{"id":46050,"date":"2014-10-23T17:10:41","date_gmt":"2014-10-23T23:10:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/10\/23\/as-we-hurtle-toward-the-election.html"},"modified":"2014-10-29T07:56:55","modified_gmt":"2014-10-29T13:56:55","slug":"as-we-hurtle-toward-the-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/10\/23\/as-we-hurtle-toward-the-election.html","title":{"rendered":"As we hurtle toward the election"},"content":{"rendered":"

My wife and I have voted. I would encourage everyone else to do so, too. Yes, even Republicans (I, for one, think heavy voting is better on principle than light voting, even when it doesn't favor my point of view), but particularly for Democrats. <\/p>\n

These things make a difference. Are too many (on both sides) beholden to various big interests? Sure. Are too many in the Senate multi-millionaires? Yup. Are the Dems all bold progressives interested in freedom, protection, and opportunity for all Americans? Nope.<\/p>\n

But arguments that there is no difference between the two parties is just silly. There's not enough difference, I think, especially in some areas, but nobody can look at the insane games that have gone on in DC between the House and the Senate (or even just within the Senate) and think that having one party in control of both chambers will mean business as usual.<\/p>\n

So, everyone, vote. But Dems? If the GOP takes control of the Senate, there will be a lot of reasons, but a big one will be Democratic turnout fell short.<\/p>\n

(h\/t +<\/span>Kee Hinckley<\/a><\/span>)<\/p>\n

Originally shared by +Jeremy Nixon<\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

My fellow Americans: There’s an election in two weeks, and the Republicans are favored to take control of the Senate.<\/b><\/p>\n

There is only one issue at stake in determining control of the Senate: turnout. That’s it. Democrats are on track to lose the Senate because they aren’t going to bother to show up.<\/p>\n

Candidates can make their speeches, and throw their tantrums at debates, but there aren’t really any swing voters anyway. All they’re doing is feeding their supporters’ social media posts.<\/p>\n

Republicans have this figured out. They show up on Election Day. They work to pass laws to make it harder for likely Democratic voters to vote.<\/p>\n

Democrats, not so much. They don’t bother to show up. If Democrats showed up and voted, Republicans would never control any branch of government again. No, gerrymandering wouldn’t make a difference: gerrymandering gives the Republicans only a small handful of House seats, and doesn’t affect Senate races at all. The only thing that matters is whether or not you vote.<\/p>\n

Your vote is so important that the Republicans want to stop you from using it. Good Americans died for it. People around the world wish for it. How can you possibly take it for granted? How can you just decide it’s not worth your trouble? Are you frustrated by a lack of meaningful choices? Are you angry over the role of money in politics? Well, none of that will matter if you just get off your lazy ass and vote.<\/p>\n

Are you upset that the politicians never take your views, your needs, your feelings into account? Well, if you don’t vote, your views, needs, and feelings don’t matter at all. They’re supposed<\/i> to ignore you. It’s rational<\/i> for them to ignore you. They’ll ignore you, and pay attention to the wacko teabaggers with the misspelled signs and nary a clue among them. Those people will be making your decisions for you.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey said that it’s important for Republicans to win state elections this year, so they will be the ones “overseeing the voting mechanism”<\/b> in the 2016 presidential election. That’s how they plan to win elections: by controlling them. They’re doing everything they can to keep you from voting, and their most potent weapon is making you not want to bother. You may not think a midterm election is important, but they know it is.<\/p>\n

“Not voting” isn’t a protest, and it’s not a statement. It’s an abdication.<\/p>\n

Further reading:
http:\/\/www.northjersey.com\/news\/christie-says-gop-gubernatorial-candidates-need-to-win-so-they-control-voting-mechanisms-1.1113989<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.vox.com\/2014\/10\/21\/7027719\/swing-voters-independents-2014-midterm-elections-polarized-republican-advantage<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
\n<\/a>\u00a0\n<\/div>\n

View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My wife and I have voted. I would encourage everyone else to do so, too. Yes, even Republicans (I, for one, think heavy voting is better on principle than light voting, even when it doesn't favor my point of view), but particularly for Democrats. These things make a difference. Are too many (on both sides) … Continue reading “As we hurtle toward the election”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,353],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plusposts","category-elections-2014"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/senate+forecast.pngimgmax=660.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27432,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/17\/lack-of-business-as-usual.html","url_meta":{"origin":46050,"position":0},"title":"Lack-of-business as usual","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 17-Apr-12 1:44pm","format":false,"excerpt":"A nice article noting some newspapers finally taking a bit more time to note the difference between the Senate \"voting against\" something and the Senate being blocked from debating and voting on something by a GOP minority. #ddtb Embedded Link False-Equivalence Watch: Nice Work by the Times and Post! All\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19008,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/10\/26\/why-im-voting-for-michael-bennet-and-john-hickenlooper.html","url_meta":{"origin":46050,"position":1},"title":"Why I’m voting for Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 26-Oct-10 8:27am","format":false,"excerpt":"I already did my ballot proposition analysis for Colorado this year.\u00a0 Now I'll (briefly) tell you how I'm voting on our major state candidates this year. For Senate: Michael Bennet Campaign site | Senatorial site | Wikipedia I am not a huge Michael Bennet fan. Bennet was appointed to his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2010"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2010","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2010"},"img":{"alt_text":"Michael Bennet","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/michael-bennet.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13146,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/07\/09\/yeah_deeply_disappointed.html","url_meta":{"origin":46050,"position":2},"title":"Yeah — deeply disappointed","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 9-Jul-08 10:03pm","format":false,"excerpt":"First off, the Senate voted to approve the FISA bill, including all the telco immunity provisions. And, second, Barrack Obama was one of the folks voting in favor of it....","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2008"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2008","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2008"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":132716,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/01\/31\/mcconnell-vs-mcconnell-what-a-difference-a-year-makes.html","url_meta":{"origin":46050,"position":3},"title":"McConnell vs McConnell: What a Difference a Year Makes","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 31-Jan-17 5:02pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The situation is not 100% the same, but the GOP certainly has no moral high ground in decrying the Senate Democrats for vowing to filibuster every Trump SCOTUS nominee, given that they declined to even consider or hold hearings on Obama's replacement for Samuel Alito, who died a year ago\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":135654,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/12\/13\/alabama-example-gerrymandering.html","url_meta":{"origin":46050,"position":4},"title":"An Alabama Example of Gerrymandering","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 13-Dec-17 2:14pm","format":false,"excerpt":"This is why politicians -- primarily, at the moment, GOP ones -- like gerrymandering. Also an example of why some conservatives want to get rid of the 17th Amendment and move US Senate elections back to the (gerrymandered) state legislatures. Jones won 49% of the state-wide vote; Moore won 48%.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/alabama-jones-moore-gerrymander.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":133646,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/06\/10\/health-insurance-reform-behind-closed-doors.html","url_meta":{"origin":46050,"position":5},"title":"Health insurance reform behind closed doors","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 10-Jun-17 1:48pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) rakes Orrin Hatch and Tom Price and the Senate GOP for their handling of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), and the lack of any public hearings over the bill they are planning on bringing to the Senate floor.' I heard you, Mr Secretary, just say,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46050"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46135,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46050\/revisions\/46135"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}