The Disgust Election but “The truth is that dollars can’t vote, but people can.”

[kmlisle]

This NYT Op Ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/24/opinion/the-disgust-election.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=1

is a good explanation for me of why so many DUers are discouraged about elections. We all know most of this I think but the writer puts it all together quite well.

How did we lose our democracy? Slowly at first, and then all at once. This fall, voters are more disgusted, more bored and more cynical about the midterm elections than at any time in at least two decades.

It’s so bad that Senator Mitch McConnell is paying people to show up at his rallies and pretend to be excited. There should be plenty of applicants; just 29 percent of the electorate said they were “enthusiastic” about voting this year.
...

You can trace the Great Breach to Justice Kennedy’s words in the 2010 Citizens United case, which gave wealthy, secret donors unlimited power to manipulate American elections. The decision legalized large-scale bribery — O.K., influence buying — and ensured that we would never know exactly who was purchasing certain politicians.

Pretty good reason to be disgusted? But that's not all. The final message leaves behind the disgust to say that against all odds we should VOTE because its what we have the power to do right now.

I yield to the freewheeling Nuns on the Bus, particularly Sister Simone Campbell. “In the face of such an avalanche of money, the temptation for some is to become cynical and disengage from politics in general, and voting in particular,” she wrote in The Charlotte Observer. “The truth is that dollars can’t vote, but people can.”

And this is the message I choose to listen to. we do all have a choice here - give up and complain or get out there and do something about it - even if it seems impossibly small - We have an opportunity rarely seen in all of history - and that is the right to vote on things that matter to us. Yesterday was our first day of early voting and I was there with no lines and free parking outside. My ballot included a resolution that corporations are not people, a constitutional amendment to make marijuana legal along with some real choices about local elected officials. GOTV!

[Hekate]

1. Kickety-boo. And rec.

We have some really important issues on our ballot, both state and local. Plus our Congressional Rep. is a terrific gal who deserves to go back to DC.

[Wella]

2. Bless the Nuns on the Bus!

We can't lose hope.