My Vote Is Your Future, Your Vote Is Mine

Counting the days until Election 2024 is in full swing. Mail-in ballots have gone out, mine arrived yesterday and I will, with glee and determination, fill it out with visions of a massive Blue victory all up and down the ballot. I will then take it to my county courthouse and place it in the drop box, feeling satisfied that I have done my civic duty. Like most people I know, I have been experiencing election anxiety, fitful sleep, crazier than usual dreams, emotional agitation, anger, resentment, frustration, bewilderment.

In the midst, I have attempted to have calm conversations with people who see the world through a different lens or who are, beyond my comprehension, still undecided. Some would rather die than vote Dem. Some see DT as the savior sent by God and apparently saved by God in two assassination attempts. Ironic, isn’t it, that somehow the Divine Being saw fit to keep him alive while children in schools, those caught in the flood waters and wind in Hurricane Helene, civilians in Gaza and Ukraine were left to die. Try as they might, they can’t explain that phenomenon. Some demonize Kamala Harris and what they think she stands for. Some believe the Fox News talking points and ‘Trumpaganda’.

Yesterday, I returned to our local farmers market and helped out at the Doylestown Dems table. Lots of people stopped by and took literature, buttons, flags and stickers. One was a woman who, with her husband, just moved to town from Texas and wanted to know how to register. Turns out that they are neighbors of my cousin! The table for the other team was calmer and quieter than the last time I was there a month or so ago and the boom box that had blasted out some of DT’s speeches was conspicuously absent and there was only one flag waver on the corner. This time it said something like “Jesus is my Savior, Trump is my President”. “President Harris, Vice President Walz” is my new mantra. I repeat it each time I see a sign for the other team. It calms my nerves and affirms what I intend to be our reality. I sure feels better than flipping the signs the bird.

Afterward, I went to Doylestown Produce to pick up mums and a pumpkin to celebrate my favorite month, being an October baby (born 10/13/58). There I saw a friend and sister activist. She and her husband were choosing their decorative items too. We spoke enthusiastically about the hope that the Harris-Walz team has brought to the country and incredulously at the obliviousness to reality that DT’s supporters seem to espouse. We agreed that this is a must win for the sake of our nation.

After we parted company, I was pulling out of the parking lot and smiled as I saw a burly, bearded biker dude riding his chopper down the street, decked out in a Harris-Walz t-shirt.

Country over party. Who would have imagined die-hard Republican Liz Cheney who said she has never voted Dem would be standing beside Kamala Harris as a campaign spokesperson? It goes to show that you need not agree with everything the Biden-Harris administration has done or what Kamala Harris says she will do, to vote for her. You may disagree with the administration militarily supporting Israel in the horrific war in Gaza which began a year ago when Hamas captured and killed Israelis and Americans simply going about their day. I want the war to end. Does anyone believe that he would broker peace between the warring parties? The threat of DT and JDV in the Oval Office has worldwide repercussions that are terrifying. Please don’t minimize it.

Last weekend, after attending a rally where energy was stirred up to get out the vote, I brought home some yard signs. I had been reluctant at first to put them out, due to my awareness of the political orientation of some of my neighbors. The day after I placed them, three of them put out their signs backing their candidates. A few days ago, another neighbor brought over signs that pointed out, in living color the stark difference between the visions of each team. I gave the second one to my next door neighbor, who proudly displays it as well. Another two neighbors requested signs. A sign of solidarity. Remember that our individual votes create the future for each of us and collectively, the world. The state of the nation is in your hands.