Too bad Donald Trump missed that civics lesson.
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If you believe in polling, then the overall turnout is irrelevant. You can determine the winner with just 1000 votes, so more voters turning out won't change the outcome.
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Remember November 6
As individuals, we should not leave the future to chance but plan for prosperity. The upcoming midterm elections present a great opportunity for Americans to restore harmony and balance to our rigged political system. It is important for each person to vote for fair-minded and ethical candidates in the U.S. senate and house elections.
If we are to go forward as a united nation then we must provide oversight with a different U.S. House and Senate.
History has taught us that when the masses fail to take corrective action in a timely manner, the impending reaction is violence and civil war. If we stand together in this country, the philosophical majority will win. If we fragment, we lose. Responsible Americans must make their voices heard November 6. Change the House and the Senate so that it reflects all America. Vote Democrat.
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This article makes some very good points. As a country, we spent two wars and many civil battles fighting for all the different rights we have. Even today, there are still groups of people who are fighting for the basic rights that we deserve as humans. I believe our ancestors would be ashamed to see all their hard work go to waste by people not voting. Democracy isn't democracy if people don't vote.
If only the people who think they have power vote, how different is that from a totalitarian or absolutist government. The voice of the people is what makes America different.
Also, people need to not vote just because a celebrity told them who to back. Once the ballots are being counted, the vote of a celebrity has the same amount of worth as someone who works part time at McDonalds. Everyone should share their own opinions, which should truly be yours.
Finally, we as a country are very entitled people. We all have very strong opinions about what we want to change but don't vote to change it. If you want something to change, do something about it.
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BASIC CHANGES MUST OCCUR In the US voting process that has not been overhauled since the 18th century. First, having 50 different set of state election laws and voting regulations is an invitation to political graft. The system made sense when communications were limited to handwritten letters and sparse printed matter brought on horseback and by stagecoach, if at all in the remote areas. The crazy quilt we've got now constitutes massive enablement to those who would tamper with the voting rolls and with every step along the path to casting the ballot. A tiny country like Estonia, which conducts all of its business via the Internet is far more efficient in it government, indeed in many areas of communication, than we are here in the US. Let's face it, the dinosaurs went extinct for a reason. Our voting system is a living dinosaur. Time to put the bones on display in national museums. Putting out of business those who do everything they can to sabotage our voting system, is what we need to do. But the practitioners of the world's oldest profession in Congress and elsewhere will never give up earning their political livings on their backs. The US voting system is enough to make us a pariah among the nations of the world, for permitting so much racial, ethnic, sexist and classist discrimination to be an integral part of the mess. I believe that voting must be required. People can opt out by mailing back a blank form or writing, No Vote. The "no vote" option works!
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Unfortunately like so many hopes and dreams of the left that have been absolutely crushed in the last two years, these sentiments are a day late and a dollar short. Because since Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein supporters elected Donald Trump and gifted two more Supreme Court seats to the Republicans (not having learned a thing from electing George W. Bush and handing two SC seats to the Republicans in the 2000s), the only thing these midterms can do is limit a small bit of the damage. But these election, voter registration and voting rights issues will come before the Stolen Court, and Democrats will lose every single case. Just wait until partisan gerrymandering comes before the court, and the two Stein/Sanders justices (Gorsuch and Kavanaugh) vote to make that constitutional. Because it's going to happen. Just like the repeal of Roe. Make no mistake, that is coming.
And none of it had to happen. Maybe some day liberals will realize that winning elections for Team Blue is the only thing that matters. But there is so much damage done and so much to come that we can't do anything about. All because some lefties just had to have their protest vote. (Yes, Jill Stein voters elected Trump - look at MI, WI and PA). I hope it was worth it.
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Actually, the best way would be to secede from the New Confederacy.
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By not voting Americans allow leaders to assume power who may not favor democracy as a form of government, Trump as indicated he admires dictators and would use all arms of government to enforce his personal agenda like the Justice Dept and the Military. Calling the free press the enemy of the people is a Stalin and other dictators ploy. Trump is showing us who he is an authoritarian leader white nationalist who lies and wants to crush dissidents and brown folks. A booming stock market is not worth living under a dictatorship one party rule as envisioned by Trump and Bannon. Its a great republic if you can keep it don't vote and we could lose it to greedy demagogues and their families anxious to enrich them selves and cronies.
Is casting one vote empowering or dis-empowering? Here's a thought experiment.
Suppose you are highly motivated to change control of the House or Reprehensibles to gridlock Washington, and help prevent the POTUS harming America further. But, you forgot to register to vote.
Then you get a call from election officials informing you that you are the one lucky winner of a chance to vote in the congressional election. The question is how much are you willing to pay for that one vote. Just bring your checkbook, your credit cards, the deed to your house or whatever assets. At what price would you rationally reject the offer?
Less than a quarter of congressional elections are competitive -- elections experts can call other districts before a single vote is cast. In one of these districts, it would be a waste of time to vote.
In a competitive district, the odds are a lot less than one in 10,000, meaning that if you voted in 10,000 congressional elections, you probably will change the outcome only once, if that. Even if that happens, your district might not be needed to give your party control of the House.
If you vote on Tuesday, check the results and find that your vote didn't do anything, just like all the Clinton voters who now realize that their one vote didn't matter, don't distrust the NYT. They are merely repeating popular bad arguments people gullibly believe.
Pay nothing to vote; don't waste your time or other people's time. Avoid gullibly doing things that dis-empower you.
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“YOU THE PEOPLE”..... Have the democratic ability to make your country less divided, more encompassing than it currently seems. Every year I take flowers to a remote area in the Scottish Highlands where a Liberator crashed returning to US after the war, twenty four young men giving their lives for the greater good not solely of America their average age was nineteen , but for peace, democracy and anti-fascism. You The People.... that’s the America we’d like back, not perfect, nowhere is, but with shared, non-condescending values. Good luck.
We need to protect the ballot, and by extension, the right of the voter to decide who to vote for.
Repressing the vote of someone because they are of a different race, or any other matter, is a repudiation of what the United States should be, and must be.
As a young woman, my grandmother could not vote. There are many reasons why I vote. One is to honor the suffragettes, whose sacrifices won the right to vote for women.
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Registering to vote and maintaining the registration to vote ARE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITIES. Mr. Hagezom, as an example, GETS IT NOW.
The Times Editorial Board NEEDS TO STOP DEMAGOGUING this issue. When I vote, enter certain buildings, board an aircraft, etc., I MUST PRESENT POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION. THIS IS NOT OPTIONAL.
Contrary to The Times Editorial Board's implication, MOST OF THE JURISDICTIONS WHERE ALLEGED VOTER SUPPRESSION OCCURS ARE CONTROLLED BY THE DEMOCRATS.
While we ought to strive to make the registration process easier (so that all of us eligible to do so can exercise our franchise), voting is (and will always be) a personal responsibility; OUR DUTY IN OUR DEMOCRACY.
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It’s almost like you’re unaware of the history of voter suppression: poll taxes, literacy tests, etc. it’s not demagoguery if it’s backed by facts. Also, Republicans are on record stating that they want to drive down voter participation. They’ve admitted it!
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Not voting never seemed like an option in my family, for which I am grateful. There have been times when I have been only semi-literate - not knowing a lot about certain candidates or issues, but in my combined farm and factory background, not voting was a mortal sin.
It is true that a single vote in a Presidential election is insignificant. But rather than get into a fruitless analysis of exactly how much weight that single vote can carry in local elections.
In local elections - for school boards, for city county and town officials -- single votes do matter. A united group focused on particular changes can win with few votes, especially if others are indifferent. Local elections are also where many politicians - and campaign staff-get their feet wet. It is the first step for many who go on to state office, and from there to federal office.
It can be boring to pay attention to budget issues, zoning laws, and the like, but they affect us directly in our everyday lives. It also provides a little grounding on what to look for in a candidate who will act in your interests and in how to grade the BS factor in elections. And experience in learning how to develop power.
Bless Mr. Mr. Hagezom, and many others, for getting out the vote through person to person appeals. And curse (or better yet, prosecute] those who obstruct the right to vote.
A good NYT project would be to review the status of civic and political education in high schools across the country.
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Fascism or Democracy? Is there a clearer choice? Don’t delude yourself, thinking that it cannot take place in America. It has already begun!
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When I read this paragraph, copied below, I thought Mr. Kemp should be brought to trial at court. Can someone in Georgia bring a lawsuit against him...whether he wins or not?
"And in Georgia, where the Democratic nominee for governor is an African-American woman, the Republican nominee, Brian Kemp, who is currently secretary of state, suspended the registrations of 53,000 citizens — the overwhelming majority of them African-American — for discrepancies between registration and government identification information. Many of the discrepancies are minor, like a dropped hyphen or an obvious typographical error."
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The best way to protect democracy is to practice the ability to act from the consideration that the persons or parties with principles different from your own could, fifty percent of time (plus or minus), provide the better solution to your mutual problem. Otherwise it's just a lot of bickering over trifles that seldom reflect the coalesced multitude of variables that compose our shared issues.
Disregarding entirely another's position merely on general principles is not only childish but cruising right up next to fascism.
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Mutual respect is the unspoken backbone and norm of a democracy. Those unspoken norms have been removed by the behavior of your leader, without discussion. An abusive relationship is one which is verbally and physically aggressive. Usually when the victim tries to have a rational dialogue about it they are criticized and blamed. Donald Trump's relationship with the media fits that profile. His relationship with women fits that profile. His relationship with immigrants fits that profile. His relationship with black Americans fits that profile. His relationship with Hispanic people fits that profile. His relationship with Muslims fits that profile. He is misusing the power of the presidency. Sick. But that seems to be the nature of this man's relationships. He seems to lack respect and actually show contempt for anyone not white and moneyed. America needs a leader and a governing party who can act with respect and uphold respect as a basic. To vote is the only way open to you to stop the slide into a society with long-term abusive leadership which is called fascism.
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Absolute power corrupts absolutely. The GOP, and Trump in particular, need to be restrained, by voting. for Democrats.
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We are all equal when we vote. This midterm election cycle is turning out to be a mega-moment for our democracy. We have the current President and the former President campaigning for the future of our nation, of our democracy. Which America do we want? Your vote will answer the question.
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Republicans have weaponized earlier lack of voting as in my state that has a use it or lose it rule, so you are moved into the inactive category if you haven't voted for three years.
As another article mentioned, Kemp purged about 1.5 million voters in Georgia between 2012 and 2016. I was one of them although I missed one election at most. Here are parts of an email I sent to Kemp's office back then:
"Across the past few weeks, I have checked my voter status online a minimum of at least 3 times. Each time - including twice yesterday - I was recorded as an active voter since 1992. This summer I was out of state for a few months, and filled out and returned a form to remain active on the Voter Registration List. I confirmed online that I was still an active voter, as noted above.
Today when I checked my status, for the first time it recorded me as "inactive". My constitutional right to vote has been impinged by this. There is something very wrong in this state when this happens."
The response read: "Inactive" does not prevent a person from voting, but rather it indicates that they have not voted or contacted the voter registration system in a given time period."
They did change my status back to active by the next day, but it was only because I kept watching the situation.
When absentee ballots are being discarded, how can you be sure that provisional ballots are counted? When there is no paper trail, is there any guarantee?
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@smb Thank you for being diligent about your voter status! Kemp and the GOP can ONLY win by suppressing the vote!
We need to elect leaders who support democracy to have our country be a democracy. It's an imperfect system that relies on the leaders to have integrity and ethics.
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I fully agree with this editorial - and kudos to Ashenafi! - but imho it doesn't go to the very core of the problem that any democracy is facing as soon as voting isn't compulsory: political illiteracy.
Saul Alinsky coined that concept to refer to people whose ideas about how a democracy functions and how democratic change happens and how their vote matters aren't accurate at all, and it's those ideas that make them stay home - and that simultaneously turn elections into celebrity contests, where the passion/"charisma" of a candidate is all that matters.
How many people in this country actually studied how the civil rights movement obtained its legislative victories? Or how Medicare and Social Security came about?
How many newspapers remember those facts in their editorials, where opinions are not solely given but also inevitably shaped?
Obtaining a thriving democracy is only possible when ALL of its citizens are aware of just one crucial fact: that all real, lasting, non-violent, democratic, radical legislative change is step by step change.
To obtain it, we need to pay attention to who does what in DC, and then EACH election vote for the candidate whose policies will bring (after the necessary compromises in Congress) an IMPROVEMENT during the next years, and so forth.
At the same time, when the media don't focus on improvements but constantly measure the distance between a step forward and our ideals, they are unwittingly cultivating cynicism and discouragement.
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The possibility that a person's vote will decide an election is a weak basis for convincing him to vote. Once in a blue moon, a single vote might decide an election. Yet someone who doesn't vote can virtually always look back at an election and make the indisputable claim that "see, my vote wouldn't have made a difference after all."
No, the better reason to vote is that it is simply what a citizen, a grownup, does. Popular government - democracy, republic, or some combination - is not inevitable in this world. It must be cared for, nourished, in order to be handed on intact to future generations. Granted, we can't all stay up on all the issues - that's why we vote for representatives. But we can pay attention to who is competing to represent us and vote as intelligently as we can.
Make no mistake. A republican form of government like that created by the U.S. Constitution can be lost. The forces of authoritarianism are always there - the ambitious would-be dictators and the masses willing to give them power if they appeal effectively to their worst instincts, especially when times get hard.
I implore my fellow Americans to step up, act like citizens, and vote.
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I do not understand why young people do not vote. I have been voting since 1966. I have voted in every general election since then. I missed one mid-term election because I was sick in bed that day. A lot of politicians have been elected who I did not vote for, but many of my favored candidates have been elected. My friends, as well, always vote. Is it the era we grew up in (the draft, the Vietnam War, the expansion of the civil rights movement) that drove us to the polls? Does it take a crisis for Americans to vote? It looks like it.
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Anybody who thinks that things were better in 1966 is either ignorant beyond belief or desperately scrabbling around for an alibi.
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"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." —H. L. Mencken
The premise that turnout and democracy are necessarily directly related is false.
Democracy and the turnout of uninformed, misinformed and disinformed voters are inversely related. Those voters dilute the vote of informed voters. Enough of these voters and the election might as well be in Moscow.
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Are you sure we should vote? I watched a program on voting and democracy and it had some interesting numbers. Only 30% of Americans can name the three branches of government. 30% can't name any branch. 10% think judge Judy is a member of the Supreme Court. 30% of people born after 1980 don't think it's important to live in a democracy. A functional democracy needs informed, educated voters. I'm not sure we have that anymore. We might as well turn mice loose to pull levers for feed pellets if this represents the average American.
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Greetings to AI in Idaho -- A democracy means "we the people" which helps everyone to thrive in a responsible way. If someone is prudent, inquisitive, kind to others, and mindful of their own existence and the responsibility that sets into motion ... who then among us should qualify whether their points of reference are adequate?
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@Al
Unfortunately the entertainment industry under corporate influence has the biggest megaphone in this country and are trying to take over the last bastion - public education. To counter which, it is the Government's responsibility to educate our citizens and drill in the duty of responsible voting. Marketers know how to influence decisions and desires. It is only important that education needs to follow the same principles. It is simple adaptation to the changing times where unfortunately there are so many distractions at hand, literally, it is even more important to make education both informative and attractive for kids to learn, think for themselves, and modify their behaviors.
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Voting is just first step. As government customers and stockholders we must a lot more everyday. Most important we must practice founders values -- freedom, equal opportunity, honesty, thrift. Support your candidate and stay on top of what government America is doing everyday. For instance, we need to demand a federal program accounting as Data Act requires. Today we do not known how many programs their. Waste and poor program management is wide spread. See Government Accountability Office reviews -- ago.gov.o
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The best way to protect democracy is to make people practice it, with compulsory voting as in Australia. That alone will correct the polarization and paralysis of our Congress. And speaking of Australia, it is one of the few countries in the world not plagued by the type of income inequality between the 1% and the 99% in the United States. Not only have Australian incomes risen across the board at a rate four times higher than ours, Aussies enjoy universal health care, a deficit-free economy, a debt-free social safety net and broad support for immigration.
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@Christy. Ok, I'll go along with this. You HAVE to vote. But if we go this way, we'd need another candidate, "none of the above". If NOTA wins, nobody gets elected and we start over. This would at least force candidates to offer something beyond the usual vapid, unspecific, platitudes like, "hope and change" of "make America great again". People often don't vote because they know they're lives and conditions really won't change by electing the usual pitch men (and increasingly, women).
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Vote !!!.....as if your life depended on it.....because your life actually does...depend on your vote.
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The Editorial Board should quit mumbly fumbling around and come right out and say it.
VOTE DEMOCRAT!!!
Even when you have to hold your nose and watch where you step when you vote for The Board's anointed choice for Governor of the Great State of New York. Yuck.
Partisanship is a mean bedfellow. When you have to vote Party over Principle, it should make you lose some sleep.
Naw. I'm sure the Board will sleep like sheep Tuesday night.
Unless they have a nightmare flashback to the Night of Dystopia. That would be the wee hours of 11/9.
As children, we are told that in order to be a good citizen you should vote and that when you turn 18 you will have that this great privilege. But voting may actually support a polarizing political machine that slowly tears apart our society and in the end does more harm.
Is the US model of government outmoded? It was designed in the1700’s by white males, in a simpler time. Proper governance nowadays is more complex and challenging. Many decisions can and should be based on consensus evidence and not political ideologies. Do you really trust the Trump administration or for that matter, any administration, to take the right actions on the environment, on the economy or on healthcare?
Look at the people at a MAGA rally. The pictures remind you of political rallies for a 3rd world dictator. These are the people who will vote for our leadership. They do have a right to use their vote however they wish to. But how informed are they about the issues? Do they really understand how interest rates impact GDP or the intricacies of health economics? More likely they are just pawns that are bought out by the outrageous rhetoric spewed by politicians who themselves are clueless about the subjects.
It is time for a new way of governing the world. I am not sure how this would work and clearly I am not advocating for despotism. But it should be a system that incorporates the best evidence available with sound moral values. There has to be a better way.
Over the past 100 years the Democratic Party has held power nearly twice as long as the Republicans in both the Senate and the House and the Democratic Party has had control of the White House and the two houses of Congress for 35 years, compared to 16 years for the Republican Party over the same time period. This would seem to negate the assertion that the nations ills are the result of a lack of liberal votes but rather a result of a lack of effectiveness by those voted into office. Present worthy candidates and voters of both parties will show up. The hard part is turning worthy candidates into effective governance.
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@FNL
Too easy.
When the Democrats controlled DC under Obama, they completely turned around the economy, passed Obamacare, and achieve a lot of other important progress, including when it comes to the most urgent issue, climate change. They also cut Bush's $1.4 trillion structural deficit by two thirds.
Republicans are systematically doing the exact opposite, including, as Dick Cheney famously said, doubling the deficit because for them, "deficits don't matter".
THAT is what the current elections are all about. If a majority of the American people vote, step by step progress will continue. If not, the GOP will win and will only make things even worse.
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Compare the waxing and waning of the middle class with the incidents of Republican vs Democrat power. The straight numbers tell less of the story than the timing.
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There is a good reason for not voting! It's when there are no candidates who you can vote for in good conscience. In this years' mid-term, I've noticed that the local candidates, the ones I'm ignorant about aren't saying much beyond 'I'm the good guy'- not whether they're status quo corporate liberal New Democrat or progressive Social Democrat. This is very discouraging. I will vote for Wendy Li for civil court judge, because I feel she's decent. I live in lower Manhattan.
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@Jenifer Wolf
Does New York send out a voter information booklet with candidate statements? Do you read it?
Do you look for and attend candidate forums, and ask questions (League of Women Voters sponsor forums in many locales)?
Most candidates are not going to clearly label themselves for you. Put down your social media for one evening and do a little research. Look at candidates' web pages and read what they say.
Look for the candidate who will legislate to help the most people. That's where you start, Jenifer.
Democracy is not a spectator sport - and your future life depends on your participation.
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@Jenifer Wolf your comment is one of one of the reasons why Trump is president! There are no prefect candidates, often we must make a value judgement and discern which candidate best represents our core values. Recommend “Active Measures “ a documentary.
I hope this “get out the vote” drive by Democrats doesn’t backfire on them. If it’s really successful it’s disheartening to think what their reaction will be and what they may do to themselves to learn that everyone might not be as in love with them as they are and keep telling themselves. Some actual truths just aren’t worth the risk knowing. If they were they sure had a strange way of showing it. Better to keep huddled close to the ocen shores surrounded by the ones you know love you and who also enjoy building sand castles rather than venturing out into to wilderness in the naive hope of bedazzling and taming the savages there with a few shiny glass trinkets.
Hey, here’s a radical new thought. Maybe us lefties have this quaint faith in democracy, just want people to vote, and are willing to let the chips fall wherever they fall. Maybe it’s YOU GUYS who have rhe prob with trusting plain old citizens to do the right thing.
Twenty years ago I was writing and telling people that the greatest danger in the Republic was the continual devaluation of voting as a process for political change.
We were lazy. So instead of voting we all ran around proud of ourselves when we enacted term limits or proved "our principles" by voting for some idiotic third party candidate. Worse yet, about a third of us don't even show up (and that's on good day).
We simply relied on "the system" or expressed absurd "I'm different" arrogance over and over again. Instead of declaring ourselves Americans we self-assigned an "I dont' count" label and stayed home, watched TV and felt good about it.
Democracy is not a system that tolerates laziness well. Now it's clear agility on the part of the sleazy and the evil can do great harm. It is doing great harm every day.
Once again it appears lazy dominates the day. This time the mantra is "Mueller will fix it."
No more excuses. Vote, just vote.
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"No matter who wins, higher turnout is a good thing. It reaffirms the essence of the democratic process, and it tends to help candidates who are both more reasonable and more representative of the public at large."
Where is this tendency visible to non-voting voters, or voting voters for that matter? Any studies?
The media, including the Times, headline the horse race on a daily basis. The candidates non-stop begging for money might make one almost think that the winner is determined by the the gross amount of campaign contributions collected. And the campaign advertising is about as truthful and informative as the typical spam email.
Democracy is a process to select office holders, not to select the best qualified, most honest, and most committed to our founding principles ( not counting the "legitimacy" of slavery and its offsprings, and other "legitimate" inequalities). The way it is now, this process is hardly an incitement to vote.
For much of the media it seems like "Its the horse race, stupid!" is the guiding principle coming down from the front office. "Me Too" vetting also ranks high. How about changing to "Its the values and qualifications stupid!".
I disagree.
The best way to protect democracy is to ,one way or another, protect a democratic country from being militarily overthrown.
We are doing pretty good at that.
Another, more pressing way is to have a free (?), unbiased, press that does not resort to selective facts and opinion to influence our elections and/or electorate.
We only have part of that, and the Times needs to do a much better job.
Example:
When have you informed us that Georgia voting rights bill was enacted with a 2-year "pending" period to clear up irregularities in voter information?
Not a single voter registration was "suspended", and not a single registered voter in Georgia - with or without irregularities in their information - was ever going to lose their right to vote or be turned away..
In fact, voter registration in Georgia has become easier, and more encouraged than ever before, under Brian Kempf. Registration couldn't be easier. And if the Times and other non "Enemies of the People" really cared about the issue other than as a partisan weapon we would have seen a link to register to vote in Georgia.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
https://registertovote.sos.ga.gov/GAOLVR/welcome.do#no-back-button
The second best way to save a Democracy is to have a public informed in a non-partisan way.
It still means something when people refer to news items as being seen in the Times, but it is losing credibility fast - and I doubt Trump or his supporters are writing you columns.
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"Vote as if the future of the country depends on it. Because it does."
Agreed.
That's why we elected Trump.
To save us from the ruthless agenda of the radical statist-collectivist progressives.
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@Objectivist
Uh ... which concretely means?
Obama cut Bush's structural, record $1.4 trillion deficit by two thirds, and the GOP just doubled the deficit instead.
Obamacare saves an additional 40,000 Americans lives a year, all while curbing cost increases, whereas the GOP is destroying people's healthcare once again.
So knowing this, what exactly do you call Democrats' "ruthless agenda of the radical statist-collectivist progressives", more precisely?
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I dunno about this guy, but I’d call it something from about page 485 of John Galt’s dippy, unreadable-by-humans rant from “Atlas Shrugged.”
Some of these kids actually take that sort of guff seriously, and like to ladle on the adjectives—Keynes knows what’ll happen if they ever try to read Heinlein.
The Best Way to Protect Democracy Is to Keep Out the Illegals!
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@Nreb
Then why is it that that GOP controlled DC for two years now, and there's still not any bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform, whereas time and again, it's Democrats who fight for it, rather than being busy spending lies and then doing nothing serious ... ?
Voting is our civic duty, I hope we'll live up to our citizen's responsibility.
Voting is the only guardrail that is left for us.
No one is coming to rescue our fragile democracy.
Vote for your country spirit and soul, vote for civil rights, vote for your future, for universal gun control, vote to control your own body, vote for affordable healthcare, for living wage and equality, vote for your SS, vote for your children and grandchildren, vote for better and kinder vision of the future, vote for peace and tolerance around the world.
Please VOTE!!!
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I fully support the main point of this piece, GET OUT AND VOTE.
However, I think the evidence does not support the idea that "The worst are those put in place by Republican legislators and officials to depress or neutralize turnout by minorities"
Here in New York, we do not have Republican majorities or restrictive laws, yet last midterm we had about 28% turnout. The worst barrier to voter turnout is not voter suppression, but voter apathy.
Voter suppression, like the voter fraud it allegedly prevents, is a real problem but totally overblown by those who are trying to fight it.
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All I am hoping for is a return to a balance of power! The branches of government were set up for checking each other and right now, that is not happening.
Usually I am an optimist, (Pollyanna some say)but not now. We are truly in trouble if this continues so ladies and gentlemen of all voting ages, THINK AND VOTE!
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Elections aren’t just about candidates! They're about the ballot propositions too. Those are real laws that will take effect if they pass. As an Arizona resident, I voted ‘Yes’ on Prop 305 to expand the school voucher program. Our public education system is like the New York City subway. Both are failing for the same reasons. There needs to be competition. Parents need choices. And when you offer them choices, you induce them to invest more of their own money in their child’s education.
The premise that turnout and democracy are necessarily directly related is false.
Democracy and the turnout of uninformed, misinformed and disinformed voters are inversely related. Those voters dilute the vote of informed voters. Enough of these voters and the election might as well be in Moscow.
The no-borders crowd cynically cultivates as voters an easily demagogued dependent underclass.
The media are complicit with their agitprop on the front page above the fold and their lies of omission & commission.
"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." —H. L. Mencken
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@Marian
Please give us the name of ONE single Democrat on the ballot who supports "no borders" ... ?
In real life, Obama deported more illegal aliens than Bush, and it's the Democrats who push hard to get bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform (including strengthening the southern border) done, and the GOP (including Trump) who systematically block it. THAT is why nothing substantial is happening at the border, except for some temporary PR stunts.
It's not enough to imagine that you're well-informed, only real, respectful debates with those who disagree allow us to fact-check our own beliefs, remember?
1
@Marian: "You're entitled to your opinion, but not the facts", is another pearl of wisdom. 3500 South Americans hundreds of miles away walking north through Mexico, their numbers dwindling daily until maybe 500 of the original 7000 ever reach the southern USA border, are nothing compared to future climate-change induced mass migrations of desperate and hungry crowds. That is, if we don't act NOW to reduce carbon emissions and other drivers of global warming, and support the countries most affected by droughts and other weather-related disasters. Or by violence and war caused by drug cartels enabling American addicts in their dependence on narcotics.
@Marian...You make your case very well. Democracy would be better served if only well informed, highly educated folks were enfranchised voters. As luck would have, only progressives and liberals would qualify to vote. The rest of us - the deplorables and dregs, the gap-toothed and the unwashed, the uneducated and the uninformed - would do our civic duty by "shutting up". Yes, indeed. Power to the Elite.
2
Vote now, or fight later. I choose to vote.
3
Voting is fighting.
1
Sure, I always vote. But the reality is that it's more or less the only voice I have in a supposed "democracy" that has actually, from its inception, been an republic of the oligarchs— the propertied class in the 18th and 19th Centuries, the corporate classes, in the 20th and 21st. If you really want to understand the US political system as a highly "managed democracy," read Sheldon Wolin's "Democracy Incorporated." It'll open your eyes to the fact that once election day is over and you've cast that vote, you become an afterthought to the political process, a spent-fuel canister, while big money drives federal and state government decisions. To state that the future of the country depends on your vote is hyperbole of the first order.
4
@Vincenzo: Yup, your kind gave us Trump. VOTE!!!
Unfortunately, most Republican voters are not very smart, and a whole host of them are indeed deplorable. But, they get to vote for whom they want. Trump? Who would have guessed? Then again, most Democrat voters are relatively more smart, and certainly less deplorable. And, they also get to vote. Obama? They loved him. Hillary, not as much. So this is a good article, once again reminding us that we still have a democracy, where who gets elected depends on who votes. Moral: Vote!
1
@C.L.S....I strongly disagree with you, C.L.S. ALL, not most, Republican voters are not very smart - they are dumb as rocks. ALL, not a whole host, are indeed deplorable. Democratic voters are NOT relatively more smart [more smart? c'mon, man], they are geometrically smarter. Democrats are NOT basket-of-deplorable cases. Moral? Vote Tuesday, then whine and moan for another two years about the Other Side. That's the American way. If we can keep it.
It is unfortunate that people appear to be turning out in record numbers not to vote for particular candidates but against some of the worst incumbents history has known. Yes there are exceptions but Democrats have largely failed to give us candidates people can actually feel motivated to vote for. All the while, the media dances around this inconvenient truth offering endless "analysis" and unreliable polling which adds to voter discontent.
2
With a president like Donald Trump, who is a defender of Neo-Nazis, who would rather believe Putin than his own intelligence community, who separated children from their immigrant parents, who lies freely, many of whose associates are in jail or awaiting trials, and who is himself under criminal investigation, it is not enough to vote, but to vote Democrats who can act as a check on his corrupt and autocratic tendencies.
2
A recent study showed that some sixty percent of registered voters voted in the last election, placing us at the bottom third of voting turnout among countries throughout the world. Of course, twenty percent don’t even bother to register, so the actual figure is closer to fifty percent or lower of potentially eligible voters. Donald Trump received fewer than half those votes, so the percentage of people who actually put him in office is somewhere closer to twenty percent; therefore, the tyranny we are all being subjected to is a tyranny of the minority, where one out of five is dictating to the other four the odious, racist and fascist policies that have been the order of the day for nearly two years, and financially and economically “benefit” only the upper two or three percent of the wealthiest individuals. If, for no other reason than you don’t want a minuscule minority of Mussolini minions telling you what to do, by all means, VOTE!
1
@Steve Griffith...Let's spin your statistics a little bit. I'll spare the alliterations. Y'all have a lock on such stuff...There are around 330,000,000 residents of the US. Only around 66,000,000 voted Democratic. More than a quarter of a billion [264,000,000] US residents chose the alternative to Clinton. A majority of the Electoral College chose the alternative, also. The messages of the majorities were unmistakable. NEVER HILLARY.
1
Political science is the study of who gets what, when, where, why, and how. We are all getting a lesson with existential consequences. See
https://www.legalreader.com/elections-why-you-should-care/
An American "culturally appropriate"incentive to maximize the Democratic privilege of voting......would be a 100 dollar tax credit for national elections......and eliminating ( skewed advantages of) the electoral college.
Clearing out the dead and petrified wood in the house and senate ,with 2 term limits and a 10 year term for the Supreme Court........would give the majority of citizens ,,,,a DEMOCRATIC fighting chance........against the !% oligarchs,global financial gamblers, and the corporotocracy !
The mantra is VOTE. The Republican theme has always been promote the rich and the poor deserve what they got. That's not much. What humanity! Trump is 100 times worse because he is incapable of thinking at all.
Ok, NYT. Now that you've told us the best way to protect democracy, what are your ideas regarding the best way to protect our Constitutional republic???
@James
Please explain the difference between both?
...Best Way to protect Democracy..... is to receive your absenter Ballot on time!! My daughter and I being of the same District in NJ did not get them. I was able to send my written Ballot to the tune of €90. I'd pay Even more if it could stop the trumpian Politics!
2
The members of Congress from both parties remain there forever as a general rule. The only time that they "listen" to the people is at election time. And, then the message is of course only one-sided.
For example, I sent Senator Feinstein an email on the subject of Judge Kavanaugh a few weeks ago. This week her staff sent to me a form email (also, sent to thousands of other constituents) which reads at the beginning:
"Thank you for contacting me about Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court of the United States. I appreciate you writing to me on this important issue."
But when I attempted to reply to this form email, I got the following response:
p-ess-ppmx2.senate.gov rejected your message to the following email addresses: Senator Dianne Feinstein ([email protected])
In other words, Senator Feinstein (and her staff) were saying to me: "Thanks, but No Thanks. Just vote for me and we will communicate once again in six years."
2
All the truisms published by the NYTs are based on a 1968 worldview..
1. The fact that so many candidates running for office represent the wide spectrum of americans immediately nullifies anything else the NYTs is attempting to scare you with. In order for any of the scary situations pulled from 1968 to be true...at least one individual has to step forward on Weds, after the election, and claim they were denied their right to vote. Everything else is just partisan blather, blatant propaganda intended to manipulate your vote. It is a fact, the DNC uses inflated voter registration roles to hide the evidence that they are stuffing ballots....Jill Stein's Michigan recount PROVES this. It is also a fact that the GOP makes voting places inconvenient in order to neutralize the effect of DNC ballot stuffing. In the end, as Art Buchwald famously said, "this is America, where you can sell your vote to the candidate of your choice." Everyone is hacking elections, whether its with a bottle of whiskey, a promise of a union job, a russian spy, a Clinton email, a Trump threat....and still the most fair elections in the world.
1
Ironic how the NYT champions 'the best way to protect democracy is to practice it', whilst running an opinion piece, 'a hard-line loyalist party has British politics in its death grip, because it knows that its cause is dying.' The latter party, the DUP, is an ultimate example of democracy being practised in the Western world. Ye cannae have yer cake and eat it.
Wakie Wakie. Can't you smell the coffee?
Does your vote count.....yes....and for what...that is the
question ...why you should vote...that is AGAINST Trump.
And for WHAT are you voting FOR....well the Democrats don't
tell us much....only what THEY are against...Trump and the
GOP Congress.
So...why vote when the campaigns are financed by billionaires for
either the GOP or the DEMS...well...then...just VOTE against
TRUMP....and then when the DEMS take the House of Representatives...keep their feet the the fire of...Campaign Finance Reform...so that the financiers of our political parties are
not biased for the benefit of their campaign financiers.
Vote against the worst GOP President and the worst GOP Congress ever...and vote for the DEMS....and remember to vote
against Citizens United; against private ownership of assault
weapons...and for fiscal policies which do not just benefit the
billionaires who finance political campaigns.
Go VOTE...out the GOP...and in the DEMS...and then make the
Dems earn your vote..
I am an Independent voter who will try to get rid of Trump
supporters and the NRA and big bucks ruining our USA.
That’s right. Vote.*
*if you have a car or adequate public transportation to get you to one of the reduced number of polling places, or If you can make it to the polling place after or before work and it’s still open, and there are enough machines so you don’t have to wait three hours, and your name hasn’t been purged from the voting list, and if it’s a primary in a closed primary election, you are the right party, and there’s no jerks there trying to intimidate you from voting, and you have ID, and it matches what’s on the voting list, and your name wasn’t misspelled, or you registered as Harcourt Fenton Mudd and you voted as Harcourt F. Mudd and they disqualified your vote, or you can even get one of now required forms of voter ID, and your vote has not been gerrymandered into oblivion, or the electronic voting machine you used wasn’t programmed to miscount your vote, or change your vote, and the Russians or some country or group hasn’t tampered with the electronic voting counts for your entire precinct, county, or state, and your state doesn’t use confusing ballots shaped like insects, and the judge making Election Day decisions on voter eligibility isn’t in one parties pocket, and the Secretary of State who governs state elections isn’t a crook working for one candidate or party, and Fox News doesn’t declare the loser of the election the victor triggering a media feeding frenzy designed to give legitimacy to the loser.....and the electoral college!......oh and...
4
@Van Owen--Yours is the best post I've read on this subject! I hate that people are so judgemental about voting. It's a complicated issue.
1
In the long history of voter suppression in this country -- much of which was pure racism -- restricting eligibility is the most effective.
One might be forgiven for thinking states with a racist past might be embarrassed to write laws that further that end, but it's really the power of writing the laws, more than the laws they write, that matters.
Politics has poisoned democracy. It's ruining our country. There is a fix: The American Anti-Corruption Act.
https://anticorruptionact.org/
"Democracy isn’t self-activating."
True enough, but in the US voters sometimes have to jump through hoops to vote, including in New York, where early voting is not an option although absentee ballot is.
I will be voting on Tuesday, supporting progressive candidates regardless of their party affiliation.
3
Not even a word about voter disenfranchisement. 6.1 million Americans who have voting rights denied because of a criminal record doesn't rate as a concern for the Times? I need to re-think my subscription.
2
Young people, please heed this editorial!You need to vote and participate in the Democratic process.I live in a retirement community where everyone will vote- these voters are so elderly that they fought in the Second World War, survived Concentration Camps, rebuilt a fractured world after the war and on and on.They always participated in Democraccy and are still hopeful enough to vote.Now it is your turn, youth, to pick up the baton and run your leg of the relay for a better , fairer nation.
71
@Janet Michael
Your wise neighbors are voting Republican. They vote every election.
@ebmem. no these neighbors are predominantly voting democratic- they wish to see a kinder, more civil world.
9
@Janet Michael
Are "young people" reading the NYT? Are they reading any newspaper? Too many are getting their news from social media and don't hear your plea.
1
Yes, I am going to vote on Tuesday. I am a Democrat, and I will vote for the person that I believe will do the best job. My vote is not a referendum on President Trump, and it annoys me when the press tries to make it so. I am carefully considering the issues, especially the changes to our state constitution and the governor. I’ll vote for the best person for the job, and if the Democrats haven’t done a good enough job selecting strong candidates and communicating their message, then they deserve to lose.
5
Surely what you mean by that is “if the Democrats haven’t nominated candidates with better ideas/messages than Republicans then they deserve to lose,” yes? Lesser of two evilism is the name of the game. So far no one’s done anything to change the game, so here we are. I don’t waste my vote on 3rd party “good” candidates who won’t win, because, in TN at least, I know that means helping elect the worst. In any sane version of this country, my senate candidate Phil Bredesen would be a Republican. As it is, he’s the uninspiring Democrat whom I’ll vote for as a way to vote AGAINST the disaster known as Marsha Blackburn. You’re all welcome.
1
When you see, repeatedly, that one major party uses so many methods, in so many places, to prevent so many people from voting, it's only logical that wise and caring citizens should cast their ballots to displace the party that seeks to disenfranchise them.
164
NYT --show one picture-a day--that counters "Trump's Truth". His base needs pictures--give them the truth---cause all I see are desperate men, women and children in need of humanitarian aid................
1
TO: NYT Editorial Board - THANKS !!
2
Please get this right America, we don't want to have to build a wall along the border of Canada to keep out your crazy.
1
Millineals: meh
1
Reminder if you want a wondrous sea-change in America's political life, get out and vote and get out the vote! Only when we American citizens all vote can our Democracy function like a healthy organism instead of the moribund creation it has become in these trumpian times. Every vote matters! Abstaining from voting, not giving a damn, not liking the choices, too busy, why is election day on Tuesday? -- too many stupid reasons not to vote during what will be one of the most seminal Mid-term elections in American history. If voter turnout on Tuesday isn't far vaster than imagined or predicted, we will all lose our precious democracy and America's manifest destiny will be a shambles and gone with the wind!
Despite there being systematic efforts at disenfranchisement on racial ethnic grounds, specially in the Republican ruled states, and the history of low turn-out in the midterm elections as compared to the presidential polls, this midterm election being crucial for having being turned into a referendum on the Trump presidency, it demands an active voter participation if for nothing than to restrain Trump in his excesses that are undermining the institutions of democracy.
17
@Prof. Jai Prakash Sharma
Absolute power in the hands of an individual or party corrupts absolutely
2
"If Americans voted in proportion to their actual numbers, a majority would most likely support a vision for the country far different from that of Mr. Trump and the Republicans in Congress."
You got that right! So what we actually have is the tyranny of the minority, because the aggregate of nonvoters is larger than those who do.
Hopefully these midterms really will signal a change in this abysmal voting participation record in the United States. I can't imagine editorial page editors other countries like Sweden, France, or Great Britain needing to write a column such as this.
I'm constantly chagrined at our low voter turnout coupled with a high degree of complaining about the outcome of something where they didn't participate.
My rule of thumb is simple: if you don't vote, you don't get to complain.
But it's actually worse as the Board points out: your nonvote may actually do more to elect a candidate like Donald Trump if you live in one of the states where he just squeaked through.
Ponder that for a minute. Then ponder the ugliness of voter suppression in Georgia, North Dakota, and Kansas, as well as the rationale for these programs.
Republicans don't want Democrats to vote so why not send them a message they can't ignore?
206
@ChristineMcM
Here is a reality you and other Democrats ignore concerning your beliefs and actually "practicing Democracy".
The tax cut by President Trump many people says hurts them, which they mainly complain about the reduction and cap on claiming property taxes for the federal deductions. but if you are paying more than $10,0000 in property taxes, let's say $40,000 a year, doesn't your ideology say to help the less fortunate which the cap on property taxes should help those less fortunate?
But the reality is they say only help the wealthy , but living in a home valued over a million dollars to hose you claim want to help would consider this being wealthy.
1
@MDCooks8
Trump and the gop have raised taxes on many middle class home owners in high tax states. To make matters worse the tax bill worsens economic inequality. The biggest gainers are the ultrawealthy, including self dealing republican congress representatives. The middle class on average has gained nothing out of the gop tax bill which has fueled higher interest rates, inflation and gas prices. It has increased the national debt by a hundred billion in just one year. The markets have been getting hammered in october. The gop’s handling of the economy is a disaster. We will soon see it when the effect of their big spending goes away
4
@ChristineMcM Some of the best advice my mother gave me -- Vote! because, she said, if you don't vote, you can't complain about the outcome. She was right.
9
The problem of course is that the wealthy decide who we can vote for. The corruption that campaign finance causes gives them that power. Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have not told us what they stand for; they are only giving us the anti-Trump stuff (there is plenty of that). Tom Perez who is chair of the Dem party also sits around and says nothing about what the people really want (Medicare for all, a solid minimum wage and other programs to protect us from the horrors of capitalism. Trump of course is a wealthy person and bought his way into it also. Pelosi made a horrid mistake this week on TV, stating that there is no doubt Dems will win big in this election. Think about what making that statement could bring. She has become very wealthy with the Dems and her contributors do not allow her to make any statements supporting goo programs for the people that redistribute wealth. Same with Schumer and Perez. Watch their statements; they do not tell us what they stand for; their party kissed of the working class person decades ago. And watch all the Trump supporters who need all kinds of financial help; duped by Trump the con-man. The main stream media do not mention Medicare for all or policies to remove student debt or any other policies for the people to improve health care, eliminate the horrid disparity in wealth in this nation. So the media do what Noam Chomsky states they do; they "manufacture consent." Look it up. We need new parties to protect Democracy.
4
@Frank
In real life, Pelosi and Schumer have just fought very hard and succeeded in saving Obamacare, which saves a whopping additional 40,000 American lives a year.
They also strongly support adding a public option and subsidies for the last 20 million Americans who still can't afford to buy health insurance.
And remember, Obamacare ALREADY allows ANY state who wants to to install Medicare for all.
Secondly, there's almost no bill that both have fought for and managed to pass that does NOT redistribute the wealth and shifts it back to the middle class and the poor.
Conclusion: imho you're being too angry (and probably for very good reasons) to be able to pay attention. If you'd do, you'd see that historically, ALL radical progressive change has been step by step change. And it only happens when we all engage and start from where we are here and now, election after election.
Obamacare will soon have saved a whopping half a million American lives. If the only thing that Pelosi and Schumer manage to do during the next to years is to save Obamacare from the constant GOP attacks, they will, concretely, have saved hundreds of thousands of lives. You cannot possibly give in to cynicism and start imagining that in the end, those American lives don't matter...
2
@Frank - We need to vote. We need to recognize that those who try to discourage us from voting are our enemies, and that they are attempting to deprive us of our freedom.
@Frank Nancy Pelosi has to be 1) incredibly brain-dead and/or out of touch with reality - or, 2) was bought and paid for by Republicans who will do anything to cause Democrats to sit back easily and stay home, because they think they have this election "in the bag."
How anyone can take an election for granted after Hillary Clinton's 2016 polls showed her as having greater than an 85-percent chance of winning over Donald Trump, is totally beyond me. As far as Nancy Pelosi herself is concerned, it is long past time for her to ride her greatly outdated horse into the sunset.
1
If Democrats are badly beaten this Wednesday and they seek the reason why, just look at the crowds that the President draws. No Democrat can match those crowds.
3
@John Murray I agree - the Democrats may well find themselves being soundly defeated in this election. They are SO out of touch with the electorate. There is truly a leadership vacuum at the top of the party.
4
@Jos Callinet
Let's see ... the Democrats' leaders don't lie, don't cheat, don't cultivate racism and irrational fears, don't shift America's wealth to the wealthiest 1% through using the force of the government, and instead work hard to improve things for ordinary citizens - and do so with success ... which is the EXACT opposite of what the GOP is doing, and somehow you want us to believe that it's the Democrats rather than the Republicans who have a "leadership vacuum" ... ?
In that case, you cannot but have a quite strange definition of "leadership", no ... ? ;-)
1
Watch Obama's rally in Florida (or elsewhere) and you'll see that OF COURSE Democrats can match those crowds.
What's even more, they are fully able to do so WITHOUT having to invent ANY lie, and without pandering to people's worst instincts and fears.
All that Obama does is very clearly and loudly and passionately stating the truth, the simply truth when it comes to evaluating what Republicans do when they win elections (shift America's wealth to the wealthiest 1%, through lying and cheating and betraying their voters 24/7), AND the much more complex (and interesting) truth of HOW to achieve real, lasting, non-violent, democratic progress on real issues and real problems.
And the good news is that more than two thirds of the American people are known to agree with him on most issues.
The only bad news is that more than half of those people tend to ignore that in a democracy, radical change necessarily happens step by step, so they get discouraged if it doesn't happen overnight, and then start to imagine that their vote won't matter. That is the ONLY problem the center-left has, in ANY democracy where voting isn't compulsory.
Why do you think the GOP didn't pass any major legislation, even though they controlled DC for two years now?
Because they're NOT about governing or making America as a whole greater, they simply reward Wall Street and themselves, and then invent fake news to keep their voters ignorant and fired up.
In the end, the truth always prevails.
1
No sentient American can doubt that the Republican Party has a long and shameful record of voter suppression. Unlike legitimate policy differences between the Parties, this is unforgivable and to my mind disqualifies that Party from participation in our democracy and Republic, until that history is acknowledged and truly renounced. I don’t think that we should hold our breath. Failing such a miracle, we should adopt a policy of a national obligation to vote, similar to Australia. It works.
7
Exactly, vote Republican, save our Democracy.
1
@Chris G
And how does voter suppression save a democracy, more precisely?
How does the Supreme Court Citizens United ruling, that allows the wealthiest citizens to put unlimited amounts of money into campaigns and as such literally buy politicians to then double the federal deficit in order to get one more tax cut for the wealthiest, save a democracy?
How does cultivating racism and fear of immigrants based on horrible lies, save a democracy?
How does destroying the healthcare of 3 million Americans, as the GOP just did, save a democracy?
Obamacare is saving an additional 40,000 American lives a year. Soon it will have saved a whopping half a million lives. Ryancare, which the GOP will try to pass once again if they win the elections, destroys the healthcare of a whopping 10% of the Americans people. Can you please explain how a government that makes it impossible for tens of millions of Americans to go to a doctor and stay healthy, simultaneously nevertheless "saves" our democracy?
It just doesn't make any sense, does it ... ?
5
We get the government we deserve. It is not in God's hands, it is in yours.
Vote.
5
You're forgiven, Ashenafi Hagezom because you are paying your penance not only by voting but also by working hard to bring other voters to the polls with you. Better late than never; kudos to you!
The greatest single threat to our national democratic survival is government by default as a result of citizens failing to vote. The second greatest is one of two major political parties that, as a core strategic matter, makes voting as difficult as possible.
2
Raise consciousness. Vote conscience.
Another good way to promote democracy is for the media to do it's job and report what happens... not shade things so that both sides have equal time.
We are where we are today because institutions like the NYTimes refused to cover Trump honestly... they chose to highlight any perceived fault of Hillary, and cover Trump at his word.
2
@jmac
And the declined to cover Bernie Sanders at all, unless it was to denigrate him.
I don't know that voting matters any more. The politicians are all bought by special interests, and do what they want to do and are paid to do by "special interests" . We saw this in Ohio several years ago, when an initiative to legalize marijuana was defeated 65 to 35%. Despite this "mandate", as the politicians would call it, the state legislature went on to legalize "medical marijuana", and John Boehner resigned from Congress to work for the marijuana industry. All of this in a state burdened by the worst opiate addiction problem in the United States.
This is what happens all over the country. Politicians get elected, and then go on to be self serving, dishonest, and deceitful manipulaters of the public. It's a disgrace!
1
@Michael Yes, what you have just said underscores a major reason (in my view) why people don't vote - rampant cynicism and distrust of our elected officials.
We have in large part abandoned our democracy and are instead allowing its remnants to be picked apart by vultures.
1
@Jos Callinet: You and Michael go nurse your aggrievemnts, but for the rest: VOTE!!!
When voting is the one and only tool you have to choose who works for YOU, use it, down the ticket. Each and everytime you get the chance use your VOTE
1
On Tuesday, we need to vote as though our democracy depends on it...because it does.
We’ve normalized poverty and enormous income disparity.
We’ve normalized epidemic use of anti-depressants, opioids, and anti-anxiety medications.
We’ve normalized regular marijuana use.
We’ve normalized the sexual harassment and abuse of women.
We’ve normalized sexual abuse by coaches, teachers, employers, and priests.
We’ve normalized child care to raise our own children.
We’ve normalized spending and credit, absent savings.
We’ve normalized health care as a privilege, not a right.
We’ve normalized assault weapon ownership.
We’ve normalized leaders who foment anger, fear, rage, prejudice, misogyny and anti-Semitism.
We've normalized emotional manipulation.
We've normalized the shooting of our children in their own schools.
We’ve normalized technology as a replacement for genuine connection, friendship, and intimacy.
We...are responsible for what we have "allowed" and for our blind "following." And, both “Liberals” and “Conservatives” share in the responsibility for the list above.
However, this election not about a tribe, a party, a label, or an ideology…it’s about our shared humanity. It's out opportunity to put a stop to what is happening.
We need to vote as if our lives depend on it, because the quality of our lives - and the future of our children and grandchildren - depend on it.
5
I watched Andy Rooney once say in a TV interview that those who don't vote are dumber than those who do. Let's prove him wrong by the millions and save democracy -- for it is really in intensive care now with those in charge of Congress and the White House -- supported by a powerful propaganda machine led by Fox "News" and Limbaugh & Co.
1
For our health & for our planet...Vote Blue. An historic Blue Wave that retakes Congress is our civic & moral responsibility.
1
Not voting means: "You agree with everything President 45."
A question to the NYT board: Is the willingness of deception play a part in the strategy to "practice Democracy"?
Example from the NYT https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/upshot/elections-poll-va07-3.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage
"We’ll resume polling in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District soon.
Can a Tea Party hero hold off a strong challenge in a Republican-leaning district? We’ve made
17,892 calls, and 473 people have spoken to us so far.
So far, our poll shows a close race."
How can you indicate first that your polling is accurate, and the race is close when more than 17,892 calls were made but only 473 spoke to those taking your poll? This is less than a 1% taking the poll.
So by extension this is a form of deception.
2
'Vote the bums out!" "Drain the swamp!" We always hear this at election time, but in this instance the presidency and the GOP congress are the most corrupt politicians in the history of our country. They are self-professed nationalists, not genuine patriots; they hate the rule of law; they attack the constitution daily. Civil rights and moral precepts mean nothing to them. It is therefore our right and duty to vote AND VOTE DEMOCRAT to save the country, indeed the planet, from destruction. And I don't mean to do fear-mongering here. I'm just stating obvious facts.
1
I intend to vote. For Republicans.
4
Yes! Vote but what Dem and Progressive candidates really, really, really need now are volunteers to help Get Out The Vote!
Please sign up for one 2-hour shift!
1
There is a quote that is commonly attributed to Alexander Hamilton and then used later by Malcolm X that "if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything".
More than ever, voting in this critical mid term election reflects that quote. If we do not vote in the folks that would potentially put a check on this fast becoming autocracy, i.e., stand for something, then the people who will fall for anything will continue to wield power.
In the last election, I witnessed a young person voting for the FIRST time. She was alone, nervous and did not know what to do or how to continue. Tentatively, she asked questions. I am sure a 2-3 minute video would have minimized her uncertainty and embarrassment.
2
My guess is that there is at least a 50/50 probability that by November 9th both Sessions and Rosenstein will be gone, and Trump already knows who he's putting in to shut down the Muller investigation. The question you have to answer, is whether you want the party of Trump to hold all of the cards? As we approach the 250th anniversary of our country, some of us are not willing to kiss it all goodbye.
2
Most people in california, who are energized to vote in the mid terms say that the state is headed in the right direction but the nation in the wrong direction. There is only one person and party responsible for a nation going in the wrong direction. Trump and the GOP that has become his party
1
Make Election Day a national holiday to make it easier for people to vote!
2
On Voting
"Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you." (Pericles)
"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost."
(John Quincy Adams)
"Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves, and the only way they could do this is by not voting." (Franklin Delano Roosevelt)
"Those who stay away from the election think that one vote will do no good. 'Tis but one step more to think one vote will do no harm." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
"We should all do something to right the wrongs that we see and not just complain about them." (Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis)
"The struggle for the Voting Rights Act taught us that people who love this country can change it. Don't give away your power. Go vote." (Barack Obama)
"Bad officials are the ones elected by good citizens who do not vote." (George Jean Nathan)
"The ballot is stronger than the bullet." (Abraham Lincoln)
"If American women would increase their voting turnout by 10 percent, I think we would see an end to all the budget cuts in programs benefiting women and children." (Coretta Scott King)
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." (Martin Luther King Jr.)
I just fear that Trump is too strong, I’m not sure he can be beaten and I fear dems are setting themselves up for massive disappointed.
I’ve been watching his rallies, he truly has the support of the people, and it’s making beating him impossible. As much as I’d love to see him defeated
1
@Peter H
Except that on most issues, more than two thirds of the country disagree with him and the GOP.
And this is still a democracy. That's why the NYT is right: the only way to obtain a government for the people is to create a government by the people.
During the last elections, more than HALF of the American people (= those eligible to vote) didn't vote. If they would have, Trump might still have fired up 30% of the American people with his lies and racism and fearmongering, but he and the GOP that supports him would have badly lost the elections.
And an advice, if I may: start watching Obama during his rallies for the moment, and you'll see that Democrats' supporters are at least as fired up as Trump supporters ... ;-)
1
he has the support of his people. not we the people.
Any Americans with the slightest motivation can vote.
Those who are uninterested and/or uninformed should not vote.
2
Every vote counts! The future of America may well be decided in this next election.
1
I vote for Mr. Henry F. Potter for president. He promises to build affordable housing with competitive mortgage payments and to drain the swamp and eliminate corruption.
I'm in trouble, Mr. Potter. I need help. Through some sort of an accident, my company's short in their accounts. The bank examiner got there today. I've got to raise eight thousand dollars immediately. Maybe some sort of Troubled Asset Relief Program where the government buys my toxic assets and equity or buys enough 2-year, 3-year, 5-year and 10-year Treasuries, to force an increase in their prices. And bond prices are inversely related to bond yields: when prices go up, yields go down. A lower yield means banks cannot make as much money using the overnight money at 0 – 0.25% and buying long-term Treasury bonds, since the yield on those bonds will be pushed lower and lower. You gotta help me Mr. Potter! -- Gold In'Sacks
Then there is the "Please Hillary, stay away!" Party.
2
The only reason trump is not at the top of the list of the worst presidents is that though he has deeply divided america, we are not in a civil war yet. He is easily the worst president in living memory. Even Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and Dubya were not as bad.
Voting is important, but the knowledge base of the electorate and their biases determine HOW people vote. There are very few absolutely right or wrong views. And I don't begrudge folks their political philosophy.
But I'm deeply offended by those who are willfully uninformed, and those who intentionally spread lies to shift opinions their direction. That's poison to the body politic. Unfortunately, stoking unreasonable fears and driving up your opponents negatives are key tools in the political operative's arsenal.
Donald Trump is but the latest, and perhaps most egregious, example. Lying and fear mongering are his preferred tactics. The most blatant example is the demonization of Central American peasants willing to risk a thousand mile trip on foot to flee violence and poverty. (With hardly a peep of resistance from 'religious' conservatives.)
Democracy has always been imperfectly carried out. It's always been subject to the whims of a semi-informed or biased or propagandized electorate. Our founding fathers felt only white landed men were capable of voting appropriately. But there's no evidence the early electorates made better decisions than our modern ones. And there's no universal test of worthiness to vote.
We are awash in opportunities for news and information. And you can pick the silo where you're most comfortable, even if it largely confirms your biases. Voting is essential. But we must work much harder to somehow ensure a better informed electorate.
“It comes down to this: Democracy isn’t self-activating. It depends on citizens getting involved and making themselves heard.”
Never more true. Vote November 6th. Take advantage of early voting and absentee ballots wherever possible. Take gerrymandering to your state’s Supreme Court. Protest the vote suppressors. Revoke actions that narrowed the scope of the Voting Rights Act. Whether you argue or agree with your spouse, children, or friends, help them or drag them out (figuratively...I think) to the polls. Make voting day a federal holiday, freeing up people’s time to vote. Return to paper ballots. Support every effort to identify, shut down, and punish any attempts at election hacking. Create a federal, cabinet level Election Protections and Security role.
There’s no end to what could be done with the will and willingness of citizens to do so. Get out of bed, off your chair, and march to your polling place. Our predecessors didn’t fight and die in 1776, 1865, and 1945, and every other year for us to regress into a racist, bigoted, and repressive autocracy.
Those who choose not to vote (as opposed to victims of voter suppression [always GOP- initiated] who want to vote but can't) are people who would prefer to live in a dictatorship. The U.S. tragedy is that there are so many such people here.
Democracy is the second greatest invention of the human race, following only public education.
Still, it has its limits. You couldn't have it in fourth grade, asking the students to vote on teachers and subjects...it would lead to chaos and well, Trumpism.
Democracy also needs an electorate that is educated and experienced and in love with life, diversity of thought, and the fellow humans who live within the country. That only comes with time, and a devotion to learning from hard working media.
This paper is one of the great tools of democracy, providing the world with an example of how independent, honest, open media works and how it can be an asset to the future.
So, the best way to keep democracy at all, is to demand independent reporting and investigation. I mean, who knows, one day someone might find out that a candidate stole hundreds of millions in tax fraud or some other improbably crime.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
Perhaps a large enough majority of (Democratic) voters will vote to upend the republican dictatorship. Perhaps. If not, the future is grim. If majorities in the states are not allowed to pick their leaders then we do not have a democracy any more. Then, what is the solution? More "get out the vote" campaigns? Protests? Banners with slogans? When you can't vote because there is no polling place available; or your vote counts only as a small fraction of your republican fellow citizens due to gerrymandering or the voting rules are specifically designed to deny you a vote and you can't sue your way to the Supreme Court because it's part of the problem, what then? Where's the democracy? (Hint: there isn't any)
These columns continue to cast doubt about the voters showing up to vote. I showed up the first day early voting opened and the turnout was heavy. Our future is in our voter's hands.
If thinking Americans cannot see the damage done by the Republican Party, they are blind. Trump has led us down a path that is as un-American as is imaginable and the worst outcome will be to look back in shame and to say, "I wish I had voted."
Do not let this be your lament.
1
How many more voters would show up if this was a presidential election year and Trump were on the ballot? He has asked that we "Pretend I'm on the ballot".
Voters should realize he could effectively be removed from office if both House and Senate were turned blue. He does not even need to be impeached. In fact allowing him to remain but rendering him legislatively feckless would drive him to well deserved insanity. True, he still does have a Supreme Court that leans his way but cases wind their way there slowly and lower courts often rule against his executive orders. It would be torment for the impatient child to sit hog tied for the next two years.
Let's do it.
While it's terrible for democracy that about half of our voting-age population does not vote, it's also bad for democracy to have a press that is not free and independent. The fact that there's a huge amount of "vote-encouragement" coming from this paper (and other major news outlets, including fox news) is clear evidence of the partisanship of our news sources. They are blatantly trying to rally the troops before this election. This is wrong no matter how abysmal voter participation is.
2
"The Best Way to Protect Democracy Is to Practice It".
Tell that to the more than three million voters who voted for Hillary Clinton, only to see their votes IGNORED by our UN-democratic voting system called the Electoral College. It would be refreshing and encouraging if the media, and the party that was denied the presidency by this archaic voting system left over from 18th century slave holders would talk about the need for this system to be abolished.
We would be waging our finger at Russia or any other country where a leader was picked by a minority of the voters. Imagine if an electoral-type system was applied on a state level where the states counties got to pick the governor of that state. Bizarre and so undemocratic right? Our voting laws have been constantly amended over the years from allowing non-property holders to vote to women. Let's turn our attention to strengthening our democracy by making it a democracy in the first place where every vote is counted and more importantly, counts.
It is a national disgrace that only 16 percent of the 18-30 year old age group voted in 2016! Our democracy requires an informed and educated electorate. Americans need to wake up, face reality and be fully aware of the need to vote based on the issues.
Voting in the United States is not an exercise in democracy. All voting does is legitimize corruption. No matter whom you vote for - Dem or Rep - the people sent to Congress do not represent ordinary voters but special interests, lobbying groups and most importantly, huge corporations, Wall St and banks. Of course, like torture which we call "enhanced interrogation" we have redefined corruption into the more benign "campaign finance." Those in power will then use this fake legitimacy to figure out the best way to transfer vast sums of money from the public coffers to those very corporations and special interest groups that sponsored them in the first place.
1
The U.S. is not a democracy (never has been). It is a constitutional republic. With particular regard to presidential elections, the process is incredibly "undemocratic." What is being protected under the electoral system is a tyranny of the minority. The best way for the U.S. to capture "democracy" is to eliminate the electoral college.
And in answer to those in states of lower population, quit believing that your geography entitles you to disproportionate voting power. No one forces you to live where you do (as no one is forced to live among "the coastal elites".). If Americans truly believed in democracy, the national election would happen without regard to state borders. We are, after all, supposed to be a "united" states, yes?
By the way, I'm a dual citizen and have voted in Italy (yes, dysfunctional, politically crazy Italy). Even they have one-man-one-vote there and people don't whine that the more economically, populated north has more voters. On average, 73% of eligible Italians vote in their national elections. When you go to the polls, people will proudly show their voting cards with literally decades of voting stamped. Also, the local jurisdiction actually hand-delivered my voting card when I became eligible.
Poor, poor U.S.A., would that you were what you believe yourselves to be: a democracy.
2
"...In the 2014 midterm elections, barely more than one in three eligible voters turned out; 143 million others stayed home. " says it all! It is amazing how many people do not vote at all, let alone in midterms. And we send our troops overseas to war so that democracy can spread! Sandra Day O'Connor said it best for me, with her emphasis on 'civic education'. Too may Americans do not have a grip on how the government functions, and, loosely, vote only during the Presidential election years.
Avoid the lines... Vote in the comfort of your living room with a computer showing you backgrounds and past performance of your candidates, as well as the analysis on each proposition... Vote by mail is the best.
1
Please clarify: It is not enough to just Vote! We must cast an educated vote.
We must uphold TRUTH - from ALL our Media, and absolutely INSIST on it from our Leaders!
Without TRUTH, we get what we have now: obscenely uninformed citizens utterly Enraged over fantasies, myths, and hateful lies told by “the other” political side, the nation, other people, or even about how the world works.
Lies and Intolerance are the twin root causes of cancers that can bring down Democracies.
TRUTH is necessary to have an EDUCATED VOTER! Our goal as engaged citizens is to cast an *Educated Vote!*
2
Practicing democracy for today's college educated young people is absurd.On campus they were trained to reject free speech, to bully anyone who doesn't salute an agenda promoted and endorsed by the PC police. and to mock and attack anyone who sows signs of independent thinking. To expect this generation to be into democracy is absurd.
Multiple generations of women worked for seventy years to get women the right to vote. They finally won the right to vote in 1920 - 144 years after the Declaration of Indpendence. As a woman, I vote at every opportunity and honor the efforts of our country’s female patriots. Freedom isn’t free.
1
Yes. Vote. That is the only way to deal with officials that place obstacles to voting. Vote them out or send them home. Like that obvious election-rigger in GA, Kemp. What system allows a candidate for office to oversee the election he is running in? Wait, I know: a corrupt system. Voter ID laws. Movement and closing of polling places. All need to be investigated and called out for what they actually are: voter disenfranchisement and election manipulation. Election day needs to be a national, federal holiday or all voting is 100% mail in/postage paid voting like in WA and other states. If we don't protect democracy, if we don't practice democracy by voting we will lose democracy. We are on the edge of that now. Vote.
2
If eligible voters can't be persuaded to vote in their own self-interest then, much like small children who won't voluntarily brush their teeth even though it is in their own interest to do so, voting should be a legal requirement, the way it is in several countries. Reluctant voters can go the polls and cast an empty ballot if that's the way they feel. But enough with this abdication of the most minimal aspect of social responsibility.
5
A democracy means "we the people" which helps everyone to thrive in a responsible way. If someone is prudent, inquisitive, kind to others, and mindful of their own existence and the responsibility that sets into motion ... who then among us should qualify whether their points of reference are adequate? A "democrat" can have fiscally conservative goals ... but not at the expense of others who desperately need help. A "democrat" can demonstrate knowledge of the mechanics of fiscal responsibility. So calling someone a "democrat" or a "republican" is really meaningless. Instead we, the people, should demonstrate our goals and knowledge.
1
The lead here points out the inverse of the attitude that keeps many potential voters home. While some are just lazy, some convinced the whole thing is corrupt, and some feel they really don't know enough to cast a vote, a large number of those I ask say they feel they are not Responsible if they don't vote. The "Don't blame me, I didn't vote for him!" syndrome. (Since when is irresponsibility a virtue?)
Of course, like a passing neighbor who does not get a stray toddler out of a busy street, they are exactly responsible if bad outcomes occur. "But my one vote won't matter." If you add one vote per precinct it is easy to show how often that is wrong.
Citizenship is not just a birthright, it is a responsibility, not only to yourself, but to your family and community. If there is no one or no issue you want to vote for, look at the list again. I promise you there is someone or some issue you can vote against. Individually it might only be a small difference, but collectively it can change America and the world, next year and for the future.
6
American governance is such a unique idea - that the many can/will/must decide the kind of country they/we live in and ultimately the kind of world we inhabit.
America is a land of immigrants. Many people came to escape religious persecution and OUR U.S. Constitution protects them from governmental interference in how they worship as long as they keep their religious beliefs OUT of government.
America is a land of crooks - who came to work off their crimes and become free or to simply steal as much as they could unfettered.
America is a land of hope - the hope of people who escaped death and destruction in their homeland and came to the United States of America to try to live the dream of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness for every citizen.
America is a land of overcoming obstacles - like being Irish, catholic, jewish, chinese, japenese, vietnamese, german, russian and now central american - to live here.
Most people who come here have lived and suffered under the male power-over model where someone else makes decisions that rule your life. They must be taught and literally babysat to learn that THEIR vote is what determines life in OUR/THEIR United States of America.
There are always people who want to rule the many. WE THE PEOPLE must not let that be the model in OUR United States of America.
Not now. Not ever.
6
Something that I saw shared on my social media that I thought was appropriate and non political.
It was an exhortation to those roughly 50% of the population who do not vote: 'Your future is being determined by the other 50% who do!' This should be particularly important to the youngsters whose future is not being cared about. They have the most at stake!
Another message was about how our armed forces fight for our democracy every day and we are only called to vote once in two years!
Vote or that right will be stripped away and surely it is happening even if you did or want to.
I am of the opinion that people in charge of elections must have a specified goal of improving participation or our democracy is won't be truly representative.
Some serious legislation is required to address the population migration to give equal representation to everyone. That is only fair.
So, please vote! Thank you.
3
It is just beyond comprehension that many democrat-leaning voters refuse to participate, whatever excuses they have. I always vote big and small. When I don't know much about the issues and candidates, I just follow the recommendations from organizations such as Planned Parenthood, NAACP, Sierra Club, etc. It usually takes me 10 minutes at most. Well, I have done my part. I mailed my ballot back the day after I received it. I really think that Trump should win his second turn so these people will finally woke up. Yes, it's a bitter medicine and I am just an innocent bystander. But so be it. Young people take granted for everything. Sad!
1
@JC - Yikes! Punish us all and enable fascism just to teach feckless non-voters some kind of "lesson"? Dysfunctional short-term strategy, dude. Can't we just take away some screen time?
The Republicans understand the power of showing up and voting. So many have made that a lifelong habit. Those in charge of the Republican Establishment understand how to get judges appointed and how to have governors in place when Congressional Districts are redrawn. They work to shape the U.S. in their image.
Democrats and Independents who are thinking about staying home, please turn out, this year and in the future. However you vote, greater participation will help to ensure a more vibrant democracy. And if you are alarmed by the takeover of the Judiciary branch, if you have a different vision for our country than what we're living out now, please - if you can - exercise your great privilege and vote.
4
This 31 year old voted. And I encourage my demographic, millineals, to vote. I got my friend, 26, to vote for the first time, and he got his friend, 27, to vote for the first time. This is the first year I've donated to a candidate, but I've been a regular voter since 2014. I'm to the left of Democrats on many issues, but I voted for Democrats up and down the ballot. We need a Senate and House to check Trump's hateful, backwards policies on healthcare, the environment and immigration.
17
@Tony Cochran
How about the economy? What do you think of that? And apparently you consider enforcing immigration law to be backwards policy.
@Tony Cochran Wonderful, Tony! Please keep helping your friends to vote right up until the polls close on Tuesday! I have been phone banking for the Democratic party and am dismayed by the number of young people I talk to who do not plan to vote because they can't be bothered or don't know what the issues are or even who is running.
PLEASE VOTE!!! Young people are the future and without your vote, none of us will have one.
1
@Mr. Moderate Thank you for asking. I am sorry for my delayed response, I have been working. Well, on the economy, I am dismayed by the budget-busting tax cuts passed last December that overwhelmingly benefit the super-wealthy and corporations. I am frustrated that Mitch McConnell is now considering paying off that debt with cuts to Medicare and Social Security, something that would affect my generation's parents and grandparent's deeply. (Yes, we DO care!). And I would like to see wage growth on par with historical averages, considering the labor market is so tight at the moment and corporations are sitting on more capital than ever.
As for immigration, I think that Trump's actions in separating families at the border was and is morally reprehensible, I am terrified of Trump ordering active duty military to shoot at immigrants, and I would like to see a sensible path forward: re-instating Dreamers' status, a general amnesty (like the one Reagan did in the 80s!) for folks that have been here for a long time, etc. I am not saying that the US-Mexico border can come down overnight, there are complexities that are beyond my field (philosophy), but critical thinking allows me to see that reasonable alternatives to "shoot em'," family separations, and tent cities exist. Just look to Reagan.
2
The best and least expensive way to improve the quality of our lives is for us to vote!
Too many Americans have not taken their civic responsibilities seriously, and as many of us have pointed out, for better or worse, we get what we deserve.
People who don't vote are shirking their civic duty, and they are telling others they don't believe in democracy nor do they have core values or principles. If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.
Vote while you still have the freedom to vote.
16
@OldLiberal
Yes, good citizens vote. Unfortunately, so do a lot of bad ones.
@Snowbird. I'm guessing the "bad ones" don't vote the way you do.
Exercising your right to vote is especially important if you lean to the left politically, because, as documented in this piece, the Republicans make systematic efforts to suppress the Democratic vote. This goes back to Paul Weyrich, a Republican direct-mail guru, who notoriously stated the following in 1980:
"I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of the people. They never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down."
Until this country takes voter-suppression seriously by making it a crime carrying heavy prison time, the least we can do is vote every time we can. If we don't exercise that right, surely one day we'll wake up to find we no longer have it.
11
Thanks. That about sums it up. As always, you make an informed and persuasive case. I just hope more people are listening. Those who sit this out will forfeit any right to complain and deserve whatever they get.
7
Maybe we need to redefine what constitutes voter fraud to include political institutions that actively work to suppress the vote by way of no verifiable need. Actual voter fraud as determined statistically is all but non existent. Efforts to deceptively suppress the vote on the other hand is practiced openly and earnestly. Those who are claiming large scale fraud are for all intent and purpose the perpetrators of that fraud.
12
Why aren’t people who are going to be removed from voter registration lists entitled to due process prior to removal?
7
It is our civic duty to vote; to keep ourselves well informed on all the issues and to get our news from a wide variety of sources (personally, I read The New York Times, BBC News, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, The Daily Freeman, NPR News, and more). We must write to our senators and congresspersons about the issues that matter to us.
Yet a majority of Americans sit out most elections. Why? I believe it is because we have become complacent—and that it is television that makes us so. As Kurt Cobain put it: “Here we are now entertain us”.
If we are to be a strong nation, we must realize that we are not here to be entertained, instead, we must be engaged citizens and exercise our rights and civic duties. Please get out there and vote on Tuesday, November 6.
8
In earlier times in America, people practiced democracy all the time. Churches, and synagogues were community owned and their leadership was voted on with monthly business meetings. Towns and villages also practiced democracy. The same was true of social clubs, and unions or professional organizations. Many Americans belonged to 3 or 4 organizations which were run democratically and required regular voting. Today most Americans don't belong to any democratically run organization. The only time they are called to participate is on Election Day. If you want to encourage democratic participation, pass tax laws which will bring back community owned organizations. Practice increases participation and social interaction will breed new leaders.
5
What about money in politics? Money in the electoral process? We also need campaign finance reform. Of course more should vote, but the two parties also need to clean up the voting problems. I do not see them doing so in the off season.
5
Paying lip service to an idea such as Democracy is what has diminished the essence, the kernel of genius embedded in that ancient ideal. Practice would be the best way to protect democracy if only we would have faith in the outcome. The pairing of democracy with capitalism has been our downfall. Our downfall as a virtuous nation striving to make golden our exceptional promises based on the egalitarian tenets of democracy is, indeed, rooted in everyday expediencies of our existence going back to our beginnings, embedded, in our founding documents as a hedge against its failure if posited in the hands of mere mortals. "After all," as a former president was once quoted to have said about the wisdom of tinkering with and tweaking the electoral process, "do you think I'd leave something as important as this [the vote] up to chance?"
5
Perfectly stated. AND then abide by the decision. Fair and just criticism is part of democracy, as is working for the common good.
Side note, when entering into that voting booth or filling out mail in ballot say a prayer for those who gave the most in order for us to excercise the privilege to vote. Respect the process.
4
Support the student walk-out planned for Election Day.
Take a person day off work if you can.
Support efforts to make Election Day a national holiday.
We get the government we deserve, and we deserve better than this.
40
Response to QED:
Maybe you should be "bent out of shape" about an indecent minimum wage where there is little incentive to go to work and pay taxes. If we as a nation truly respected work, we would reward it with a respectable rate of pay and then there would be fewer of those voting "poor people" you decry.
And while we're at it, I guess you would disenfranchise all the "poor" senior citizens who are barely making it and rely on Social Security and Medicare -- often way more than the amounts that were deducted from their pay checks when working in a truly regressive tax.
Your solution is what: tax breaks to the top 1% so it can "trickle down"...so we can have more income inequality, health care and education for the upper middle class and well to do in disproportional numbers.
We need a healthy balanced approach to economic policy not a snarky scape-goating of the poor!
18
If you enjoy the freedom to say what you want, the freedom to not be engaged politically then VOTE. Other wise you will find out how unfree you can be. trump and the republicans do not love freedom, they love their power over you. And they want more. Do not give away your freedom. VOTE for those who want freedom for all. Any inconvenience you perceive about voting is a small price to pay.
18
People have all kinds of reasons/excuses that they give for not voting; it's not convenient, voter apathy, frustration that their vote doesn't matter, they don't like either candidate, etc.
But one thing is certain when someone decides to give up the hard earned right to vote - the person that is the most pleased about that decision is the person that the voter disagrees with the most.
If you care about how the country is run, then make the effort to vote, your vote most certainly doesn't matter if you choose not to exercise that right. Don't choose to make yourself irrelevant; please vote!
25
When democracies decided that suffrage, rather than contingent on gender, fortune and literacy, would be universal, it was expected that the vast majority of adults would develop interest in the political programs that parties and candidates put forward and cast informed votes.
In mature democracies, such as the United States and Canada, where military coups have not happened and vote buying and corruption are less damaging than mismanagement, indecisiveness and broken promises, decreasing voter turnout proves that millions of adults forego what perhaps are their most important right and civic duty.
Political apathy is perhaps more momentous than the next recession, illegal immigration, climate change and the threats that China and Russia pose. Social stakeholders such as the media, the three levels of education, religious organizations, intellectuals, celebrities and political parties should organize programs to make people, especially millenials, understand the importance of devoting time to political matters, cast informed votes and increase voter turnout.
This is not a one- or two-year campaign. It will take decades. Do we have decades?
7
I can’t say that I am bent out of shape about the poor not voting, given that they will pretty much support any candidate that promises them free stuff paid for by the half of us who pay taxes. Or give those who pay more that $1 in federal income taxes an additional vote. If you are depended on government generosity for your survival, your opinion is a nice to have.
2
@QED: Your prejudice toward the poor diminishes you as a human being. You have no idea what their lives are like. You have no appreciation that poverty can strike anyone, anytime, without warning.
I am a college-educated man, with a long work history. I have also suffered from poverty. I lost my job in the Great Recession. I didn't find another full-time job for EIGHT YEARS. I went through a divorce and lost my home. At one point, I lived in my car for two months.
I was lucky. I went back to school, got my Masters degree, and now I work as a teacher. But so many poor people are not lucky. They are trapped in poverty. They are without hope. They need a helping hand, for basic survival, from a government that is supposed to benefit all the people, not just the moneyed few.
Poverty does not deprive someone of their Constitutional right to vote--nor should it. You would condemn your fellow citizens to silence and misery, just because you don't want your tax dollars used to care for "those people." How incredibly selfish of you!
This is exactly what Trump and his goons want--rich against poor, black against white, native-born versus immigrant, men against women, young against old. By inflaming his base of voters (a minority), he effectively rules over all of us. That is NOT right. We are one people. We are one nation. It's time for us to show Trump he works for US--not the other way around. I will vote on November 6--not just for me, but for ALL Americans.
2
@Jack Connolly
The reality is that the poor should not, by virtue of numbers, be able to compel others to give them money and services through the ballot box. I do not say that the government should not be providing a safety net; just that those financing the safety net should determine how generous it is, not those in it.
Voting is one of the four freedoms ... you will be heard. I especially agree with the Editorial Board's heart-to-heart appeal here. The responsibility of self-rule cannot be overlooked. Now ... it is all about Trump and his world view, and those who support his ideas, to be told -- NO! WE ARE BETTER THAN THIS. Please find a way to encourage everyone you know personally ... VOTE FOR YOUR BEST.
6
Even in a one party state like Idaho we must vote. Our Secretary of State is so partisan he considers campaign finance reform a joke and sends all voter data to the Kansas Kabal . There is no choice in my district, but rest assured the SoS will be re-elected.
1
I am currently in Bhutan where the voter turnout ranges from 73% to 97% in a true constitutional democracy.
If the US had voter commitment like this, the Republicans would NEVER WIN AGAIN.
Please do your duty and vote. Thank you.
60
"paying attention, knowing the candidates. Doing my job as a citizen."
Dear Editorial Board:
Instead of filling column inches using political reporters who obsess on polls and punditry, send journalists with expertise in economics, education, the environment and other substantive issues to cover the election. This will to help busy voters who want to do their jobs as citizens.
Cover the issues, the votes candidates have made in Congress (eg did they vote to overturn Citizens United through the Disclose Act [btw yes, if they are a Democrat; obstructed that if they are a Republican], the specific policy proposals (not the slogans) of the candidates.
Instead of turning voters off by treating elections as a sports contest, treat it as the substantive choice that it is.
If voters are better informed about the consequence of their votes, then voters will be better prepared to do their jobs as citizens in a democracy.
Here, to begin, is a widely ignored by the press Democratic infrastructure proposal, a dramatic contrast with the Trump/Republican intention to turn infrastructure into privateer profit centers like toll roads.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?440922-1/house-democrats-unveil-infrastructure-plan
18
One way traffic Government is no good. There should be strong opposition to checkmate the ruling party’s missteps. Hope Americans will do what is best for them in this midterm poll.
3
What's needed long term: a vigorous and enthusiastic return of civics education to the classroom, early on.
How many Americans are intimately acquainted with the Constitution? How many appreciate the incredible privileges--and responsibilities--of American citizenship, the first and foremost of which is voting?
By the same token, American public education should also be teaching every American child--early on--the mechanics and benefits of the capitalist economy under which s/he is being raised, which include the incredible benefits of saving, investing and the time value of money.
If this were the case, we might actually be able to regrow a responsible, informed middle class that knows what it deserves and can demand in terms of fair legislation, and accomplish for itself with a little knowledge and self-discipline; and therefore how to avoid buying snake oil from carnival barkers whose main purpose is to siphon off as much of its money as possible while keeping it as uninformed as possible.
33
It took the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution less than one hundred years ago to guarantee the right of women to vote.
It took the Voting Rights Act of 1965, during my lifetime, to protect the voting rights of African-Americans the Fifteenth Amendment.
Since then, one political party, the Republican Party, has placed obstacles to voting through overly burdensome ID laws, reducing early voting periods, heightened registration requirements, limits on mail-in ballots, heightened absentee and provisional ballot requirements polling place closures, and voter roll purges.
The Republican Party as also used the tool of racial gerrymandering to weaken the political power of racial minority voters.
Finally, in the Citizens United decision, five Republican Supreme Court appointees (Kennedy, Roberts, Alito, Scalia, and Thomas) over the dissents of one Republican appointee (Stevens) and three Democratic appointees (Ginsberg, Breyer, and Sotomayor), ushered in an era of dark money propaganda poisoning the minds of the American electorate.
Justice Stevens warned in his dissent that, "A democracy cannot function effectively when its constituent members believe laws are being bought and sold." He was right.
So, ask yourself, if your right to vote is not so precious, then why has the Republican Party gone to such lengths to systematically take it away from you?
If you want to put an end to the Republican war on voting, then vote! It has to start somewhere.
87
Great piece. I'm tired of people who can't be bothered because they're somehow too good, or it doesn't matter. And the Conscience Vote for someone who can't possibly win is almost as bad. If people don't like what's going on, they need to get up and engage--from the bottom up in their own backyards. How do they think we got this decades-in-the making mess? People with lots (and lots) of money who don't care about the larger public have been buying up our system for far too long.
18
Democracy is not for free,one has to fight for it every day.Especially in a country like the US,where politicians do whatever they can preventing citizens from voting.Actually,all elections in the country are con operations,with a few exceptions,and never have resembled democratic standards.
10
Voting is the adult way of life. One takes responsibility personally. We act on behalf of each other. The outcome effects best choices. Country is governed responsibly.Crisis is anticipated. Those most in need are least harmed. We take action to prevent oppression. Voting both makes us grow into adults as well as expresses the adult way of life. Maybe we should restrict the privilege of driving a car to those with maturity to those who vote?
8
The voting process won't solve all the issues we're facing in terms of "resentment, prejudice and erosion of shared values, purpose and destiny that once held the country together." What would help more would be to ignore, disband and rid ourselves of the influence imposed on the majority by various special interest groups with an agenda to have us throw out long-held traditions, values and
beliefs - those are the core qualities that held this country together. If we fail to stand to protect our rights from those with opposing views and extreme ideologies, democracy will be under threat and deemed obsolete.
5
I vote because my grandparents came to America seeking a new world, and found it,
I vote because we are a nation conceived in liberty, which holds truths to be self-evident.
I vote to stay a free man who can vote.
77
Instead of just giving out 'I Voted' stickers to those who just voted, I suggest giving out 'I'm Going To Vote' stickers out to people days or even weeks before any election to increase awareness as well as motivation for greater voter turnout. Lower participation in our elections is everyone's fault. And the fact that Republicans have made it increasingly difficult to do so should make us all that much more determined to vote. Voting is a right, a privilege and a muscle available to us that must be exercised if our democracy is to remain healthy and not atrophy. If and when it's taken for granted it's soon taken away. And that time must never come for this country. That's why we all must vote.
26
And the world is watching.. Mr Trump declared himself a nationalist, therefore these electinons will also show if the surge of the far rigt nationalism - as witnessed in the EU -continues in the US or if it can be stopped by the high turnout of younger voters.
14
Every US citizen has the right to vote. Trump and the GOP are reinforcing the fear and anxieties that white, christian, conservative, republican voters have about immigrants. These people fear losing their culture and identity. Voters in america should only be required to register once in a lifetime. Even if they move voting should just be a matter of updating a national database. It is not hard to maintain a national voter database of 350 million people and keep it secure.When a person votes, his or her identity should be validated against the database. States and legislatures should not be allowed to pass laws or disenfranchise voters.Rather federal laws should be enforced. Asking for voter ID, standing in a long line, or having to go out of the city to vote discourages voting and disenfranchises voters. Every citizen who opts for it should automatically receive a ballot. Drop off boxes for the ballots must be provided in a nearby location. The best way to protect democracy is to ensure that every single US citizen has the right to vote, is encouraged to vote, and by making voting easier.
14
There are no excuses for not voting. It is the most important responsibility of a citizen. So find a way to get it done.
28
Wonderful piece on the importance of showing up to vote should be part (in some form) of civics classes, which are essential for students in middle and high school. Right now, we have Betsy DeVos backing publishers of textbooks that deny climate change. There is far more at stake than we realise.
24
Everyone agrees that getting out to vote is vital to a democracy, that is not the issue. What is important is what happens after the election. In this particular mid term Mr. Trump will still be President, the House may fall to the democrats and the Senate will remain under republican control. So what will the agenda be going forward? Well the first order of business for the House will be to start proceedings to impeach the President. Chuck Schumer will continue his resist movement to try and block anything and everything republican. So that leaves us with grid lock. Why is that dangerous? Simply because Congress is consumed with itself and has abdicated it's function to the President and executive orders and the Supreme Court to make laws.
There are some very serious matters building in our country. Our national debt is now at $21 trillion, our deficit will be $1 trillion next year, entitlements SSI, Medicare, and Medicaid are in need of reform as they are heading toward insolvency. Will Congress tackle them....no.. they are know as "hot button Issues " to be avoided at all costs. Immigration reform is another one that has been lingering for years.
To me part of the answer is term limits for all members of Congress. Presidents come and go but Congress remains. We are heading for some really bad financial times. The Editorial Board of this paper, instead of demonizing the President and trying to sway elections should think about Americas financial future.
4
Following your thoughts, maybe there should be term limits on the New York Times Editorial Board.
It would be nice if we had honest elections, though.
(see Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Texas, North Dakota, Kansas, for starters)
Every technique to intimidate or disenfranchise is used, even going so far as the Jim Crow techniques of school-to-prison (and for-profit, to add insult to injury), shooting to kill, arresting people for "looking" suspicious (living while black), and all the other degradations of greed and exploitation.
13
Why won't the democrats hammer the republicans on the economy ?Obama has greatly outperformed Trump on the economy. When he took over we were loosing 750000 jobs a month because of the mess dubya and the GOP created. The middle class was staring at an abyss and poverty. By the time obama left office, we had 9 straight years of job growth. Unemployment dropped to 4 percent. 32 million more people in the middle class had affordable health care than before. Interest rates and inflation were lower in 2016. Only 52 percent of the middle class owns stock, with an average 15000 dollar retirement savings. The S and P 500 grew by 22 percent a year including dividends from 1/09 to 1/17. Since trump and the GOP took over he has greatly underperformed Obama.The S and P 500 is barely up 10 percent a year since 2017,and worsened the deficit by 2 trillion that they gave to businesses, their patrons. The GOP tax cut raised taxes in high state tax states, by limiting the SALT deduction, and produced zero gain for the middle class nationwide. Their 1900 a year gains a year due to wage increases and tax cuts have been swallowed by higher interest rates, higher inflation and higher gas prices caused by the GOP tax bill. The gop almost took away affordable health care from 32 million in the middle class in 2017. They are still decimating it including the coverage for pre-existing conditions. Student tuition, medical premiums, property taxes, and travel costs are all higher.Dump the GOP on nov 6.
26
@observer The dems are inept at giving us a reason to vote for them. Incompetents, they. Perhaps they deserve to lose.
1
While people must vote like their lives depend upon it because of the Fascist threat Trump represents we must have politicians that keep the electorate excited and motivated The GOP has been far better than the Democrats not only nationally but locally Hopefully this will change with this election
Obama campaigned like a progressive and distanced progressives once he got elected resulting in his losing Congress in 2010 Hillary did not excite the democratic base and lost states that were once Democratic strongholds allowing Trump to win the electoral college
Yes we must vote to keep our democracy vibrant We also need political leaders who motivate the base and present a clear message about who they are and what they stand for
The GOP has done a far better job of this than the Democrats who presented themselves as GOP Lite while selling out to Wall Street corporate USA and the banks just to a lesser degree than the GOP That is not a way to excite a base
The GOP has misinformed USA far better that the Democrats have educated the public for decades Mass incarceration of Blacks cruel welfare reform deregulating the banks and the telecommunication industry happened under Bill Clinton who charmed us all the while he appeased the GOP with his triangulation strategies
It is Trump who is actually forcing the Democrats back to their progressive roots once again
Yes we need to vote But we also need strong honest dynamic candidates with a clear message to vote for
10
"They may be unhappy with the choices before them or unconvinced that their votes will make a difference. Either way, they sit out Election Day, nursing their grudges and telling themselves that they’re making a political statement. Wrong."
And then there are those who make protest votes for third parties, who won't win anything. It was voters for Jill Stein who in part threw the election to Trump, just like Nader in part throwing the election to Bush in 2000. And that's the left, those on the right vote, say libertarian, who at least took votes from Trump in 2016, but would those who did cross the aisle if Johnson/Weld hadn't run? Protest votes may feel good, but in the end it's like sitting out the election. And no good can come of that kind of cyicism.
13
"No matter who wins, higher turnout is a good thing. It reaffirms the essence of the democratic process, and it tends to help candidates who are both more reasonable and more representative of the public at large."
Does the editorial board really believe that? "More reasonable and more representative"? I would imagine that means more reasonable and representative of the public at large in the view of the editorial board of the NYT.
"If Americans voted in proportion to their actual numbers, a majority would most likely support a vision for the country far different from that of Mr. Trump and the Republicans in Congress."
So the editorial board thinks that the US is essentially liberal and progressive and only laziness and gerrymandering prevent the truth from coming to the forefront?
Voting is one aspect of democracy, but voting per se does not guarantee what the pundits and editorial writers would have. Voting often produces surprises. Sometimes voting is even a sham of democracy.
2
@Joshua Schwartz
While the comments section is still open, would you please explain what you mean in "Sometimes voting is even a sham of democracy. "?
After the 2004 election, I vowed that I wouldn't vote again until the campaign financing laws were significantly changed to public funding and/or things just got bad enough. It seemed to me that only when things would get so bad, then finally enough people would begin to vote to make an important difference. Until then, it would be just the same old, same old. Well, the second criterion prevailed, so I registered and voted in the primaries in PA and will vote on Tuesday. Yep, things definitely got bad enough, so I will vote along with a lot of people, finally enough of us people whom Michael Moore regards as comprising the largest political party in the country (the--formerly, I hope--Non-Voter Party) .
9
A strong turnout next Tuesday will not only determine whether the autocratic tendencies of Trump will be contained, it will also re-assure the world that America's commitment to the democratic system we so often trumpet remains strong. Let's restore some confidence in this country around the world.
30
The trumps are out of touch with average americans. Melania took a 95000 dollar cab ride in cairo.
10
@observer
Perhaps that was 95 thousand Egyptian Pounds.
1 EP = 0.056 USD.
@observer
Now, now it was not a cab ride that I read about. It was a hotel bill where she didn't even stay the night. No explanation from the accuser - there may or may not have been many rooms booked for her security detail for example. What was outrageous was how inflated the apparent room rate was over that hotel's going rates. (Again, information supplied by the accuser.)
Sort of reminds you of the emollients accusation against Trump and his foreign guests in his US hotels. Maybe just a "refund"? Does el-Sisi have real estate investments like that?
@observer
Are you arguing that the Obamas or Clintons were in touch with average Americans. Hillary hasn't driven a car since she was first lady of Arkansas, and Michelle took it as a racial slight when another woman asked her to hand her an item from a high shelf.
Obama spent a couple of million taking his wife to date night in NYC, and millions sending hid daughter's high school class to Mexico when the State Department was warning college students not to visit Mexico on spring break because of violence. But of course the commoners didn't have Secret Service protection.
1
adding to this: ....especially on "taking aggressive action against climate change" this needs to be done and this is especially relevant to young people, who will be around to see the effects of more warming as CO2/greenhouse gas levels continue to rise with the devastating effects of increased flooding, hotter droughts, and sea level rise. Why hasn't the one party, the Democrats, who are not owned by the fossil fuel industry, not played this up in this election to get out the vote among young people. The Parkland survivors shouldn't have to shoulder this on their own.
About half the world population live on the coasts, and about half of these coastal areas will be under water with the current estimates of sea level rise. Homes gone, livelihoods destroyed, and many casualties. But the worst consequences can still be avoided with action now. We are the Europeans, we are the Chinese, we are the Native Americans, we are White or Black citizens of America--we are all One Race, One People when it comes to saving the planet from global warming.
The time to act is now. Most young people know this just from a casual reading of the Science, and they also know the Republicans lie about the science. Never has so much been at stake for them, if they can only be convinced of this and vote en masse in this and subsequent elections.
16
@loveman0
Why didn't the Democrats do anything when the had the presidency, a majority in the House and a super majority in the Senate? After all, Obama campaigned on stopping the oceans from rising.
For the same reason they didn't pass Obamacare until after they lost their supermajority when Ted Kennedy's seat went to a Republican.
For the same reason they didn't vote for immigration reform when they were in charge, and why Senator Obama did not support immigration reform.
If Democrats are so fired up about CO2, why is it that the deal Obama negotiated with the Chinese, which formed the basis for their CO2 Paris Accord commitment, already the highest in the world, to triple by 2030. Between 2016 and 2030, China will add more CO2 to the atmosphere than mankind has added since the beginning of the industrial revolution.
1
@ebmem Ugh, the disingenuous hack returns. The Democrats held full control for less than a year and we're too busy trying to stabilize the economy (which was in free fall) and pass healthcare reform (which the GOP stymied and sabotaged at every step). I wish they had done more, but most of us recognize that it would have been a monumental task to revamp healthcare while simultaneously revolutionizing America's energy policy
@ebmem
I think the Dems being liberals believed in the better self in all Americans, Republicans included. So, they sought compromise the way they believed government was supposed to work. They didn't force through single payer healthcare for example because that would have killed the health insurance industry. That would have been a blow to capitalism (never mind that capitalism had overreached in healthcare and was brutalizing poor Americans).
Republicans had moved on toward scorched earth tactics. Some Republicans were uncomfortable but the ascendance of Trump has taught them that "winning" in and of itself can excite voters to their "winning" side. That's all Republicans are about. Service to the welfare of the 99%? No. Re-election? Yes, only that.
Trump and the GOP will do anything including lying, cheating, stealing, voter suppression and other law breaking actions to win. But who is the winner supposed to be? Clearly, it will not be the voting public even if they think they are the winners. It is and has been for a while Putin and the Chinese who have wanted to destroy democracy and become the world power. They win as long as our country is divided. And Trump is the great divider, if nothing else. He works for Putin and he does it so well. The longer we remain divided and angry the better for Russia. Even if the Dems take the House, there will be more division and the Trump blame game will continue. Perry was right, Trump is a cancer but it has spread to our nation's values. Undermine our basic values and the principles of democracy fade and are replaced with hate, anger and dissension. We let him in and he is now taking our courts, justice and our rights. We are losing our independent legal system. It is becoming Trump law. Even our votes are becoming a joke. Trump continues to rig the process and blame it on the Dems.
10
True and common sensical statements: this democracy cannot survive without the active participation of it's citizens. And voting is the first step. But supporting a liar and a crook in the Oval Office ought to be anathema. Even worse, giving reason to the republican party, complicit in Trump's misrule and blatant abuse of power... in finding scapegoats to distract from his own incompetence and corruption. Don't you think that anybody trying to supress voting ought to be arrested?
7
And let's also remember that paid trolls push the messages about staying home and writing in candidates - don't let the trolls take your vote from you.
"Vote as if the future of the country depends on it. Because it does."
#VOTE democratic to boot out Trump's minions now and boot out Trump in 2020.
21
This situation is just as simple as can be to understand........
If Republicans win, they will hold absolute undemocratic monopoly power over our government and our nation possessing all three branches. They have made their intent known to make Democrat followers suffer for years.
If you don't vote and Democrats don't win, you all will lose dearly. The Republicans have made their future plans known.
Democracy will cease and fully half the nation will lack Constitutionally mandated representation.
Perhaps the best reason to vote was clearly stated by Obama yesterday.............the Republicans won the last election and they are still mad. Mad indeed and we will suffer if they get the opportunity to victimize us with their openly sadistic plans.
If we lose, everyone loses.
12
@Shakinspear
It is entertaining that the Democrats, who are harassing Republicans is caught in public places at the urging of Maxine Waters, are advancing the notion that Republicans are angry. Hillary says Democrats should only be civil when they are in the majority.
Democrats are angry because they think they are in the majority but forgot to vote. Republicans, the smart and educated voters, vote every year, not only during the years that the NYT tries to terrify and enrage them.
Republicans are happy, and it makes Obama angry.
We have a malarkey democracy, the system is rigged to carry on every year with as little change as Wall St allows.
Democrats could win EVERY seat in Congress, and they'd still lock people up for pot, crush kids with student debt, avoid single payer, ignore SS and housing, and fund the Pentagon like Spartans.
7
Well, now we get to see what this country is really made of.
With the havoc Trump has wreaked in the past two years, the misogyny, blatant lies, bigotry and downright cruelty, it might be easy for some to forget that this was all made possible by a cowardly, GOP led congress. We shouldn't have fallen so far so quickly and in fact wouldn't have if we had any real leadership in congress willing to do their constitutional duty and act as a check on this out of control President. It is important to remember that this republican led congress stood by and allowed all of this to happen. In fact they enabled and defended Trump shamelessly and now they are hoping we will all forget. If we vote them back in office then this time we will only have ourselves to blame for the continuation of the damage to this country that will surely follow.
29
Congress is mandated by our Constitution to Represent the views and needs of All Americans. The Democrats rightly did with passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. The Congressional Republicans then fought viciously to end it. All this time the Republicans only cared about their own base and the wealthy. They crazily embarked on a years long effort to destroy the ACA, thus denying health care to millions.
Democrats always cared about everyone. Republicans only cared about their followers and sponsors.
The Republicans will harm half of America if they win absolute control. You must vote for your lives, literally.
7
@Shakinspear
Fewer people in need have access to healthcare since Obama's signature legislation, which he destroyed by implementing a different law than the one passed by Democrats.
Rural and inner city hospitals that serve a large proportion of Medicaid patients were defunded by Obama and have closed. [Both in expansion states and non-expansion states.]
Obamacare defunded SCHIP, despite the fact that there are no other programs that cover profoundly sick and injured children of middle class families.
Yes, yes, yes! Every vote counts. I am going to be perfectly honest when I say voting was never on the top of my list as a young adult. I can use the excuse that ideologies were not so polarized "back when." And they weren't. But I was still a bit ignorant and naive, and, in my case, it took active Democrats to push me out the door and get involved.
What I am edging toward is that we need our younger generation now more than ever to carry that flaming torch of proaction. We are about to hand over the nation's reins to these future leaders. I believe they have the most to lose if we allow this Trumpian philosophy to follow its present unjust and immoral trajectory. They get the 21st Century because they are the new and wonderfully diverse 21st Century.
Finally, I'm not letting us Boomers off the hook either or my daughters' Gen X counterparts. We can not sit this mid-term out because we, too, will lose even more than we already have over these past long, long 2 years.
10
Only if a large majority of Americans vote can we keep our democracy, Trump has shown he is no fan of democracy a more competent version of Trump could rule over an autocracy , With all tools of high tech monitoring as they do in China today our facial expressions can be evaluated with positive or negative grades on viewing a portrait of Our Dear Leader, There are potential leaders out there who would aspire to rule as dictators enriching themselves .families and cronies, Only an informed electorate can protect our democracy that is the enemy of dictatorships, we seem to have in inept one trying to get established , It can happen here, no hype.
7
There is democracy the theory, there are politicians who are mammals, and between the two are voters who cast votes, and experts of every kind that can be hired to make this process give certain results.
As we just saw proven in the last Presidential contest, voters cancel each other out and politicians get both lauded and tarred as should happen. The real power however is the experts for hire. They told Clinton to not bother campaigning in certain places, this hurt her. They told CNN & every other media to cover the antics of Trump for the value of the ad revenue. In theory each sides experts should cancel out much like the voters, but that only happens if those experts are engaged to win the election. When powerful experts are instead driven by business profits as we saw last time around it's a huge monkey wrench that overpowers that theory of political organization we call democracy. The profit motive gives to the people, and the profit motive takes away from them. It never every harms itself. I'm not sure of the name for a politics that is profit driven, but that's what we have.
2
@CK
It's called vulture capitalism, and the politics of sycophancy. See Robert Reich's website. Must reading.
It will be very interesting to see what the turnout of voters will be. Will it reflect the polarities in the parties? Will it reflect that we are an urban nation and not a rural nation? Will it reflect the religious differences among us? Will it represent the black-white divide? Or will it remain so low that no meaningful result can be accounted for except that American voters are apathetic to their so-called democracy?
7
@Stephen Kurtz
It is an amusing myth that the 10% of Americans who live in rural areas are ruling the country. People who live in megacities think that everyone else is living the parts of Deliverance.
I view the current political climate in the United States to be an on going continuation of the anti-government movement effectively utilized by the conservatives during the Reagan administration.
“Government is not the answer to our problems. Government is the the problem.”
Despite the daunting challenges of the Vietnam Era, many liberal Democrats remained politically active and involved, convinced that the anti-war movement, civil rights and women’s rights movements were worthy of their energy and sacrifice.
For reasons unclear, what I term the 38-year-long Reagan Era — an era of extreme partisan politics, governmental paralysis, the breakdown of meaningful discourse, etc. — has had a very different effect on many of us former activist Democrats. Cynicism has taken the place of hope and involvement for many on the left.
“There is no way of dealing with the New Right, no meaningful communication. They care only about winning, nothing for ethics. The days of clear policies and mannerly behavior are behnd us. The Republicans have become the Party of No. The party of the stacked deck.”
With reasons like these I heard many Democrats finally take the position, “There’s nothing I can do about this. Life’s too short. The political process has become nothing but endless agravation and frustration. I’m out!”
5
@Tom W
What you describe is accurate with a literature behind it. Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone tries to find the loss of the social contract: “For the first two-thirds of the twentieth century a powerful tide bore Americans into ever deeper engagement in the life of their communities, but a few decades ago— silently, without warning— that tide reversed and we were overtaken by a treacherous rip current. Without at first noticing, we have been pulled apart from one another and from our communities over the last third of the century.” Putnam has no answer the rise of TV?
Putnam misses the engineered change pushed by the makers of neoliberalism that was pushed into every possible think tank and from there into the universities and the corporate media. It worked and makes possible the return of inequality to surpass the Gilded Age and its spillover effects of corporate controlled politics another name for all those ‘experts.’
The good side of that tale is the progressive reaction seen at the turn of the 20th C. that could be in process again – let’s hope.
5
@Tom W Americans reduced the greenhouse gas production more than the EU did, despite not signing on to the Kyoto Protocol. In red states, they did it without raising electricity prices, while blue states did manage to increase their electricity costs.
Your vote does not make a difference? Stop whining. Just a vote every couple of years is not enough to be a democracy, and it is not enough to be a good citizen either.
You can do a lot more than vote your one vote.
First, you can take family and friends to vote. A lot more people would vote if more of us did that. You can easily be five or ten votes, not just one.
Second, by the time we vote, the opportunity has passed for much of what is good citizenship. Where did those candidates come from? Why did they say and do what they did?
We can change that. We can go to meetings with candidates. We can speak up. We can call them and talk, with most of the local candidates.
We can also help our family and friends to speak up. Have them write too. Take some to those meetings. Did you go to any of your Congress member's meet-the-constituents meetings?
Democracy offers the opportunity to do a lot more than just go and vote your one vote. If that isn't enough, then do more.
23
@Mark Thomason
What we have is ‘an electoral democracy’ there are elections. What you note is liberal regimes can be undemocratic despite having regular, competitive elections. This is especially likely to happen where the political system is so skewed in favor of the elite that elections rarely serve to translate popular views into public policy.
Making one the other you suggest, but how many voters have an idea what there elected do once in office. That was the function of a free press and its media equivalent – seen any recently?
4
The Editorial fails to note that if the US could ditch its First-Past-the-Post electoral system, and move to Proportional Representation, the present situation would not have occurred.
.
Gerrymandering occurs where geographic line drawing is permitted to outweigh votes. Something to consider for the future.
14
Practicing Democracy includes accepting the results of elections - even when your candidate doesn't win.
3
@Ambrose Riverswin....Does win mean getting the most votes or the most electors? Does win mean gerrymandering districts so proportional representation is thwarted? Does win mean closing polling stations in areas where the opposition is likely to get more votes? Does win mean establishing convoluted voter ID laws and purging voter roles? In an alleged representative government, what does win mean?
11
@Ambrose Rivers
You mean how the Republicans accepted Obama for eight years, didn't obstruct him for no reason and didn't prevent him from doing his job to appoint a supreme court justice??
But we're supposed to accept hanging chads, gerrymandering and voter suppression because...why?
Republicans have one set or rules for themselves and another set for Democrats. And that doesn't even get into the role of the wealthy in influencing elections. So spare us all the platitudes and the fake innocence.
22
@W.A. Spitzer Thank you for validating my comment. All the best my friend.
I am not so sure about that, as our country doesn't have a straight vote at the federal level for President by the popular vote, but rather the electoral college, and that is how we got both George W. Bush, and Donald Trump, and both have been an utter disaster. Starting with George W. Bush, we have had the most deaths, and refugees in the middle east, and the most cost, in the trillions of dollars, in the history of our country. Then, electing a reality star, versus a very responsible businessman, who had paid taxes, hadn't gone bankrupt, and wasn't a sexually predatory male. was just as bad. It is interesting that just as bad comes in many choices, and that is the problem, in that why does the Republican Party nominate ignorant, and childish males?
9
There are a few dozen people, all of whom have more money than they will ever spend in their lives, who are dumping said riches into influencing American politics so that there is no such thing as social mobility anymore.
It's not about some global Jewish conspiracy. It's about extracting as much labor from people as possible, to make as much money as possible, the vast majority of which goes to those who already live very comfortable lives.
The world does not need to be some quid pro quo game of conflict theory. This notion has always been perpetuated by unimaginative politicians, and they need to be brought to heel. Choosing war does not make you a patriot. Choosing peace does.
47
The best way to protect democracy? That’s easy. Read and vote!
22
It really is quite simple:
Every vote cast is a vote for democracy.
Every refusal to vote, is a vote against democracy.
58
Although voting is important, it is just the canary in a dreary, dark mineshaft. Democracy is really about ownership and a sense of how and why democracy is only relevant but important to the very fiber of who we are and want to be. If we had any kind of democracy-focused education system instead of one bent on a forced march toward some mythical achievement standard, we would be making sure that each individual understands him or herself in terms of what democracy is and why it matters.
6
This 75 year old could pontificate to the younger generation, about how when I was in my 20's I voted in every election, even though our little family moved every few years. The fact is I didn't then, and only remember voting the first time in the 90's. Almost 25 years went by without me casting a ballot. I regret that every day now.
So please get out there and vote so in your later years you don't have the regrets I do
19
If you are opposed to Trump and are disgusted by his presidential vulgarity vote Democrat.If you are appalled by his contempt for a free press vote Democrat.If you believe his villification of immigrants is wrong vote Democrat. If you believe Trump has encouraged white supremists vote Democrat. If you do not vote you are endorsing the Trump agenda. And things will spiral out of control.
35
Vote and if you vote for a Democrat, and their name also appears in a third party, Green or Working Families Party etc., vote for the candidate down ballot and help third parties maintain their place on ballots and help make “debates” more real by including parties other than Democrats and Republicans! This is how we move things forward. If you don’t like major party candidates, vote all third parties and learn more about them.
Also fight for paper ballots, audits, and full election transparency!
Fight for all ex felons to have their right to vote as Florida is attempting. Fight GOP Russian Republicans from disenfranchising you, your neighbor, soldiers and minorities across this nation once and for all and continue every year till you die, because that’s what it takes.
4
Our so called democracy is greatly hobbled by a defect in our voting system. This defect Handed the keys to the Whitehouse to Busch / Cheney in 2001, and prevented John Kerry from riding to the rescue in 2004 . In both cases, one Ralph Nader siphoned off a critical number of votes from his Democratic “rivals” resulting in something of a back-door win for the Republicans.
If the system known as “Ranked Choice Voting “ was in place, it’s highly likely Al Gore becomes President in 2001, and then who knows what happens in 2008. It’s also probably safe to say the Iraq war never happens.
In a nutshell, (and at the risk of over-simplifying) ranked choice voting allows for a proviso if your “vote your conscious” candidate does not win more than 50%. It’s dirt simple. If no candidate wins over 50% in a given state (Presidentially speaking in this case), the candidate with the lowest percentage is eliminated, and those votes that went to the eliminated candidate default to those voters second choice. Thereby keeping those voters heard and relevant, that’s how a real democracy should work!
I urge every fan of true democratic process learn about Ranked Choice Voting! It’s a thing!
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@Fred Bellows
You do not like the outcome of some elections, so you want to change the rules in a way that advantages your choice. You assume that candidate and voter actions would be no different if the rules were changed.
If ranked choice voting had been in place in 1992, Bush the elder would have been elected instead of Bill Clinton, with his 43% of the popular vote. Since Gore would never have been VP, he would have not been in the running for president in 2000. [Bush II won a majority of the popular vote in 2004, btw.]
If ranked choice voting had been in place for the first time for the 2016 election, in addition to Trump and Hillary and five third party candidates, Sanders, Bloomberg as well as at least a couple of other candidates, like Biden, JEB, Rubio, Cruz would have been on the ballot. Do you honestly believe you could predict who would have won?
Eventually, you get exactly what you VOTE for. OR, what you allow, by NOT voting. Think about that, then think some MORE.
Seriously.
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@Phyliss Dalmatian Excepting that "the lesser of two evils" is our predicament, one would have to agree. We end up voting for lesser evil ie the slow train to what we don't want.
We are well past any reconciliation. It's war until one side wins and wipes out the other.
Even though everyone thought fascism was defeated in the last century, it's rearing its head again with the Republican party. They must be soundly defeated and beaten into oblivion.
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@Dora Minor
When Democrats are dissatisfied with the results of an election, and respond with incivility and violence, that constitutes a greater threat to democracy than tweeting on the part of the president.
No Republican House member exhorted their supporters to harass Democrats if they were caught in public wearing Obama t-shirts or baseball caps. Maxine Waters speech is fascist, reminiscent of brown shirts and black shirt thugs in fascist countries.
When John McCain lost the election in 2008, he did not come back in 2010 and tell Republicans that they were not required to be civil as long as they were in the minority, as Hillary, the really two time sore loser.
When Obama won the Democrat nomination, the Bush FBI did not spy on the Obama campaign using fabricated evidence provided by the McCain campaign.
The IRS under the Bush administration did not deny non-exempt status to moveon.org or Media Matters or Planned Parenthood because they were engaging in political activities. The IRS under Obama denied free speech rights to any organization that contained the words Constitution or Tea Party while having zero problem with leftist organizations.
The fascists were socialists. They were supported by FDR, Joseph Kennedy, Henry Ford, Chamberlain and all the other Progressives who believed in government control of the means of production, along with their scientifically justified eugenics. Mussolini made the trains run on time.
Those who do not understand history....
I am a Canadian who lives in the Gulf Islands, BC but all I can do is
ask US Citizens to go out and vote and make this the highest vote in midterms since 1914, the last time the percentage passed 50% of the eligible electorate.
Umiliviniq
43
2019 should be a great year for democracy but a terrible year for Trump. If justice prevails, his party (as an extension of him) should receive a trouncing on Tuesday. Robert Mueller has likely been holding off on issuing indictments and conclusions prior to the midterms for fear of ironic accusations of election meddling fuelling the wrath of the main subject of his inquiry. However, post voting, he’s about to leave his self imposed exile, and Trump will be likely excoriated. He should, at least, lose the House by a respectable margin which will render him apoplectic. Then, after Mueller reports, he should lose his job, mind, and, probably, his freedom.
If 2016-2018 were protest years for the disenfranchised, unrepresented, yeomanry of the working and middle classes who purposefully and vengefully elected a clown, the humiliation of the previous status quo should now be complete. Things are getting serious, people are dying and violence threatens as it ever likely would with a thuggish and corrupt dictator at the helm. The economy is Obama’s success. The Trumpian tax cut boom will crash as soon as reality catches up with it, hopefully in time to save Medicare and social security.
Watching these proceedings from Canada, imperfect as it be as a nation, one can only hope for the best for the United States and its dynamic people. One day, I hope you get to enjoy the same imperfections as we have north of the Medicine Line.
36
Kids today -smarter and access to wealth of information never seen before--so why let 70-80 year old men decide your future? -- they won't be around for dire consequences of a disastrously skewed Supreme Court.
61
Two significant issues with respect to protecting democracy, and both involve the ability to vote:
1. We have one of the worst systems and records for voting in the developed world: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/05/21/u-s-voter-turnout-trails-most-developed-countries ("("U.S. trails most developed countries in voter turnout").
2. Related to no. 1, we have made it very hard to vote in so many states: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/10/22/low-voter-turnout-is-no-accident-according-ranking-ease-voting-all-states/?utm_term=.fcd92e382f8f ("U.S. trails most developed countries in voter turnout").
I live in Virginia, and based on that WP piece we are 49th out of 50 states in making it hard for citizens to vote. The only state that appears worse is Mississippi.
We should do so much better, but given persistent efforts at voter suppression (no matter SCOTUS opinions to the contrary) this will be a tough slog.
5
Given the political situation, it's simply unacceptable that young eligible voters that could help turn things around would choose not to vote. I hope Mr. Hagezom and other young people will do everything they can to get their peers to the polls in this and future elections! The message I would give young people are that not all the candidates are the same, you CAN and SHOULD make a difference by voting, and your future depends on it. You may be disillusioned and I certainly can't blame you if you are, but just do your civic duty and GET OUT THERE AND VOTE- or else don't complain if you don't like the results!
7
Interesting that this editorial is such a naked plea to vote for the sole purpose of empowering Democrats.
How about an unexpected counterpoint? Not surprising from me, of course; but surprising to some that this comment appears in a venue associated with the New York Times.
Take what actions you must and vote. Vote because it's not only your right but your most central obligation as a citizen. Inform yourself on candidates and issues, think carefully about where you stand on them and why, read analyses of both sides of arguments and talk to people so that your vote reflects your best shot at reasoned judgment that reflects who you are what you believe. For a day or an hour forego those things you’d prefer to be doing or really need to do, and vote. Vote regardless of your party affiliation. Vote regardless of who or what you intend to vote FOR.
But for millions and millions of Americans who are Republicans, vote your Republican convictions not only because it's the right thing to do, but because this editorial offended you as it offended me.
8
Well said but Democrats often have more obstacles to voting and don’t buy in to single minded attitudes. This works against them because the best candidates will disagree with them on many things as they are generally coalition building. The columns strongest argument is that voters are more conservative than the population.
6
@Richard Luettgen As a many-decades-long reader of the NYTimes, I can attest that previous similarly-timed editorials extolled reader-citizens to vote for whomever they supported. But the election of Trump has changed all of this. Has Mr. Luettgen not noticed the many important life-long Republicans who are also imploring people to vote for Democrats? The latest is Sully, but there are many others -- George Will, Bret Stephens, ... Mr. Luettgen undoubtedly thinks the opposite but Trump, with his threats to the press, his private profiteering, and his chants to lock up political opponents is an existential threat to U.S. democracy, as no other Republican in our time has ever been.
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@Richard Luettgen
Ah yes, vote Republican and put the last nail in the coffin of a democracy that has been in a systematic decline for 40 years.
The problem is, as the corporate "coup d'etat" gradually destroys the countries institutions and what little is left of democracy in America, along with tens of millions of other Americans, it would seem even people like you who claim having intelligence and critical thinking skills, sadly, have yet to realize what is really happening to yourselves and the country that through anger rage and violence, tears itself apart from within, all at the behest of the elites who are "pulling all the levers of destruction".
By the way, there is NO Republican Party anymore, it has "devolved" in to the "Trump" Party, whom, if re-elected and not start a world war, will just speed up the process of America's decline into irrelevance.
89
A minority party will always try to suppress voting. If 40% (the Republican proportion of the electorate) all vote but only 60% of all of the electorate votes, then the Republicans cast two-thirds of all votes cast, a landslide in electoral terms. So Republicans impeding democracy is in their interest, having all vote is not.
The real problem that we face is much worse and much harder to solve. Republicans since the 1930’s have seen where when Democrats dominate the government, they introduce policies and programs that expand the franchise, introduce services that reduce the inequities in our country and enable more to compete to better themselves, to constrain behaviors which damage the biosphere and risk the health and longevity of people as well as the rest of the living creatures, and have expanded real liberties of individuals in defiance of many totalitarian minded groups in our country who think that such liberties are godless. This 40% percent has lost trust in democracy because they think it works against them and their interests. They see their tax dollars as serving purposes contrary to their interests. They do not see the government as representing them and so it is not theirs.
Liberal democracies like ours require mutual trust to endure. All must trust that decision making by majorities will not deprive them of life, liberty, nor the pursuit of happiness or they will opt for movements led by charismatic leaders who will impose their will upon all others.
8
@Casual Observer
A liberal democracy calls for individual rights, the rule of law, property rights and a free market where visibility to price and quality allow willing buyers and sellers make free choices.
Capitalism creates more wealth than a centrally planned heavily regulated socialist or communist form of government. Coupled with democracy, it also results in a cleaner environment, better workplace safety, expansion of the franchise, and many other favorable outcomes. Wealthy societies provide more resources to those who need help and create job opportunities for those working their way out of need.
The overwhelming majority of the country thinks America is better than anyplace else in the world, or we would be experiencing population outmigration. The majority of the population that doesn't vote is either generally satisfied with the way things are, doesn't think their vote counts much, or doesn't see how one candidate over another is going to make a difference, since the establishment parties are indistinguishable in their behavior. Even the Bush's switched to Democrat when Trump got the nomination over JEB.
Very few states require people to register with a party, so your hypothetical 40% is an imaginary construct, which is belied by the fact that far more than 49% of governors and, state legislators are Democrat.
Democrats, as the minority party, have a vested interest in creating the illusion in the minds of the uneducated that they have been robbed.
One of the functions of Tax-payer supported public education is to develop and maintain an informed electorate. This goal has been opposed by those in power who wanted to restrict voting rights to wealthy landowners from the very beginning of our country. And it continues today by conservative efforts to privatize public education. Public education needs to be a top priority with civics classes one of the top required courses. It was required when I was in high school in the 1950's and is largely missing in today's high school curriculum.
61
Voter turnout is crucial, as several of today's columns point out. But so is gerrymandering! Need proof? Let's look at PA, where I have lived.
If Nate Silver's 538 website estimates are as close as usual, then 1/3 of the districts there are not just close, but may flip from R to D Tuesday. Those 'polls of polls' show 4 of 6 leaning D, a tossup, and one slightly R.
6 of 18, which suggests tha one state of 13MM people may flip as many as CA, which has 3 times a many seats at stake. Why? Because a court last spring un-gerrymandered PA. So this redrawing of districts in one state may be the difference in flipping the House. Imagine when we ungerrymander all 50.
Need to understand the slant in state legislatures of R vs D when the D's get more votes? See above.
18
The statement that when more people vote the electorate becomes more liberal seems to imply that liberals, as a group, are not as responsible or, perhaps, not as sharp as conservatives.
1
Whether I vote or not, a Democrat gets elected in my district and since as Blank I gave up my rights to vote in the primary, nothing makes a difference or gives me a voice, not even in the presidential election.
1
Wrong. You can impact the way candidates look for support, can impact local and state elections and maybe vote for candidates who would support single primaries and increased voter participation.
9
We all have a stake in how we are represented. No matter how far removed legislators and governors seem, they have tremendous power to help us - or not. Our vote is our voice. We have to all live with elections' consequences, so we should also do our part in shaping them.
6
What I am looking for from Mrs. Pelosi after Tuesday is a pledge to make Trump’s remaining days in office as miserable for him as he has made this country in the past two years.
This will obviously be an enormous task, but I am confident that she will prove equal to the challenge.
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@A. Stanton
Trump's performance could not be much worse. Here are the grades I would give Trump: Economy- D, Jobs- D, Health care-F, Preserving, protecting and promoting Democracy- F, Preserving a Free Press- F, Foreign policy- F, Environmental protection and climate policy - F, Immigration- F, Race relations -F, Leadership- F, Honesty, character and integrity- F, Inclusiveness, promoting unity, diversity and justice- F, Public persuasion- F, Crisis leadership- F, Economic management -F, Moral authority -F, International relations- F, Administrative skills -F, Relations with congress- F, Vision- F, Overall performance in his time- F.
The two Ds are because the economy and jobs have not tanked yet because of Trump.
4
@A. Stanton . . . or her successor.
1
"This includes broader access to health care, higher taxes on the wealthy, more aggressive action against climate change and more racial equality in the criminal justice system."
Hey, these are cuss words for the sensitive ears of the GOP.
Creating obstacles to voting and getting some help from the Russians (and now domestic groups copying them), to misdirect and suppress voters, cannot be fought by not voting.
In fact, in the 2012 election, GOP vote suppression efforts actually increased voting by groups the GOP was trying suppress, as the right kind of reaction to anti-democratic manipulation.
It might be happening again, with the surge in early voting this year.
9
The Times has the cart before the horse. In other nations, turnout is higher because when you have to go begging hat in hand to the government for say healthcare, of course you show up to vote, your life may depend upon it.
Under the limited form of government, under which our nation was founded, Americans did not leave to government such important matters as: free speech, the right to bear arms, free association etc. Of course that is changing. When the government wants to tell you what size of soda you may drink, who may write an editorial in the closing weeks of an election, and what that editorial may contain, whether or not you must wear a seat belt, who may be admitted to college, the cost of health insurance you are obliged to purchase,and what it must cover, then you will see the turnout number trend upward.
A more intrusive government drives turnout.
Does that include invading minds by imposing religious beliefs and invading the uterus? I sure hope so.
6
@stalkinghorse
A TRILLION AND A HALF DOLLAR gift to the wealthy and corporations and several BILLION dollars extra to feed the "black hole" of the military/industrial complex to fight never ending wars around the world, that is what most would describe as "Corporate Welfare".
You find that OK, but providing a better education and healthcare to Americans is NOT?
You have a very peculiar set of priorities.
13
@Deus....You might also have mentioned the roll back of Dodd/Frank regulations so the banks can repeat the 2008 recession.
5
Mr. Hagezom is exactly correct - 'doing his job as a citizen'.
Voting is a learned behavior, requiring an informed, acquired knowledge base; as The Founders intended.
Such 'learned behavior', such habits, such expectations, are some of the things GOP'ers hope to stifle with suppression efforts.
20
One of the only ways to change the corruption within the current voting system, (with gerrymandering, voter suppression, machine hacking and the electoral college itself), is to turn out now and in 2020 and vote on an unprecedented scale, and then work to change the broken system so that democracy will and can prevail in the long run. It's the only answer in this very dark time--and it really does start NOW!
102
Wonderful article! I wish every educated American could read it. Additionally, we need to force our government to practice democracy and rule of law both domestically and international. We should work towards an end to tyrannical regimes like Saudi Arabia. All we need to do is end supporting them militarily and economically. Slowly, that evil regime will end and open the entire middle east and the islamic world to freedom and liberal democracy.
12