For better or for worse, America will be truly changed after November’s midterm elections.
Eight months from today, America will vote for thirty-nine Governors, the entire U.S House of Representatives — all 435 seats — and thirty-six U.S. Senators. And that doesn’t even include state legislatures or local elections. Forty-six states will hold elections for some form of state legislative office. And there will be mayoral elections in fifteen major U.S. cities and countless others. Untold numbers of elected officials, from Congressmen and Governors to dog catchers, will be on the November 2 ballot. Primaries have already begun for some of these seats, in Illinois and Texas.
This is a major election, and while not a presidential election year, many seats are up for grabs, especially as term limits are automatically throwing incumbents out of office. Voter anger is high — as is America’s obsession with politics. And rightly so. Whether that anger turns out to more people showing up at the polls is always the question, but those the most angry are often those who show up to “throw the bums out.” Yes, if you’re the incumbent, you could be on thin ice. (Who’s on the thinnest? HuffPo says these eight.)
For better or for worse, or perhaps both, the America we knew just a decade ago has been erased. Much of the progress we saw in the Clinton years has been eviscerated. And what we thought was progress in the Bush years was wiped clean before he even left office.
There’s much at stake here. Too much to not get involved.
Right now I’m in the middle of looking at all the races I can, and figuring out where I want to focus. I’m committed to removing the homophobes, like Virgina Foxx (remember her horrific comments about Matthew Shepard? Fight back. Join FireFoxx!) and Iowa’s Steve King from office. And there are so many more.
What’s at stake? Who controls the House and the Senate. Whether states have Republican or Democratic governors. Whether cities have Democratic or Republican mayors.
Why does this matter? Well, while the Democrats have been no friend to the LGBTQ community, the GOP has been actively hostile. Let me stress that before you start writing me mail about how I shouldn’t support the Democratic party. I’m not.
Let me also say, vote for a candidate and not a party. If you’re going to contribute money, do not contribute to a political party — contribute to a candidate who fully supports LGBTQ rights. Do your homework. Does your candidate support repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and DOMA? Do they support enactment of ENDA? Did they vote for or against the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes bill? Do they support same-sex marriage — not just civil unions, but marriage? And are they brave and transparent enough to be squarely on the record on all these points?
Don’t know? Can’t find their position anywhere? Call them. Write them. Demand a response.
Aren’t getting one? Ask me and I’ll do my best to find out.
So, again, why does this matter? Because governors sign — or veto — same sex marriage legislation. Governors and mayors include — or exclude — the LGBTQ workforce from their anti-discrimination policies. (Thank you again, newly sworn-in Virgina Governor Bob McDonnell, for removing protections for LGBTQ state workers, even though you campaigned on an agenda that you claimed wasn’t about social issues, but financial ones.)
Why does this matter? Because there still are Republicans who would like to not only ensure DOMA doesn’t get repealed, but that there’s a federal marriage amendment written into the constitution that clearly defines marriage as between one man and one woman. Think that’s impossible today? Not when support for same-sex marriage in some polls is slightly declining, and not when the last time the Federal Marriage Amendment was voted on was less than four years ago. (And not when just two weeks ago, Senator Mike Pence called for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage!)
We’ve seen the pendulum swing both ways.
It’s important, no, vital, that we see the pendulum swinging our way, that we, as a country, move more to the left than to the right, that Democrats get the message that we aren’t a “center-right” nation, that Democrats realize that voting for Democratic ideals is why we put them in office.
Please. Get involved. Involve your friends, your family, your coworkers, your neighbors, everyone you can. When people have the ability to vote on our rights, when we are second class citizens, when the Party of No could become the Tea Party, when the wall between religion and politics becomes slimmer and lower, when corporations become people and money becomes speech, yes, I’d say our very lives are at stake.