Blog#124- 7/24/22
MID-TERM ELECTIONS MAY DETERMINE OUR FUTURE
By Richard Davis
Primary elections are taking place throughout the country in the lead-up to the November mid-term elections. Predicting the outcome of elections is one of the more useless and inaccurate activities that pundits and the media engage in. Yet, they all continue and then offer hindsight analysis after the ballots are counted.
November’s election has the potential to feed the beast of change this country is on toward right wing control of the courts, the environment and women’s bodies. The recent decisions by the Supreme Court may portend the world to come if the House and Senate majorities change to Republican.
Mid-term elections tends to favor the party that does not control the White House, but all bets are off this year because there are so many issues that will have a bearing on how people vote. Will loyal Republicans who are pro-abortion use their vote as a protest and only vote for candidates that support abortion rights?
And what about Republicans who feel compelled to protect the constitution by not voting for anyone who supports the January 6 insurrection and the rhetoric of a stolen election? Will those people be a factor in elections this year?
Those of us who live in the northeast live in a protected political bubble. Of course there are exceptions in New Hampshire and parts of Maine but, for the most part, the northeast remains a liberal Democratic stronghold.
That does not mean that we should take our vote for granted and just believe that there is no potential for a move to the right in our part of the country. We still need to turn out in large numbers and make it clear that our vote is a signal of what direction we want for this country.
Voter turnout will be a critical factor in elections throughout the U.S.. The only hope for protecting what is left of democracy is for large numbers of voters to turn out in November and vote for Democratic candidates all across the ballot. If the majorities shift in Washington there will be changes that will fuel the right wing train that has left the station at the Supreme Court.
The Democratic party needs to spend a lot of money and make it clear what is at stake in the coming elections. They need to control the agenda and make sure a majority of voters do not see the election as a referendum on the Biden presidency. There needs to be an all-out campaign to make it clear that any support for Trump and his allies means that more of our rights will be taken away and that this country will move closer to autocratic rule.
One of the problems with hoping that American voters will do the right thing and protect their country is that too many people have swallowed the Trump Kool-Aid and still believe that his election was stolen and that storming the capitol was the right thing to do.
The January 6 committee has done a good job of making it clear that the actions of Trump and his allies were seditious. They tried to subvert the constitution and overthrow the government. It looks like a black and white issue if you thoughtfully review the evidence that the January 6 committee has presented.
So what will it take to prevent this country from suffering through another four years of a Trump presidency? I wish that our votes were enough to prevent the horrors that may come but I think it would be naïve to believe that.
The final outcome of November’s election and the next presidential election may be determined by the Justice Department. They need to indict Trump and his inner circle before the presidential election and make them accountable for the crimes they have committed. It does not seem likely we will see any indictments before this November’s election. If the Justice Department does not move more swiftly than they have so far, the American people will not be protected from the mayhem of Republican control of the House and Senate and another Trump presidency.
