9/3/20 The Challenge of Voting
Trump cannot win the election by convincing a majority of the American people that he will do a good job. He hasn’t, and most Americans see through the conman, though there are those who actually like the con. He cannot win by presenting the conservative side of the issues. He doesn’t know how and doesn’t have much of a knowledge base about the issues. The only way he can win is through fear-mongering, cheating, and voter suppression. He’s good at the first two, and his enablers are good at the third.
How can we resist fear-mongering? Remind yourself and others not to catastrophize. Don’t imagine worst case scenarios and think about them or talk to others about them. Rather, remind yourself and others that we have all been through scary things before, and that bravery does not mean you’re not afraid, but that you acknowledge your fear and act anyway. We can be brave. Reassure people that feared outcomes may well not happen, Remind people that they are TRYING to scare us and to resist feeling afraid. Certainly don’t spread the frightening rumor, speculation, or threat.
As for cheating, every time Trump or his enablers break the law, we all need to point it out, over and over if need be. Don’t be angry, horrified, accusatory, or argumentative; just calmly point it out. Recommending that people vote twice is against the law, so Trump is not the law and order candidate. Using the White House for campaigning is against the law, etc. Same goes for lying. Just calmly point out the lie and the truth, over and over. Do not get into arguments with people about whether or not it is “technically” a lie. In fact, don’t argue with people.
An excellent suggestion for avoiding arguments (made by Clint Watts in his book “Messing with the Enemy”) is to ask the potential arguer one or both of these questions: What evidence would convince you otherwise? Under what circumstances would you admit you were wrong? If they cannot seriously attempt an answer, they are not acting from reason and they are unlikely to want to continue the conversation.
Now for the big one, voter suppression. Besides trying to pass new laws and regulations that impede voting, which must be resisted, the Trump campaign has several strategies, all designed to make voters feel helpless, hopeless, cynical, confused about reality, and like it’s a waste of time to vote. They and Russian bots tell and spread many lies and rumors each and every day; they don’t care how outrageous they are. The whole strategy is to flood the “information highway” with trash, so people don’t know what to think and feel overwhelmed. This is called the “Firehose of Falsehood.” In addition, Trump does something ridiculous and outrageous every other day, so people get distracted and don’t focus on the important issues. By the time they react to one outrage, another happens. Again, this is by design to make you feel overwhelmed and helpless. Another big lie strategy is to repeat over and over that the election is rigged, that voter fraud is rampant, that mail-in voting won’t work, to get voters so discouraged that they won’t bother voting. These are just a few of their strategies to discourage voters.
Trump’s enablers like for you to think that things are terrible and have never happened before. Remind yourself and others that this is simply not true. Things are bad, but they have been worse in our history and we have come through. Think about the how once we had enslaved people, women could not vote or own property, there were two World Wars, and we went through the witch hunts of McCarthyism,. Voter suppression has a long history in America, especially for black people. Reminding people that these things have happened before and warning them that they will again and in fact are happening in this election may help inoculate them against the pernicious effects of these voter suppression strategies.
Educating and motivating voters to overcome hurdles is the answer. Consider voting as a challenge, something valuable to be done against the odds, be a hero and bravely VOTE. Kamala Harris, when asked the best way to respond to voter intimidation, said “I view it as a challenge.” Constantly point out what the pro-Trumpers are trying to do to us and encourage people to resist by NOT giving in to what they want us to feel, think, and do. They want us to feel cynical, so we will have faith! They don’t want us to vote, so we will!
Now I admit that it gets really hard to remain positive and to avoid despair about this election. It’s hard, but it’s necessary, and we can do hard things. Doing self care is super important to keep us all trying. I suggest positive self talk. I suggest taking breaks from the news for days at a time if necessary; the same things happen day after day and you can save yourself the emotional wear and tear of the latest outrages and lies. I highly recommend doing something fun once in a while. But most of all, I recommend taking action. There are many ways of taking action, described in Teri Kanefield’s blog posts. I most highly recommend reading her when you get discouraged!
The Challenges of Remaining Positive and Taking Action
Many Democrats are disappointed that Biden ended up being our candidate, especially those who preferred Sanders or Warren. The Trump campaign is taking advantage of that fact by encouraging us to feel unexcited about our candidate. Trump calls him “Sleepy Joe” and they constantly talk about how dull, wishy washy, etc., he is. They want us to feel blah about Biden in order to suppress voting, so we have to regard this as a challenge and resist. Focus on Biden’s good qualities, and there are many, and talk about those to others. Stand up for Joe!
The fact that Trump may well remain president by losing the popular voice but winning in the electoral college also discourages us from voting. However, if that happens, we absolutely must elect a majority of Democrats in both the House and the Senate. This is another reason to overcome voter suppression tactics by generating enthusiasm for voting in the down-ballot races.
It’s essential for the election as well as our personal mental health to remain positive about voting for Democrats. As I said, it’s very hard to remain positive at this point in history, but there are known techniques for doing so. Occasionally we will of course complain about Trump and his latest outrage, and we will of course get anxious about the election, and it’s OK to talk about those feelings. But dial it back. Don’t focus on all the catastrophic possibilities if Trump wins. Don’t focus on our candidates’ flaws. Try to replace those thoughts with more positive ones, and try to talk with friends about those positive things. If you find yourself worrying and catastrophising, say “Stop!” to yourself and deliberately turn your thoughts elsewhere. It’s a good idea to make a list to help you do this -- a list of Biden’s positive qualities and those of our other candidates and a list of possible positive outcomes, such as programs you hope we will be able to enact if Biden wins. Gratitude lists are also helpful for depression and anxiety.
You will definitely think and feel more positive if you take action. There are many possibilities, and a good list is here: https://terikanefield-blog.com/things-to-do/ As an unhealthy old person, I can’t go to protests, work at the polls, canvass neighborhoods, drive people to the polls, etc. If you are young and healthy, these may be possibilities for you. I hate cold calling people, so I wouldn’t work the phones. I have been doing postcard and letter writing campaigns to urge people to vote or to sign up for vote by mail. These campaigns are aimed at people who are likely to vote Democratic but are also unlikely to vote, in states where races are close. You can find out more on google, by contacting your local Democratic club, or going to web sites like Act Blue or Vote Forward. When I write and mail postcards, I feel like I’m contributing and I feel better. Then it is easier to try to stay positive.
Another positive action -- donate money! Even if you don’t have much money, a $10 contribution from a regular citizen is worthwhile to political campaigns. During quarantine, I’ve been spending less, so I’ve been donating that money, mostly to close Senate races and my local Congressman. That feels really good. Apparently, most donations for Democratic candidates go through Act Blue. It’s easy to set up an account there, and they make it super easy to donate. The down side of donating is that you then get tons of solicitations to donate more money, and they use some of the same fear-mongering strategies that Republicans use. You’ll see, in huge letters, “just two days to meet such-and-such deadline”or “have you seen what outrage Republican X just did to Democrat Z?” Protect your sanity and positive attitude by deleting all of those immediately without reading them! Donate when YOU feel like it. It will cheer you up.
