1/5/24

ELECTION COUNTDOWN:
10 MONTHS TO GO.
Democracy Is On The Line Nov. 5th 

THERE ARE JUST 10 MONTHS, as of today, until the Nov. 5 election.
    Which means  that the election, which will determine whether the United States remains a democracy, is almost here. And right now, democracy is losing.
   I had a close encounter earlier this week with one of the many obstacles that President Joe Biden faces in his underdog campaign to win a second term, and prevent Donald Trump from returning to the White House and creating a dictatorship.
   My wife and I were at one of several events that Rhode Island Democrats are holding to collect signatures to put Biden’s name on the ballot for our state’s April 2 presidential primary.
   This signature gathering event happened to be held at the Middletown Public Library. Greeting us at the front door was an affable guy with a clipboard. He asked whether we were registered voters, and if so, could we sign some nomination papers?
   The candidate? Dean Phillips.
   You might be excused for wondering who Phillips us. He’s the Minnesota Congressman who is challenging Biden for the Democratic nomination. Phillips claims to be a big fan of the president, but warns that Biden can’t win, so he’s stepping up.
   “Absolutely not!” I told the guy, who said he was from Phillips' state and seemed taken aback by my response. Shouldn’t voters have a choice, he asked? And besides, we're all the same side, wanting to defeat Donald Trump - right?
   Wrong.
   Phillips’ candidacy is absurd. But it’s also dangerous. Because anything that suggests pro-democracy voters have a choice other than Biden – such as an alternative Democrat, or a third-party candidate – takes precious votes from Biden and helps Donald Trump.

NOTHING will be more catastrophic to the country than Trump returning to White House, which is a nightmare that today seems not only possible, but likely.
   The Real Clear Politics website, which tracks current voter preferences, has been showing Trump with a more than two-point lead in a hypothetical match up. These were the figures yesterday.

                 BIDEN:   44.3 percent
                 TRUMP: 46.5 percent

    Astonishing.
   Especially astonishing considering the symbolism of tomorrow’s anniversary – the third year since the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Trump’s final, desperate attempt to stay in power.
   That should have been  the end of Trump. Instead, the opposite has happened. Trump gets a pass from millions of Republicans.
    For example, a disturbingly large cohort of voters think the FBI, not Trump, was responsible for the Jan. 6 insurrection.
   A Washington Post/University of Maryland poll asked respondents whether it was true or false that FBI operatives caused the Capitol riot. Twenty-five percent answered it was "definitely" or "probably" true that the FBI was behind the uprising.
   Trump can probably count on some of these unhinged voters to support his election and his goals if he wins: to put federal departments, the military, the apparatus of government under his control.

 OBVIOUSLY, millions of other Americans are opposed to a dictatorship, and wonder what they can do to help Biden, who many people, myself included, think has been a capable president.
   Offering advice is Robert Reich, a University of California professor and former labor secretary under President Bill Clinton.
   In a recent column in The Guardian newspaper, Reich proposes 10 steps individuals can take to head off a Trump victory. Here are two:

• "Become a political activist to ensure Trump is not elected. For some of us, this will mean taking more time out of our normal lives, up to and including getting out the votes in critical swing states. For others, it means phone banking, making political contributions, writing letters to editors, and calling friends and relations in key states."
• "Don’t decide to sit this election out or to vote for a third-party candidate, because you don’t especially like Biden and you’re tired of voting for the 'lesser of two evils.' Biden may not be perfect, but he’s not the lesser of two evils. Trump is truly evil.

   You can read  the rest of Reich’s 10 ideas at this link:
   Ten months until the election.
   Ten months to save a country.