Roe, Roe, Roe Your Vote
These mid terms matter like never before
These mid-term elections matter like never before. For me, this is my first US election. I’m a Canadian immigrant. I’ve been a Green Card holder for many years, but finally became a US citizen in 2021. This is my first chance to participate in American politics.
I believe voting is an essential part of citizenship, and it pains me when I run into friends who tell me they have checked out of politics, whether because they are exhausted, frustrated, or disillusioned. There are good reasons for all these emotions. But, like parenting, you don’t check out when your kid is unresponsive, difficult, or feckless. You dig in. You care. You pay attention, even when it feels unfulfilling.
At the most basic level, this means vote. But it also means to get engaged where you think you can do the most good, and communicate a positive intention. So when you donate to a campaign, volunteer to canvass, put signs on your lawns, work phone banks, attend campaign events, you are amplifying your influence. I think this works in a non-linear, almost mystical way. Putting out positive energy towards the candidates I support creates a tiny ripple. It can join with other ripples and become a wave.
So this weekend, I have been canvassing for Heather Mizeur, the Democratic candidate in Maryland’s First Congressional District. This is the only seat in Maryland held by a Republican — and oh, what a MAGA Republican he is! Among other things, Andew Harris was one of ten Republican Congresspersons who met secretly with Trump in the lead up to the Jan 6 attempt to overthrow the election. (For more, see this Medium.com post by John Dean):
Harris refuses to answer questions on what was said during that meeting. And he signed on to the Republican plan to outlaw abortion nationwide. You can find highlights of the debate on these issues between Harris and Democratic candidate Heather Mizeur here:
Canvassing has been a great experience, and an opportunity to listen to the many different perspectives that voters bring to the polls. My role as a canvasser was not to argue or convince, but to gather information from willing Democratic voters, and above all, to encourage them to vote and to remind their like-minded friends to vote, too. I was heartened though to hear from several Republicans I met in this conservative-leaning district that they were done with Harris, and are voting for Heather Mizeur.
If we all get out and vote, MAGA Republicans do not stand a chance. Normally in a mid-term the president’s party is way down in the polls. But that has not happened. The media seems obsessed with their being no “blue wave.” But the real story is that there is no “red wave.” Usually the party out of power polls much stronger before the midterms. Why is that not happening? Because people with democratic values are enraged and thus engaged. (For more on the media’s biased reporting this election cycle, see this great post, below, by Shankar Narayan).
For me, the noises the MAGA-Republican Party has been making about outlawing abortion nation-wide are an attack on the freedom of women. And this is a fundamental violation of every citizen’s right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It’s all about controlling women. I asked Rosie, the person who coordinates our canvassing, what they tell people about why they’re voting Democrat this election. Rosie said, “I care about women’s rights, voting rights, human rights, and democracy.”
Rosie, I could not have said it better myself.
Please, everyone, vote your values this election.*
Roe, Roe Roe your vote.
(*If you vote in Maryland, remember if you are not yet registered to vote you can do so on election day. From the state website: “You can register to vote on election day. Go to the polling place assigned for your residence, and bring a document that proves where you live. You can find your polling place here. The document can be your MVA-issued license, ID card, or change of address card, or your paycheck, bank statement, utility bill, or other government document with your name and new address.”). If you have the slightest doubt, bring i.d. with you to the polls.
