We all know that there is a lot riding on our mid-term elections this year. If Democrats do well we could start to undo the damage that’s been done by the Republican party, going back to their obstructionist ways in 2009. We can begin to reassure our most vulnerable populations — immigrants, Medicaid recipients, POC, LGBTQ community that we will support, and protect them. This is no small matter. Lives are at risk every day in the current environment. People are rightfully afraid that the lives they’ve built could be shattered by deportations, lack of medical care, assault rifles and hate crimes.
I read something on this site a couple of years ago and it’s stuck with me because to me it rings true. It was a description of the difference between Democrats, and Republicans. It was attributed to Markos himself. Don’t know if it’s true, but that’s how it was described. It goes a little like this:
Democrats believe in helping people, and Republicans believe in helping people, hurt people.
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I’m focusing on the Senate races today. Because of the size, and party distribution of the current Senate, there is less room for error for our party. We simply cannot afford to lose ground.
Elections matter if we’re going to help people, so let’s support Democrats!
According to the Cook Report, there are five Democratic Senators running for election in 2018 that fall into the Toss-up category. Toss-up means that they are the most competitive races, and either party has a good chance of winning.
The five Democrats are:
Sen. Joe Donnelly, Indiana; http://joeforindiana.com
Sen. Claire McCaskill, Missouri; https://clairemccaskill.com
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, North Dakota; https://heidifornorthdakota.com
Sen. Joe Manchin, West Virginia; https://joemanchinwv.com
Sen. Tina Smith, Minnesota; www.tinaforminnesota.com/…
Holding these seats is absolutely critical to preventing the Republicans from running roughshod over this country!
As far as I know, these candidates do not have a strong challenger. Please let me know if you think I’m wrong. We need to put our efforts to helping them hold their seats, regardless of where they land on the ideological continuum of the Democratic Party.
But Janesaunt, aren’t some Democrats better than other Democrats? Shouldn’t we support the most progressive one?
I’m glad you hypothetically asked me that question. When it comes to re-gaining leadership in the House and Senate, anyone who declares themselves a Democrat gets counted when deciding the Majority Party. The Majority party leads, and holds the power of Committee assignments, and the legislative agenda. In the words of VP Biden, “It’s a big f*cking deal!”
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In closing, I encourage all of us, to do what we can to support these Democrats in their uphill battle to hold their seats. For some of us that could be financial support; for those of us on Twitter we can follow them, and help amplify their message; for those of us who know someone in their states, we can encourage them to vote for these Senators. Finally, we can all do our best to dissuade users here on DKos from sliming them.