AFRAID FOR OUR DEMOCRACY? THEN GET IN THE GAME!!!
Fear the next presidential election because of all the election-deniers who are winning local and state offices and could control what happens to your vote and mine? I think we have every reason to be fearful. After all, these individuals have proved to be, in many cases, totally unscrupulous. They appear to be at the beck and call of politicians whose only motive is gaining power. I was most impressed at the January 6th Hearings at the number of individuals who showed backbone and integrity whether they were in the Justice Department or the White House or the Pentagon. Of course I’m sure there were many who we didn’t see because they lack either integrity or backbone. But our democracy was rescued by those who did and not savaged by those who didn’t. And they were Republicans — who knew?
Well, it seems one person who’s calling on Americans, especially Republicans, who oppose Trump and Trumpian tactics to take action is Sarah Longwell. A Liz Cheney-style Republican, Sarah’s been fighting far longer than Liz — she waged a lonely battle against Trump from 2016 and on through the 2020 election. Her organization, now called the Republican Accountability Project, raised millions of dollars and put up billboards throughout the country in key districts which portrayed Republicans who weren’t casting their ballot for Trump and why. Ditto for radio and TV advertisements. Her ads were extremely effective. How much did this contribute to Republican’s either voting for Biden or just not voting. How much did it contribute toTrump losing — and he did lose — probably can’t be tallied but the numbers may have been key.
Now her outfit is funding a project called “Meet Country First Academy” — its purpose is to help individuals run for state and local offices to combat the number of local offices being won by election-deniers. This latter phenomenon is horrifying to learn about wherever it occurs and it’s apparently very widespread. Most people, however, throw up their hands and say “But what can I do?”
Well, Sarah now has an answer: Run for one of these local and state offices yourself. Fill the position with someone who will insure that the votes are counted correctly and that the winning candidate is truly the one who’s won. How could we ever get to the place in this country where we’d question that? I’m as flummoxed as you. I’m also as panicked as you and worried out what’s going to happen. Am I going to run for public office? Probably not. I’m a 70+ year old writer who limits her partisanship to commentaries like this one. But ten years ago, I probably would have run. And twenty years ago, I absolutely would have run. So go on-line to www.countryfirstacademy.org and see what you can do. I have a feeling you’ll sleep easier if you know you’re the one monitoring the election count and so will I.
