I thought of running in my NY 21 district, but didn't for a number of reasons. Instead, we had two nonresidents run and the district went to a 30 year old who last worked on Paul Ryan's debate prep team. She spent the last 16 months traveling the district, gathering the support of Karl Rove and the Koch brothers. She won soundly, because a local, Matt Funicello, ran on the Green Party line and garnered almost half the number of votes as the Democrat. Why?? I think it was because he was a person who actually lived here. He understood the poverty of people who live here, and he can relate to the issues, things neither of the two other candidates could. Don't misunderstand - I voted for Aaron Woolf, the Democrat, because Funicello was just being a spoiler, but he had a lot of support here.
I was thinking of running for something in the area in 2016, but after the debacle of this election, I think I'm moving to Vermont. I can't stand living in such a conservative, self-congratulatory area.
More below:
This isn't about me. This is about my neighbors who don't have heating oil this winter because the programs have been slashed. Does Elise Stefanik KNOW anyone who doesn't have money for oil??? I am worried about my students who are buried under high interest rate student loans. Does Stefanik, who went to Harvard, have any student loans??? More importantly, does she know of anyone with student loans?
I doubt it. Her parents run a very successful business.
I worry about my neighbors who run out of food at the end of the month before their small Social Security or unemployment checks come in. Do the goddamn Republicans who won last night know ANYONE who has to live on the pittance they get??NO. And they want to make it a lesser amount.
I am beyond angry. I am beyond depressed. If I could leave tomorrow for Nova Scotia or Sweden, I would. I have been on this site a long time. I have shared a lot of pain with kossacks. But this seems to be my limit. We were in a total meltdown when President Obama was elected. When the economy melted down, food was left rotting on the docks in New Jersey because the markets couldn't get the loans to purchase it. The world was literally hanging in the balance. And while I don't think Obama took many direct actions to improve the economy, he didn't mess it up. I am amazed at how far we have come. And for what?? For naught. Nothing. Our party got their butts kicked again. Do Americans need another 2008, one in which the markets don't get their loans and the food rots on the docks??? Is that what it will take to get Americans to understand that the Republicans hate the middle and lower classes???
I wonder if we have gotten so dumbed down that we can no longer discern between truth and propaganda. And those who haven't gotten dumbed down often can't get their heads out of their texting machines. Text, text, text, American Idol, Survivor. No wonder we can't tell who will help us and who won't.
I don't know what to do. Stay or leave NY. Run for office, or run for my life. Put away every penny I can for my family, because the Republicans certainly won't help any of us if we have a need, or spend to help the economy. I am pretty lost right now and even in the darkest days under GW Bush, I never felt this lost.
Thanks for giving me diary space for this rant.