See pictures at the end
Democracy is on The Ballot! Let's Get Out The Vote!
There is so much I want to say, but the most important thing is for you to vote and get everyone you can to vote too. I mean everyone you know in every state and then get them to talk to everyone they know. We don't need conflict now! Only talk to those you can without conflict about politics. We hope that they will see the light and come to understand how far the Republican party has fallen. Now we need to win overwhelmingly so the results can not be questioned. Ignore the polls. VOTE.
We must be excited about voting and project our enthusiasm onto everyone around us. Just think of the great feeling we will have on November 9th when the Democrats keep control of both the US House of Representatives and the Senate, and when Democrats win more governorships and take over seats in the State Legislators and State and local offices. We must think as one and contagiously manifest the future we deserve. Lean into trust, love and community.
Just look at the amazing accomplishments of the Biden Administration and the 117th Congress even with its slim majority. This is a great video overview of the accomplishments. PoliticsGirl, Share with Friends Who Might Not Know What’s Really Going On… This video is a comparison showing what Republicans want. PoliticsGirl, Quick Comparison I agree with PoliticsGirl.
Let's all collectively dream about what the 118th congress will do! They say dreams come true.
- Pass Universal Healthcare to prevent healthcare bankruptcies and remove the healthcare burden from the employee and the employer.
- Pass HR1 addressing voter access, election integrity and security, campaign finance and ethics for the three branches of government.
- Pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act
- Pass Nationwide Commonsense Gun Control.
- Pass True Immigration Reform.
- Pass a bill to Guarantee Woman's Right to Choose
- Fund the social safety network.
- Save our fragile planet from climate change and pollution.
- Fund and improve public education.
- Get dark money out of politics.
- Create a truly multi-racial democracy.
And so much more!
How To Get Your Sample Ballot and Vote.
It's a good idea to have a marked-up copy of your sample ballot before you go to the polls. This way you will be ready to vote and will not be overwhelmed. Of course, with vote by mail you'll already have the ballot. Vote dot Org www.vote.org/ballot-information/ has most of what is on your ballot, but for a complete ballot go to your county website.
Your county runs the elections so your county's website should have your printable sample ballot. There are over 3000 counties and there are no standards for how they give you your ballot. Some cities have the ballots on their website or they will link you to your county website. They may ask for your name and address or they may just list the ballots available. We can all just vote straight Democratic to save democracy. All the races all the way down the ballot are important ones but don't let what you don't know discourage you. Leave it blank if you have to. It is most important to vote in the races that insure Democratic control in the federal and State Legislative bodies (House and Senate), and governorships. There are many Republicans running for State Attorney Generals and other offices that openly believe/say the 2020 election was stolen.
Help your friends find their sample ballots and even print them.
Here is where you find the Cook County suburbs sample ballots.
https://www.cookcountyclerkil.gov/elections/your-voter-information
Here is where you find the City of Chicago sample ballots.
https://chicagoelections.gov/en/your-voter-information.html
Let's surprise and shock them with our wins. Democrats are the majority by a lot and we have power. Today that power is at the polls!
The Dark Side.
Republicans are the minority. They have a radical extreme far right agenda. One billion dollars of dark money is being used to try to win this election. This is why the polls are tightening and why we need every vote! Our corrupted Supreme Court opened the flood gates of dark money with their overreaching Citizens United decision which is part of the authoritarian elite's decades long plan to manipulate us and our system to exclusively benefit the rich. The authoritarian oligarchs are buying our politicians. If you think someone being funded into office by a billion dollars of dark money is going to listen to you and not their donors you are being played (i.e. Ron Johnson). Their massive funded propaganda machines of Fox News and right wing radio (naming just a few) keeps fueling the hate and fear.
Notice Republicans are openly siding with authoritarian governments like Putin and Viktor Orbán of Hungary to name just two. Not to mention the amount of time and money these governments are continuously spending to manipulate our social media to affect how we vote. Often with the support of our oligarchs who own the platforms. We are in a worldwide struggle between democracy and dictators. Look at Ukraine. The fascists want to take over the world.
Why am I always writing more about the bad than the good? We are just at such a crucial moment in history and if we don't get this election right it will set true freedom back for years if not decades. When everyone in America votes we win.
Heather Cox Richardson is a historian who has dedicated herself to a daily "Letters from an American". Here is her insight into what Republicans will do if they retake congress. I pray they don't. I recommend her daily letter. Heather Cox Richardson, November 4, 2022
A Few of The Important Races.
Can you imagine how great it will feel to wake-up Wednesday morning and have John Fetterman (PA-S), Tim Ryan (OH-S), Cheri Beasley (NC-S), Beto O'Rourke (TX-Gov), Val Demings (FL-S), Mandela Barnes (WI-S), Raphael Warnock (GA-S), Stacey Abrams (GA-Gov) all elected? The Democrats have so many stellar candidates and there is no comparison to the sycophant Republican election deniers.
That's all for now.
We need to keep working to build a better Democratic party. There is no redemption for the Republican party at this time. The party leadership has been taken over by idealistic bullies who have chosen to accept violence and insurrection over we the people and democracy.
So much more can be said. I'll add to this when I can. If we all do our part we can win. I want to be dancing in the streets next week!
Feel free to comment at comments@alsdesk.com I will listen.
I also have important information in the tweets at https://twitter.com/alsdesk Twitter is going down fast after Elon Musk took over, but if you are selective with who you follow the information is still solid.
Here are my personal accounts:
https://www.facebook.com/alfeo.bari
Local Politics
Delia Ramirez is running in my 3rd US Congressional District. She is clearly the right choice in showing that she cares about average people and knows what the 118th Congress needs to do. I have a link to the forum with Delia and her opponent Justin Burau. Justin sounds great here, but believes in many of the failed Republican polices. He also masterfully speaks many innuendos showing his complacency to the MAGA Republican conspiracy theories and their future backwards congressional plans.
League of Women Voters Candidate Forum - US Congressional District 3
I can't believe that less then 100 people have viewed this video. I find watching how the candidates talk and interact is the best way to understand them. I recommend doing this for all your races.
YouTube trick to help easily find candidate’s videos
YouTube has an option that lets you change the sort to "Upload Date" or newest videos. "Upload date" is not YouTube's default sort order "Relevance" is. This means many videos with few views are never seen. When you change the sort to "Upload Date" you will see many current and less viewed videos. Here is how you do it. 1) Enter your YouTube search string. 2) Find and select "Filter"on the upper left hand side. 3) Select "Upload date" from the "Sort By" options on the right. Give this a try for any candidate.