Originally posted 11/06/17
Apparently, the Democratic Party is broken. Instead of accepting responsibility for their ineptitude, they are lashing out at everyone else in a feeble attempt to excuse why they keep losing money, support and elections. Okay, here’s the situation…
I vote. I always vote. The time that I decided to go later to avoid school traffic (then forgot), I failed to cast my gubernatorial primary vote for Tom Perriello. We ended up with another corporate Democrat as the only option against a lobbyist Republican. Yes, I did that. I own my responsibility. Since I didn’t vote, I relinquish my right to complain, right? Girl, please!
Ralph Northam makes me as enthusiastic to vote as visiting the dentist. I will go because the alternative is worse, not because I am excited to take the trip. He is the guy who voted for GWB twice then called himself underinformed. No, Darling, once is underinformed. Twice is political agreement. Northam is the guy who invested in Virginian companies that stood to profit by his decisions as Lt. Governor, then promised to put his portfolio in a blind trust. Where have we heard that before? He is the guy who leans so far to the right, the Republicans in the State Senate courted him to switch parties. He is the guy who did not appreciate the optics of omitting Justin Fairfax, the only Black candidate on the ballot, from some of the mailers distributed. Ralph Northam is not my cup of tea.
The Democratic Party knows this. Otherwise, it would not spend so much money sending out full-color 8X10s trying to convince me to support their lackluster candidate. I have received four such advertisements in two days, a pre-recorded call from Baby Brother Barack, as well as two “shame flyers” telling me that I am in the below-average category for voting. “We don’t know who you vote for, but we do know whether or not you vote”.
Are you freaking serious right now? These are the finger-wagging tactics you have to embrace to get your candidate elected? For the record, I have lived in VA since 2013 but voted via absentee ballot in MO until Honey retired last year. How about you get your “facts” straight before you get all up in my business, Democrats! Argh.
Do I sound hostile? No, I’m not hostile. Okay, maybe a little. I am just so tired of Democrats hitching their wagons to the wrong horse (or donkey if you prefer) then blaming the populace for losing seats. Do not blame Bernie or me for your complete inability to admit that Hillary was too divisive to win over moderates and too corporate to earn the progressive/youth vote. Y’all are the ones who assumed people would rally behind her because she was the “lesser of two evils”. You could not foresee that apathy toward your candidate would be a factor? Not even a little? Come on!
Here we are again. This time it’s Virginia, not the entire nation. This time it’s Tom Perriello, not Bernie Sanders. Tom is a populist democrat. Though I do not agree with all of his past or current political decisions, I agree with his motives for running for office. He actually wants to improve the lives of his fellow Virginians. Go figure! Perriello is for education, so he supports universal pre-school and community college for those willing to commit to community service. Perriello is for our environment, so he opposes 2 more gas pipelines in VA and refused money from energy czar, Dominion Power. Perriello is for the people. Despite having every major Democrat in the state (including Senators Kaine & Warner and Governor McAuliffe) endorse Northam (not to mention two years of name recognition in Northam’s favor), Tom Perriello only lost the Democratic primary by 11%.
Wake up Democrats! We, Progressives, do not want to vote for your lukewarm, corporate-loving, Republican-lite candidates. We want PROGRESS. We want people in office who reflect our beliefs in technological advancement, environmental responsibility, quality (government-funded) education, universal healthcare and fiscal responsibility. It’s our money you are handling. It’s our taxes that you are diverting from the programs we support into your own pockets. YOU WORK FOR US. I think it’s time for all of our elected officials to remember that.
If you want my vote, don’t send me flyers. Don’t try to shame me into voting for your uninspiring candidate. Don’t leave pre-recorded messages from Baby Brother Barack. Don’t utilize condescension, anti-Trumpism, fear-mongering or finger-wagging to coerce me to the polls. I vote. I always vote. I will vote tomorrow to elect our Virginian governor. I have not decided whether I will write in Tom Perriello’s name (if that’s an option) or I will check the block for the Establishment Democrat.
I cannot vote for the Republican candidate and be okay with my decision. The Democrats know that. They know that left-leaning voters do not have a true representative on most ballots. They know that people so dislike the state of The Union, that they are willing to compromise their ideals in order to steer the country toward a better vision, if only by inches. They know their candidate is the “lesser of two evils”. What they fail to realize is the growing dissension among the ranks. They fail to see people, like me, who are unwilling to compromise.
We have Trump because of the Democratic failure. They have not learned that their tactics are not working. They still refuse to factor in apathy towards Northam as a deciding vote. They refuse to accept the responsibility for endorsing a candidate who could not rally enthusiasm if you lit him on fire and shot him into the night sky. Listen very carefully Democrats—just because you’re not the Republican (if only by classification), does not entitle you to my vote. If Northam fails to be elected as the next VA Governor, that is your failure, not mine. If I choose to write in Tom Perriello’s name on the ballot, do not blame me for your loss. Instead, present me with a candidate who represent my ideals. I am unwilling to compromise. If it takes a Donald Trump and an Ed Gillespie for you to wake up and understand this, I will have to live with the consequences of my decision. Can you?
Ciao!
AnthroNegra 