom for e v e r y o n e, big fan of the ERA, a Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate, never met a union he didn’t like, doesn’t take corporate PAC money aka Capitalism Slime, etc.
What I’m saying is: Bernie Sanders was pretty disruptive in a lot of ways that were bad news because he was an old white dude with a lot of sticky biases and internalized misogyny/racism, but he shoved the mainstream Democratic Party hard to the left. We leaped a good 5-10 years on issues in RURAL AREAS in one cycle. He AWOKE something in a lot of Millennials/Gen Z. And now a lot of the “Democrats” running as “Democrats” aren’t “Democrats” as we’ve understood them the last 60 years. They’re Democratic Socialists, or at least the lite version. But the Democratic Party has always been a big tent party; we’ve never only been one thing. In my county committee we have blue dogs, yellow dogs, ME, THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST forcing everyone to write down their pronouns when they sign in, and a bunch of other folks who call themselves “Clinton Dems” or “HRC Dems”, or “Lincoln Dems” (after a previous senator) or “Indempendent”.
Let me repeat, again. I live in rural Arkansas. The dude running in my district is a DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST wearing the DEMOCRATIC label, because parties can change when enough of us get together and shove really hard like Bernie inspired millions of young people to do. Sick of Democrats that are like “woo, Capitalism!!!”? Check out the congressional candidates running in your state. They have these things, called websites, and it might not have Nyan Cat waving a “DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST!” banner behind it but you can read their issue page and usually tell. See if they’re Democratic Socialists running as Democrats, because you might be surprised.
And then go volunteer to make calls and knock doors and send texts and get out the vote for those candidates, so even more Democratic Socialist candidates can run and win, and it becomes less common to be a Democrat who is not critical of Capitalism and more common to be a Democrat ensuring that Capitalism isn’t crunching people in its gears.
If you want to make “Democrat” mean “Democratic Socialist” you’ve gotta get out in the street and in the room where it happens and do the work.
I live in rural Arkansas and I see some SHIT, y’all. But I’m telling you: the future you want without Capitalism stomping you with golf cleats is attainable. So make sure you’re not throwing out a perfectly passable Democratic Socialist in disguise because a lot of Democrats still like capitalism and are still catching up with the shift in the platform. Make a plan, and vote, and vote, and vote, for EVERYTHING, every single chance you get, in primaries and generals and special elections. Then hold them accountable. I know you all can make phone calls after you spent 2017 yelling at your GOP reps.
And just know: The West Wing did NOT lie about running political campaigns. I have worn this shirt twice. I have wrinkle away in my glovebox. There’s febreeze in my backpack. My glasses have stamp residue from last week I still haven’t cleaned off. The last time I took a shower I almost fell asleep. Please be kind to your Local Congressional Staffers when you go to volunteer (you’re going to volunteer, right?). Thx.
PS and if you’re in Arkansas’s first district, go vote for this guy and every other state Democrat from governor on down. I’ve met/worked with all of them personally but one. They’re good people and will do good work even if they do like Capitalism.
Beto O’Rourke Major Democratic Challenger to Ted Cruz for the 2018 Mid Terms Election
How LGBTQ+ Voters Can Make an Impact on the U.S. Political Landscape
Under the Trump administration, LGBTQ+ rights and legal protections are being threatened on a daily basis. It’s a scary time, but we’re committed to making change — and we know we’re capable of doing so. To educate queer voters during this midterm election season and ensure that our community is fully informed on politicians, policies, and procedures, them. has collaborated with Google to create our Queer the Votepackage.
Queer the Vote shows a state-by-state summary of LGBTQ+ legal protections (including the LGBTQ+ population density of each state, as well as which states have housing and employment nondiscrimination protections in place), plus a voter guide with an overview of candidates listed on each state’s ballot, and those politicians’ LGBTQ-friendliness ratings. Gabriel Arana, who worked on creating and building the Queer the Vote package, reminds us that “it can be difficult for individual voters to feel as though their vote matters, but the future of the country often hinges on a handful of votes in key states.”
In this week’s episode of The Library, a them. roundtable on LGBTQ+ news and culture, Arana joins Teen Vogue Executive Editor Samhita Mukhopadhyay and News and Politics News Editor Lucy Diavolo, as well as Voices4 founder Adam Eli to discuss the midterms and Queer the Vote. “When you are voting, you’re not just voting for your rights or the rights of your friends — you’re voting for the rights of queer people all over the world,” says Eli. To learn more about how to vote in your state, and policies affecting LGBTQ+ people nationwide, check out the full episode above and the Queer the Vote package here.
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Fubs wants u to know…no matter where u are in the world, voting alone is never enough — it’s just the beginning! ❤️
