Friends Don’t Let Friends Sit on the Sidelines in 2020!
By: Thomas Pollak
Tags: Elections, Responsibility, Volunteering, Civic Engagement, Trump

537 VOTES! In 2000, George W. Bush won Florida by 537 votes. More than 100 million people voted that year for President and Vice President Al Gore beat Bush nationally by more than half a million votes — yet Bush became President because of those 537 votes!

Close your eyes for a few moments and imagine if this happened again. How would you feel?

I would feel horrible. That’s why I cut my work hours (and salary) to half-time through the election so I can do everything I can to get Trump and the Republicans out of the White House and Congress. I hope that YOU will consider blocking out substantial time, using your vacation leave, or otherwise getting involved over the remaining 10 days, too.

Now is NOT the time for complacency, passivity, or inertia. The odds of a Trump victory are looking dim — 13% according to election guru Nate Silver’s latest analysis — but a Trump second term can’t be ruled out, especially given Republican efforts to suppress the vote and challenge the validity of mail-in ballots. Right-wing intimidation of voters attempting to vote on Election Day remains a distinct possibility as well.

I feel as though I am transgressing some unstated norm of polite email conversation by raising these uncomfortable political topics with friends and colleagues. Many of us are accustomed to emails from friends that make it easy to stay positive, feel good, and keep saying to ourselves that “everything will be just fine.” Sorry to be a downer. This situation feels different.

Despite the long odds, sometimes the unexpected catastrophe happens. Who would have thought that 2020 would be a pandemic? Who would have thought in 2015 that Trump would be elected? Those of us whose families were directly affected by war or 9/11 or who came from countries that turned from democracy to authoritarianism understand that “s — — happens.” All of us need to feel this lesson in our gut.

Be inspired by the words of Martin Luther King: “When an individual is no longer a true participant, when [they] no longer feels a sense of responsibility to [our] society, the content of democracy is emptied.”

Do you feel a sense of responsibility? How can you get involved? I’ve been spending a good amount of time phone-banking for the Biden campaign. Once you get an hour or two under your belt, the calls flow easily although some shifts feel much more successful than others. I’ve also made calls for a couple of other organizations but the calls don’t appear to be coordinated with the Biden campaign, which means that some voters are complaining about getting inundated with calls.

I’ve compiled a list of volunteer opportunities at https://www.sfuture.org/get-involved. I’ve also been experimenting with my own version of outreach combining texting, phoning and sending postcards to each voter so they know that I am not simply making a “political sales call” but want to have a meaningful conversation with them. Pick whatever organization or approach works for you.

Bottom line: NOW is the time to get out of your comfort zone and help Democrats get out the vote! Democracy in the U.S. and humankind may depend on it!