The Election Eve Post, 2020 Edition

It's that time again - the night before the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. That means it's Election Eve, and time for me to do my absolute best to encourage you to vote.

Many of you apparently don't need my encouragement; early voting numbers are through the roof, across the country. Between the early votes and mail-in votes, we're pushing record numbers, and there are still the traditionalists like me, who vote on Election Day, come hell, high water, or even a pandemic, who have yet to be counted. 

But for those of you who aren't among the early in-person or mail-in voters, or the rest of us with a plan, are you thinking that your vote is not important? Is that why you haven't voted yet, or don't have a plan to vote tomorrow? 

Let me tell you, your vote IS important. I know that, because I've been watching all of the activity under way to keep your vote from counting. Over 300 legal challenges to votes have already been seen, according to Stanford Law professor Nate Persily. And we're going to see more before the end of today, and before the end of tomorrow, and before the end of the week and the end of the month... In Texas and Pennsylvania and North Carolina and Wisconsin and Minnesota and more, Republicans are trying to keep you from having a say. That's wrong, plain and simple.

And, of course, in his rallies, in his tweets, in his constant feeding of his propaganda machine - the talk shows on Fox - the president is both complaining about the Supreme Court deciding in favor of voters, instead of in favor of voter suppression, and he is thanking the Supreme Court in advance for their anticipated rulings against voters - against you and me - and looking forward to them handing him the election. That's why, of course, it was so important to get Amy Coney Barrett on the Court before the election. 

Please, let it not be said of you that you sat back and waited for the Supremes to (again) pick the president for us. They have lifetime appointments, sure - but so you do you and I! We have a lifetime of opportunity to vote, to record our decisions. Don't give your voice, on purpose or out of neglect, to a group of political appointees.

As long ago as February, the president started talking about the 2020 election being rigged. Back then, he was trying to foment division among Democrats by saying That Guy from Vermont was 'again' facing a rigged system that would deny him the nomination. Since May, he's been talking about a rigged election more generally, complaining about mail-in ballots, and about drop-boxes where voters are allowed to return their ballots. As with everything that matters to the him, if he can cast aspersions and doubt, he will. He cares not at all what that means for voters - people like you and me - or for our country. He only cares what it means for him.

I care about the outcome of this election - I always care - but I care equally about having everyone vote. We can no longer let the people who don't participate make our choices for us. Tomorrow, Election Day, I'll put on my pearls (for RBG), and my 'resist' pin and my 'vote pin' and I'll go do my civic duty. I'll think of my late father, who unfortunately missed the election of Barack Obama, but fortunately did not have to witness the election after that, and how he taught me about voting when I was ten. 

Allegedly smart people, those experts we hear from all the time, are predicting as many as 150 million votes will be cast. Please - make one of those votes yours. 

As I do every year, I offer the following motivation, in case you're still on the fence. 

After some thought, “I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians." (1) Actually, “The idea of an election is much more interesting to me than the election itself…the act of voting is in itself the defining moment.”(2) And why is it that “When the political columnists say ‘every thinking man’ they mean themselves, and when candidates appeal to ‘every intelligent voter’ they mean everyone who is going to vote for them”?(3) 

We know it’s true that “Bad officials are elected by good citizens who didn’t vote”(4), and that “A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for democracy, but won’t cross the street to vote in a national election.”(5) Do we still not realize, after all these years, that “lower voter participation is a silent threat to our democracy… it under-represents young people, the poor, the disabled, those with little education, minorities and you and me”? (6) 

After all, “the vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men” (7) and “to make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not just observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.” (8) 

And complain we do, after every election, when the wrong guy wins. If only people who actually voted complained, it’d likely be a lot less noisy, don't you think? 

Some folks may not vote because they don’t know how to pick the right person. There are a couple different schools of thought on that. On the one hand, some might think that “politics is the art of the possible” (9) while others may subscribe to the thinking that “politics is not the art of the possible, it consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable. And it is true that, the great thing about democracy is that it gives every voter the chance to do something stupid.” (10) 

Said another way, a “Vote (is) the instrument and symbol of a freeman’s power to make a fool of himself and a wreck of his country.” (11) But that’s OK – “personally, I believe that our American system works as long as you participate in it. You must vote and make your voice heard; otherwise you will be left out.” (12) 

It’s generally true that if you “ask a man which way he’s going to vote and he’ll probably tell you. Ask him, however, why – and vagueness is all.” (13) But voting’s really easy; and “all voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong.” (14) And just about everyone likes to play a game every now and then, right? 

The bottom line is, “voting is simply a way of determining which side is the stronger without putting it to the test of fighting;”(15) “voting is a civic sacrament;”(16) and “the future of this republic is in the hands of the American voter.”(17) If all of that seems like too much pressure, you have an out: “Vote for the man who promises least. He’ll be the least disappointing.” (18) 

Please, vote. It really does matter, this year and every year. Honestly, "there is no such thing as a vote that doesn't matter."(19) Besides, "not voting is not a protest. It is a surrender." (20)  

My final pitch?  "Talk is cheap, voting is free; take it to the polls." (21)

If you need information on where to vote, help on your ballot, or any other assistance, visit Vote411.org or contact your local Board of Elections. Lots of people are out there, ready and willing to help. 

(Thanks to these folks for their words of wisdom: 1 - Charles De Gaulle; 2 – Jeff Melvoin; 3 – Franklin P Adams; 4 and 13 – Andrew Lack; 5 - Bill Vaughan; 6 - Nancy Neuman; 7 - Lyndon B Johnson; 8 - Louis L’Amour; 9 – Otto Von Bismarck; 10 – Art Spander; 11 – Ambrose Bierce; 12 - Mari-Luci Jaramillo; 14 – Henry David Thoreau; 15 – H.L. Mencken; 16—Theodore Hesburgh; 17 – Dwight D. Eisenhower; 18 – Bernard Baruch); 19 - Barack Obama; 20 - Keith Ellison; 21 - Nanette L. Avery