Will Voters Select Hope or Fear?

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me.” He said to the boy.

“It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.” (From a post by Kathleen Allen.)

 

That is what I am thinking about today. Which wolf will win? Will the American voters be swayed by the drumbeats of crime and fear being repeated nightly by the Republicans or will Americans hear the president’s message that the right is attempting to undermine our democracy and convince voters that fewer liberties but less crime are the way to go? The right is trying to convince voters we should challenge elections if the minority does not win, that lies are all right, and that cheating is permitted if the goal is to win at all costs. For the record–it isn’t!

 

The noises are so loud on the right that the voices of decent people, quiet, thoughtful people who care about the right for personal choices in selecting books or movies, in a mate to marry or with bodily autonomy, such as President Biden, VP Harris, and former President Obama are difficult to hear over the din and shouting. To them, democracy also means the right to vote without restraint, (well, it seems, not so in Republican-controlled states such as Florida, Texas, or Georgia) to speak freely and peaceably assemble, and to enjoy a free and unintimidated press. Democracy also is supposed to promote justice for all regardless of status in life, race, religion, or creed. (I know we are still working on that one!)

 

The leaders on the right seem to not understand that the states with the fewest controls on guns have more gun crimes. Democracy should not favor corporations over the rights of ordinary citizens. Money is not speech; money is power and billions and billions are being spent by interest groups to distort the truth and make Americans afraid of each other. Voters are told to fear the Congresswoman who supports her party’s leader, “liberal” Nancy Pelosi from San Francisco! They attack her because she has been an effective leader; she stood up to DJT when he promised one thing and did another. She got the Affordable Care Act through the House, she supported the Infrastructure Bil that is helping so many communities. They are trying to tell Americans that they should fear an 80-year-old petite woman. Preposterous! They should admire her for her tenacity and political skills. But, no, they have tried to demonize her for years, even going so far in one year to slow down the tape to make it appear as if she were speaking while drunk. (Perhaps they forgot she does not drink!) But no matter, the opposition had a field day when her 82-year-old husband, Paul, had an accident and was charged with DUI recently.

 

But most distressing is the torrent of lies and made-up stories that appeared and were shared by everyone from the MAGA crowd to Elon Musk and the bot farms after an attacker invaded Paul Pelosi’s home and viciously attacked him until the arriving police stopped the attack. Some television personalities even seemed joyful that Nancy had this turmoil to deal with. The man had a fractured skull and needed surgery! The attacker planned to hold her husband until she came home and he could attack her. He echoed the haunting “where’s Nancy” that the insurrectionists shouted after they invaded the halls of Congress, the Senate Chamber, and her office.

 

So which wolf is being fed here? Most certainly, it is not the one that supports decency and civility, respect and concern for your fellow humans. I am afraid that this coarsening of society’s mores and common courtesies, if not corrected by universal disdain, will become the new norm. If so, we will all be the poorer for it. So how do we change the narrative that tries to scare seniors into believing they will be victims of crime from the criminals in their midst? How do we change the claims that Democrats are soft on crime as they try to make our criminal justice system fairer?

 

Why are Democrats letting Republicans take credit for popular legislation they refused to vote for such as infrastructure improvements? Why aren’t they publicizing the Republican intentions to attack Medicare and Social Security and repeal the reduction in prescription drug prices under Part D? Telling the truth is feeding the good wolf!

 

So this roundabout discussion finally brings me to the midterms. We are finally there; the voters who have not yet spoken out with early voting, mail-in, or drop-box votes will now have their day at the polls. According to CNN, over 34 million people have already cast ballots in 47 states. Over one million votes have been cast in the states of Arizona, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, and they have already registered over two million votes in Georgia. The Georgia tally reflects a quarter of the total electorate. Tough Senate races in each of those states may account for the heavy turnout. Democrats continue their preference for mail-in voting as seen in 2020 with the pandemic. Seniors continue to turn out in force. So far, 39% of Democrats have already voted. However, many states have numerous independents; often independents lean Republican, so that is not a reliable category for Democrats. Young people, still a small share of the electorate, are showing up, but account for only 3% of the electorate.

 

Also, according to CNN, “Except among White voters in Arizona, Democrats lead in early voting among all age and major race or ethnicity groups in all three states. However, a sizable number of pre-election voters in Arizona and Nevada are independents, which cuts into the Democratic share of the vote in those states. In Pennsylvania, more than 80% of non-White voters so far are Democrats. In Arizona and Nevada, however, roughly half of non-White voters are Democrats.”

 

Polling site 538 is still projecting that Republicans will win in the House but that Democrats will hold on in the Senate. The right is promising to impeach practically every Democratic cabinet officeholder and investigate Hunter Biden! Legislation – why bother when you can hold a three-ring circus with a bunch of right-wing nut jobs leading committees? There have been recent reports in the press that Republicans are trying to game the polls by having pro-republican pollsters get counted in the same skew as reputable non-partisan pollsters to make people think that Democrats have no chance. Again, remember that Gallup polls were way off in several recent elections; at one point, they were not calling cell phones. One cannot do that in this current atmosphere where many voters have given up their landlines.

 

The publication This Week noted some pollsters are questioning results from republican pollster The Trafalgar group which consistently shows Republicans leading on the generic ballots and their every two-week polls of key Senate races show wider margins for Republicans in races that others are calling as toss-ups or close races. In 2020, Trafalgar predicted a DJT win, even as few others were. They often featured their results in the Real Clear Politics summaries, a more respected poll. But, as the computer folks say: Garbage In, Garbage out, or GIGO. I mentioned last week that polls have become unpredictable, but as the media sources incessantly report this information like a horse race, “who is leading now, who is coming close,” then voters may get discouraged if their candidate is said to have no chance of victory and they may not vote.

 

Some say that major ethnic groups, long a Democratic block, are moving away from the Democrats as older Hispanic voters are increasingly favoring conservatives, while younger, more assimilated voters are staying with the Democrats. One pollster claims that 20% of Black voters are moving away from Democrats, while others question that conclusion. Asian voters are also being courted by Republicans who have nominated several Asian candidates in local races.

 

I am partisan and would love to see such awful candidates as JD Vance, and Dr. Oz defeated. I certainly hope that Rev. Warnock beats Herschel Walker fair and square with over 50% of the vote, so that no run-off is necessary. I wish that Ron Johnson in Wisconsin will be defeated by Mandela Barnes and that Catherine Cortez-Masto holds on in Nevada. Wouldn’t it be nice if Val Demings in Florida beats Senator Rubio? I so want a Senate with over 50 Democrats!

 

In local races-believe me, you cannot go wrong if you vote for the Democrats-every one of them! In Frederick County, please vote for Jessica Fitzwater for County Executive and support County Council Candidates Renee Knapp & Brad Young and if you live in District 4, Kavonte Duckett. Please vote for Karl Bickel for Sheriff; (We need a change there for sure!)

State Legislature: Karen Lewis-Young, Senate

Delegates- Choose Ken Kerr, Kris Fair, and Karen Simpson.

Board of Education: Ysela Bravo, Rae Gallagher, Dean Rose, and Karen Yoho.

Statewide- Wes Moore for Governor, Aruna Miller, Lt. Governor, Anthony Brown for Attorney General, and Brooke Lierman for State Comptroller.

Congress: David Trone for Representative and Chris Van Hollen for Senator!

 

And in Montgomery County, vote for all of those women running for County Council!

And support the County Executive, Marc Elrich, and the District 14 team.

 

But, please VOTE!

 

Fingers crossed-‘til next week-peace!