It’s been a very long time since I wrote a political type diary here at DKos. In short that’s because my core political views won’t mesh well here. My surface political views fit in o.k., but I like to think of myself as being a bit more than skin deep. But this diary isn’t about that.
I have been politically active in times past. At one time I very actively worked assisting my local Democratic party office and vigorously supported Charles Duane 'Charlie' Brown in his 2008 run for California’s 4th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. I’m sorry to have to admit that even that small bit of political activism soured me. I suppose that’s because we lost. But we sure came close.
Needless to say I also voted for Barack Obama that year. We won! The first Black president in history and I helped in my minuscule way to make that happen. The U.S.A, maybe even the whole world, seemed like it was becoming a better place.
Then in 2016 I registered to vote in Nevada, having moved from California to Reno in 2014. Donald Trump had to be defeated. And he was. By popular vote. But the Electoral College system once again shat upon the people’s choice. I’d had it with the system. I was disillusioned and disheartened and disgusted beyond grief. Given the Cambridge Analytica/Facebook scandal I was more than half-convinced that free and fair elections in this country were dead. Oh and yeah, those Russian internet trolls and bots only worsened my despair.
When Joe Biden ran in 2020 I didn’t vote. I had returned to California in 2018 and hadn’t registered to vote and believed it wouldn’t matter anyway, given what happened in 2016. Then Joe won and my mind began to have hope again.
Following the four years of despicable dishonor wrought upon this country by Donald Trump, when he was voted out I sincerely believed he was a has-been political entity. And then, he’s a serious candidate for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination? So, full circle. He must be defeated (if nominated, and I’m confident at this point he will be), and so I must vote. For Joe Biden, of course.
So, I’ve registered to vote. Here’s my form, it’s all filled in and is already in the mail.
Oh, by the way, Taylor Swift didn’t have anything to do with my decision to register. But I applaud her for encouraging people to get registered to vote.