Summary

The author urges voters to participate in the midterm elections, emphasizing the importance of preventing Republican control to safeguard democracy and progress on key issues.

Abstract

In an open letter to potential voters, the author expresses the urgency of voting in the 2022 midterm elections, framing it as potentially the most critical election of our lifetimes. Despite personal reservations about the Democratic Party, the author argues that the current Republican Party poses a greater threat to American values and democracy. The letter outlines a litany of concerns with Republican policies, including attacks on democratic institutions, women's rights, minority rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and the environment. The author insists that while Democrats are not perfect, they represent the only viable alternative to the Republicans' regressive agenda. By maintaining Democratic control of Congress, the author believes there is an opportunity to address critical issues such as food security, rural economic development, election transparency, tax reform, gender equality, and supply chain resilience. The author warns that abstaining from voting or voting Republican could lead to further democratic erosion and entrenchment of a dangerous political agenda.

Opinions

The author has significant criticisms of the Democratic Party, viewing some members as out of touch and overly focused on sectarian privilege.
The current Republican leadership is viewed as leading the country towards a "dumpster fire," with policies that favor the wealthy, suppress minority rights, and disregard the environment.
The author believes that the midterm elections are critical for preventing Republican efforts to rig future elections and consolidate power.
Despite not fully endorsing the Democratic Party, the author sees voting for Democrats as the only rational choice to protect American democracy and work towards a more progressive future.
The author emphasizes the importance of continued engagement and pressure on elected officials post-election to ensure they address the needs of the American public.
The author rejects the notion of "collapse and starting from scratch," advocating instead for active participation in the electoral process to bring about necessary change.

OPEN LETTERS

An Open Letter to Everyone Planning To Sit Out The Midterms

Why 2022 could be the most important election of our lifetimes…and everyone’s afraid to say it out loud!

Dear Potential Voters Who Think Midterms Don’t Matter,

First, let me say that I have no love for the Democratic Party. Too many of their most visible personalities tend to be mealy-mouthed, feckless, disingenuous, evasive, and prone to excessive pandering.

Political correctness is a cult-like religion for some of these people.

Joe Biden was at the very bottom of my list amongst those Democrats who ran in the 2020 presidential primaries. My eye-rolling machinations seem to be on an endless loop over how oblivious so many Democrats are when it comes to their sectarian privilege. Apparently, they think Americans are so simplistic that all we want is to be seated at “the cool kids’ table” under a veneer of trendy partisanship and groupthink.

Um…no. We want security, prosperity, and levity. That’s what we want.

Unfortunately, at this juncture in time, the current Republican Party has devolved into something far worse than what the Democrats are.

Bitch McConnell and Kevin McArtless (not to mention Big Orange!) are fully content to lead America into an unmitigated dumpster fire where…

A free market is said to be superior…except when it comes to Republicans handing out special treats to their donors
Women are told by the federal government what they can do with their bodies (while lawmakers tell their doctors how to practice medicine)
Black, Indigenous, & People of Color are forced to “prove” their citizenship and account for their innermost motives at every turn
LGBT+ folks are permanently stigmatized as “freaks” and/or “heathens” by local nutjobs…and the federal government not only endorses these sentiments, but seeks to codify them so heteronormativity is favored
Our willingness to recite the Pledge of Allegiance on command with our hands over our hearts — and to revere Christianity or selective interpretations of biblical text — becomes the metric by which our “patriotism” is measured
Vladimir Putin is revered as the second coming of Margaret Thatcher
Giant megafarms are allowed an even greater ironclad grip over our food supply (at the expense of small farmers) — all while Big Ag blames the Democrats for Big Ag’s own corruption, but continues to donate and vote for Republican candidates (while Robert Paarlberg and his ilk make excuses for them)
Conservatives claim to care about climate change via “all-of-the-above” solutions…but their definition of “all-of-the-above” entails only tiny little advancements in clean energy while continuing to reward oil, gas, and coal producers

For these immediate and pressing reasons, citizens of all ideological stripes need to vote Republicans out of office. At least, for this upcoming election cycle:

November 8, 2022

If you are mad at Democrats for failing to “get Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema to fall in line”…

If you’re angry that Republicans can slow down (or outright block) needed solutions by abusing the Senate filibuster…

If you’re irritated that Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer are tone-deaf and disconnected from the needs of working Americans…

Please remember this ugly, sordid, unfortunate reality…

We won’t stop Republican sabotage by electing *MORE* Republicans to Congress.

You may think I sound like a Yellow Dog Democrat who is telling you to “hold your nose” and “swallow.”

Maybe you’d be quick to peg me as a mashup of Chicken Little and The Boy Who Cried Wolf.

But here’s the truth: if we help Democrats maintain control of Congress, this year…then we have a shot.

It doesn’t mean we should get comfortable after that and leave Congressional Democrats to their own devices. Because, if the rest of us sane and reasonable people clock out and rest on our laurels after these midterms are over, key Democrats would (without proper guidance from us) probably manage to fuck up the legislative agenda.

When the next session of Congress begins, if we can keep Republicans from controlling the floor votes, here are the initiatives we’ll have the opportunity to tackle:

Yet, if we hand control of either federal congressional chamber over to present-day Republicans — either due to staying home on Election Day, or by voting Republican to “stick it to Biden” — then they will be certain to fuck up everything for all of us.

Through their actions, Republicans have proven they only want unbridled power. And if they gain that critical mass of power, they’re never going to surrender it. They want to rig every future election so it will always favor THEIR candidates, regardless of the actual vote counts.

Why would we knowingly and willingly GIVE THAT to them???

Democrats obviously want to gain more and more power, too…but they already have the Talking Heads’ manufactured self-fulfilling prophecies working against them.

So, if you’re ornery because you believe common folk were “too stupid” to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016…

Or if you only came out to vote for Joe Biden in 2020 because you wanted to get Trump out of office…

Please think twice before you vote Republican (or stay home) on November 8.

Vote for Democratic candidates.

Not because we love them (because we don’t)…

Not because they’re “smarter” (because they aren’t)…

Not because voting Democratic is somehow inherently patriotic (because it isn’t)…

…but because it’s literally our only sane option, at the moment.

As long as the current Republican leaders inch us closer to theocracy and fascism, it’s our only avenue for constructing a livable future on behalf of the American public.

Don’t embrace the idea of collapse and “starting from scratch.”

Don’t force me to “opt out”…

Instead, let’s force Bitch McConnell back into his turtle shell.

love,

— Eichy

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