My wife and I finished a 2 week trip through the south central US. Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Yes, we saw plenty of Trump signs, but only in the countryside. Nearly every city in these deep red states had plenty of Harris signs. And I mean plenty. We were pleasantly shocked / surprised by how much Dem support there is in the southern heartland. We have hope.
Same with Michigan in the last few weeks: Trump signs (and battle flags!) out in the countryside, but few and far between. My favorite sign in the city: Harris - Obviously...
Everyone seems to forget that, despite all those Trump/Pence signs, Hillary still got 3 million more votes than Trump. People may not have had signs up, but a plurality of them did not fall for Trump's con job. He won by a fluke with the help of Russian spies. As a matter of fact, Trump has never gotten the most votes in any election. Which gives me hope too. And makes a real good argument for eliminating the Electoral College. Democrats have been lukewarm to the idea, but the equation is simple: no EC = No Trump!!!
More than six-in-ten Americans (63%) would prefer to see the winner of the presidential election be the person who wins the most votes nationally.
Roughly a third (35%) favor retaining the Electoral College system, according to a Pew Research Center survey of 9,720 adults conducted Aug. 26-Sept. 2, 2024.
It will take a constitutional amendment to properly kill off the Electoral College since it’s written into the constitution. That means 2/3rds of the House and Senate and 38 state legislatures. Tough one in an overly polarized country. What scares me more is the movement to get states to switch their winner take all Electoral College votes from their state’s winner to the national popular vote winner. I don’t trust the Rethuglican Red states one iota.
Yeah... it's in the Constitution, so that requires a lot more than just a simple majority. Which is why it annoys me when I get one of those texts from a campaign telling me if they get enough signatures on their e-petition they'll be able to change the EC or whatever. Something simply not true. The RepubliCons aren't the only ones to try and play on peoples ignorance.
The big problem is winner-take-all. If that could be changed to proportional distribution of electors in each state, the EC may not be so unfair to some high percentage of a state's voters.
No need for a constitutional amendment. Have you heard of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact? It will go into effect when states representing 270 electoral votes have signed the compact. So far 17 states plus DC have signed on for a total of 209 electoral college votes. That’s 77% of the needed total. We are getting closer to putting the stupid electoral college out with the trash. https://ballotpedia.org/National_Popular_Vote_Interstate_Compact
residential areas of 8 different Fairfield Co. Connecticut towns on Wednesday and decided to count signs. What I noticed was many homes had only local race signs, much different from past elections. On the historic Old Post Rd in Fairfield there was one trump sign, and the surrounding homes all had Harris signs - the largest cluster I saw anywhere - as if to respond to their neighbors! One home had their Harris/Walz sign inside a fenced in area with their others on the curb… Total count I saw in these 8 towns - 14 Harris and 2 Trump. This is quite different than 4 years ago.
Danbury native here, although 30 years gone. CT was a Dem stronghold when I lived there. My brother is still in Danbury and he is a reformed repub since tRump came on the scene. Glad to read your report of signage - gives me more hope.
Thanks a million, Earl. You're an exemplar of civic engagement. I live in a solid blue area. I've seen one Harris/Walz sign, no Trump signs. Halloween decorations, on the other hand, are huge. Probably reading too much into that, but I take it as a sign of an upbeat mood, which I take as a good sign for Harris.
I feel like Banquo’s ghost coming in to ruin the mood when my friends talk about their Halloween plans! I manage not to say anything, but the whole time I’m thinking, e.g., “Have fun carving pumpkins while DEMOCRACY HANGS BY A THREAD.”
Honestly, I think you might be onto something. Maybe it’s all part of the same vibe. Like, "Halloween decorations are normal. Remember when we were normal? Wouldn’t it be nice to be normal again?” And I say Yes! Dear God yes!
Whew! Thanks for the report! I does my heart so good to hear what you are seeing along your road trip. Like you, in 2016, I sat alone in my den and cried! i couldn't believe what had just been unleashed on America. But, like you I am full of hope and promise that the evil will be defeated! I get a bit choked up every time I read the good hope news.... I am expecting and hoping that I will cry again this November...but with pure and simple JOY!
I, too, am hopeful. Scared, but hopeful. My son, who had planned not to vote while Biden was still in the race (we had long talks about it, and he relented), has now become VERY enthusiastic since Harris stepped in. He is still studying at Columbia University and uses his father's address as his residency. Which became North Carolina in June. This has really motivated my son. As soon as he could get registered in NC, he did. He not only wants to vote for Harris, but voting against Robinson is extremely motivating to my son.
This gives me the shot of hope I needed! I have a strong feeling that it's the young people who are going to win this election for us! We know they're not being polled, and there are millions of millions of newly registered, young voters and we all know they're not voting for Trump.👍🙂
Excellent Kate!!! Yes I definitely feel that Stein will be our next Governor in NC!!! Congrats to your son on Columbia U. Did grad work there myself. Mood today: anxious.
I think that Harris and her campaign have not only the energy but grasp how to reach younger voters. Many of our first time voters were in elementary school in 2016. My nephew was 13. This is his first presidential election. He’s matured with this political environment and has been disillusioned. Living in Indiana doesn’t help.
My sister and her husband voted in North Carolina yesterday. She's a life-long Democrat, and this year, her husband voted for the Democratic ticket for the first time! We can do this 🌊🌊🌊
Don't mean to be a Debbie Downer, but, unfortunately, the blowout numbers of early voting in Georgia don't necessarily mean fantastic news for Democrats. Reporting here indicates a groundswell of early Republican votes as well.
"I mean, what kind of country is stupid enough to vote against its own interests …?" Man, thats a helluva question. I have no answer other than misogyny and racism have contributed to the cult mentality. In Missouri, I have actually seen Harris signs...I never thought I'd see that! Biden was the right man at the right time...and Kamala is the right woman for the right time. I'm cautiously optimistic. My 200 postcards to Wisconsin voters went out yesterday. 💙✌️
That's awesome! I sent 200 to NC and about 100 letters to various swing states. I hope all the hurricane ravaged ares are able to vote without too much trouble.
Good for you! Early on I sent 100 to Ohio about their gerrymander situation. I hope we make a difference! And indeed I hope the hurricane affected areas are able to handle voters! 💙💙
We just did a road trip from New Mexico (very blue) through Arizona and California. Like other people commenting here, we saw some Trump signs but no where near as many as before. The most Trump signs we saw were in Arizona but even there it wasn’t very many. In the Phoenix area there were big billboards for Republicans for Harris, which I found encouraging.
I was in the southwest myself very recently, mostly in New Mexico, and I don’t think I saw even one Trump sign, and I was all over the state for three days. I have a Native American friend down there, and he absolutely believes that people are not giving enough credit to what will potentially be the biggest percentage of Native Americans voting in a very long time, and they are NOT voting for Donald Trump. Also, Colorado Democrats have worked hard to get Native Americans registered, so I think this will have a big positive impact on outcome, with the two Ute tribes here playing a big part.
This is encouraging to read. In neighboring Arizona I’d read a while ago the Republican legislature were trying to pass legislation requiring physical addresses (number, street name, and city) for voter registration which would suppress the vote on the indigenous nations/reservations because not all, especially Navajo, have a numerical street address.
That doesn’t surprise me at all. Anyone who isn’t white is going to be subjected in some way to voter repression techniques. I think Colorado might have set up automatic voter registration for its tribal communities. We have an excellent secretary of state, and she has helped to modernize our system here.
The Dem ground game and unbridled enthusiasm for Harris-Walz has got this one, Earl...yes, every day a new poll arrive showing tRump "gaining" half a fecking point, whatever, but just statistical noise.
Essentially, the non-MAGA majority are burnt out on tRump, we're exhausted, we want peace and quiet, and we DON'T want the POS chaos-maker in our collective lives for another four goddam years, end of!!
I believe this year signs are not going to be indicative of the results. I live in Michigan, and I see Trump signs everywhere, but few Harris ones. I don't have a sign out either, and I usually do, but one day as I was leaving my house a young man in camouflage gear was walking by and extended his arm and said, "Heil Hitler". I never saw this man before (or since). I tried to see where he was going, but he disappeared before I got in my car to hunt him down. We live on a small street in a fairly secluded area, but there is a path to a mobile home park about a 1/2 mile away. I am not afraid for myself, but I have grandchildren living here too. Most people around here are afraid of what the Trump people will do if they put a sign out. Most of the people I know are Harris fans, and they have already voted. The Trumpers don't usually vote. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
Good morning! Thank you for the cautious pep talk that I so badly needed to hear. I had my faith shaken yesterday morning when I took a friend in to get a scheduled surgery at Eisenhower hospital here in Palm Springs, California. While we were sitting at the desk to get her checked in, the small Filipino woman registering her overheard us talking about Trump and what a danger he is to our country. She said, and I quote: "President Trump was sent by God to lead us." I almost choked on my green tea and laughed out loud. Then, I blurted out: "Donald Trump is a sociopathic narcissist, a lifelong con man, a serial adulterer, a tax cheat, a rapist and a pathological liar who his own former vice president won't support." She replied: "That's your opinion." With a slightly raised voice, I replied: These are the FACTS, not my opinion." She just went about her work and stayed silent after our uncomfortable interaction. I really wanted to tell this woman, who is obviously from the Philippines and not born in the USA, that Trump even wants to deport legal immigrants whose skin is brown, but I was able to stop myself. My friend burst out laughing as we were escorted to the waiting room and said: "Damn, girl! You're not holding back anymore, are you?!" "Nope", I said. But I was shaken. Knowing that these hard working, legal immigrants are supporting a convicted felon who couldn't give less of a shit about them and only serves himself, and are voting for him scares the daylights out of me. Mind you, this is in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA! So, after I got back home, I self-soothed by binge watching an entire series on PBS (Van der Valk) and ate an entire pint of chocolate Haagen-Dazs ice cream, I felt a little better. I'm trying so hard to remain positive. I'll be in Sydney Australia on voting day (it'll be 11/6 there) and am going to have a great time regardless of how the election is going. I'll be front and center at Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Sunset Boulevard" starring one of my favorite English actresses, Sarah Brightman, and I'm going to savor every "normal" moment I can. It's time for me to let this go and hope for the best...
Thank you - I'm trying really hard to remain positive and know that I'm doing my best to help get Kamala Harris and Tim Walz elected. I've been phone banking for 8 months now and the support for Harris has lifted my spirits immensely! That encounter yesterday just kind of blew my mind...
I meant to add also—way to go on all you are doing! Millions of registered democratics did not vote in the last election and getting those people who didn’t vote to get to the polls may well be the difference!
As a Canadian I watch with worry what is happening with no ability to affect the outcome other than to cheer you on!!
There was an article (in the New Yorker I think?) “why the facts don’t change our minds”. The TL/dr is that the need for people to belong to a group leads them to adopt the group’s beliefs even if they don’t square with objective reality. “When you’re a Jet you’re a Jet all the way…” applies to the MAGA gang.
I do suspect, from the hospital worker’s reference to TFG being sent by God, that she will be Evangelical Christian, as some Filipinos are (along with others of course). Evangelical churches are using the pulpit to tell their congregations to support Trump, flouting the law big time. Doesn’t change the shock you felt, Megan, and I have felt it too after similar encounters. But it might help put it into perspective as the result of a particular kind of brainwashing.
I actually don’t find your interaction with this woman all that surprising for several reasons. As others have replied, she could be an evangelical Christian or strict Catholic. I’ve met many people who came from strong-man, authoritarian rule countries (remember Ferdinand Marcos? His son is now President of the Philippines), who know nothing other than strong man rule and have no problem voting for it here. It gives them a sense of safety. But more so because there are many large deep Red pockets in Southern California and have no problems showing it - parts of San Bernardino County (high desert) and Riverside County, the east half of San Diego County is one of the reddest areas in the country.
Even here in deep-red East TN, there are a lot of signs for Harris/Walz, for Gloria Johnson to take out Blackburn and for our local reps - and very few Trump signs. This is a flip of massive proportion. As a fail-safe election judge, I have watched my precinct historically choose 90% GOP; that may still be true, but the lack of public signage means minds have changed or voters are embarrassed to show they are backing tRump. I am hopeful...
will do...I'm encouraged. change won't be quick, but I see positive indications. I don't hear many tRump conversations and my 'prosecutor or criminal' t-shirt gets thumbs-up. a group of my girlfriends and I do pop-up street corner sign fests and there are way more positive interactions than negative ones. would not have been the case 4 or 8 yrs ago.
L P, I am trying hard to feel confident about Gloria Johnson beating Marsha Blackburn! Gloria understands what people in Tennessee need. She has run an excellent campaign. Along with a Harris sign, I have a sign for Gloria, for Jane George,for Cary Hammond in my front yard. No one else in our small subdivision has put out any signs, unlike 2016 and 2020 when they had trump signs.
Same here. I am just over the Loudon county line in Roane county which for the last two elections has been a hotbed of decorated pickup trucks, huge lawn size demos, store window signage, road signs...none of that has been on display this season. There are a few houses with small 12x18" unobtrusive signs on fences, standing in yards. And, surprisingly, nearly as many Harris, Johnson signs. I have seen quite a few well decorated Dem houses in Loudon. But Loudon has a larger, more politically active Dem group than Roane. I wish we had as many show up to canvass, call and text as show up for the annual picnic! But, we are making progress. When I moved here 35 years ago we had a Dem governor and a sane state legislature - I would like that again. And jettisoning Blackburn would be an excellent start.
My wife and I finished a 2 week trip through the south central US. Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Yes, we saw plenty of Trump signs, but only in the countryside. Nearly every city in these deep red states had plenty of Harris signs. And I mean plenty. We were pleasantly shocked / surprised by how much Dem support there is in the southern heartland. We have hope.
Thank you for sharing. It helps to know this!
Same with Michigan in the last few weeks: Trump signs (and battle flags!) out in the countryside, but few and far between. My favorite sign in the city: Harris - Obviously...
Everyone seems to forget that, despite all those Trump/Pence signs, Hillary still got 3 million more votes than Trump. People may not have had signs up, but a plurality of them did not fall for Trump's con job. He won by a fluke with the help of Russian spies. As a matter of fact, Trump has never gotten the most votes in any election. Which gives me hope too. And makes a real good argument for eliminating the Electoral College. Democrats have been lukewarm to the idea, but the equation is simple: no EC = No Trump!!!
So let's do that.
The Electoral College is anti-Democratic, and a rusty relic of the Civil War.
Seriously - the EC is a race thing regarding slaves. It needs to be abolished
More than six-in-ten Americans (63%) would prefer to see the winner of the presidential election be the person who wins the most votes nationally.
Roughly a third (35%) favor retaining the Electoral College system, according to a Pew Research Center survey of 9,720 adults conducted Aug. 26-Sept. 2, 2024.
Un-fortunately 63% just doesn't make the cut.
https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1s2dru.img?w=768&h=556&m=6
And needs to go ✌🏻💙
We have to get the Congress to 2/3's Blue to abolish the Electoral College. I wish there were another way to get rid of that antiquated system...
It will take a constitutional amendment to properly kill off the Electoral College since it’s written into the constitution. That means 2/3rds of the House and Senate and 38 state legislatures. Tough one in an overly polarized country. What scares me more is the movement to get states to switch their winner take all Electoral College votes from their state’s winner to the national popular vote winner. I don’t trust the Rethuglican Red states one iota.
Yeah... it's in the Constitution, so that requires a lot more than just a simple majority. Which is why it annoys me when I get one of those texts from a campaign telling me if they get enough signatures on their e-petition they'll be able to change the EC or whatever. Something simply not true. The RepubliCons aren't the only ones to try and play on peoples ignorance.
The big problem is winner-take-all. If that could be changed to proportional distribution of electors in each state, the EC may not be so unfair to some high percentage of a state's voters.
Yes we need to abolish the electoral college!
No need for a constitutional amendment. Have you heard of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact? It will go into effect when states representing 270 electoral votes have signed the compact. So far 17 states plus DC have signed on for a total of 209 electoral college votes. That’s 77% of the needed total. We are getting closer to putting the stupid electoral college out with the trash. https://ballotpedia.org/National_Popular_Vote_Interstate_Compact
I drove through the backroads and
residential areas of 8 different Fairfield Co. Connecticut towns on Wednesday and decided to count signs. What I noticed was many homes had only local race signs, much different from past elections. On the historic Old Post Rd in Fairfield there was one trump sign, and the surrounding homes all had Harris signs - the largest cluster I saw anywhere - as if to respond to their neighbors! One home had their Harris/Walz sign inside a fenced in area with their others on the curb… Total count I saw in these 8 towns - 14 Harris and 2 Trump. This is quite different than 4 years ago.
Danbury native here, although 30 years gone. CT was a Dem stronghold when I lived there. My brother is still in Danbury and he is a reformed repub since tRump came on the scene. Glad to read your report of signage - gives me more hope.
Thanks a million, Earl. You're an exemplar of civic engagement. I live in a solid blue area. I've seen one Harris/Walz sign, no Trump signs. Halloween decorations, on the other hand, are huge. Probably reading too much into that, but I take it as a sign of an upbeat mood, which I take as a good sign for Harris.
Appreciate that, Ann.
We're gonna win this thing.
I feel like Banquo’s ghost coming in to ruin the mood when my friends talk about their Halloween plans! I manage not to say anything, but the whole time I’m thinking, e.g., “Have fun carving pumpkins while DEMOCRACY HANGS BY A THREAD.”
Is it wrong that your comment made me laugh? Anyway, I'm reading way too much into inflatable Frankensteins.
Honestly, I think you might be onto something. Maybe it’s all part of the same vibe. Like, "Halloween decorations are normal. Remember when we were normal? Wouldn’t it be nice to be normal again?” And I say Yes! Dear God yes!
Whew! Thanks for the report! I does my heart so good to hear what you are seeing along your road trip. Like you, in 2016, I sat alone in my den and cried! i couldn't believe what had just been unleashed on America. But, like you I am full of hope and promise that the evil will be defeated! I get a bit choked up every time I read the good hope news.... I am expecting and hoping that I will cry again this November...but with pure and simple JOY!
Thanks for your work and words. It's hard to stave off fear, you have a good balance of hope and caution
That's what I felt reading D. Earl's Substack ad well. Cautious optimism.
I like Robert Reich’s phrase: “nauseous optimism.”
I, too, am hopeful. Scared, but hopeful. My son, who had planned not to vote while Biden was still in the race (we had long talks about it, and he relented), has now become VERY enthusiastic since Harris stepped in. He is still studying at Columbia University and uses his father's address as his residency. Which became North Carolina in June. This has really motivated my son. As soon as he could get registered in NC, he did. He not only wants to vote for Harris, but voting against Robinson is extremely motivating to my son.
This gives me the shot of hope I needed! I have a strong feeling that it's the young people who are going to win this election for us! We know they're not being polled, and there are millions of millions of newly registered, young voters and we all know they're not voting for Trump.👍🙂
I am more confident the women will make the difference. You give me all the confidence in the world, in fact.
Excellent Kate!!! Yes I definitely feel that Stein will be our next Governor in NC!!! Congrats to your son on Columbia U. Did grad work there myself. Mood today: anxious.
He loves it. His grad work is in software engineering. I don’t get most of what he tells me 😉. He’s hoping to work in the DC area.
I think that Harris and her campaign have not only the energy but grasp how to reach younger voters. Many of our first time voters were in elementary school in 2016. My nephew was 13. This is his first presidential election. He’s matured with this political environment and has been disillusioned. Living in Indiana doesn’t help.
Good point, Kate.
We can never be caught off guard again.
My sister and her husband voted in North Carolina yesterday. She's a life-long Democrat, and this year, her husband voted for the Democratic ticket for the first time! We can do this 🌊🌊🌊
Great news right there, Tami.
Earl - first day NC numbers broke a record- 353,166! PA day 9 numbers - total 791,804; 506,320 DEMS and 212,015 Repugs. Feeling a little better.
Thanks for the update, Pam. And Georgia is blowing the door off of things ...
I pray GA comes through Earl!
Don't mean to be a Debbie Downer, but, unfortunately, the blowout numbers of early voting in Georgia don't necessarily mean fantastic news for Democrats. Reporting here indicates a groundswell of early Republican votes as well.
Ahhh so good to hear Tami! In Meck Cty/Charlotte. Thanks for the good report.
Woo hoo!👍
Thanks for giving us hope. “Hope over fear truth over lies democracy over fascism Harris over Trump.”
"I mean, what kind of country is stupid enough to vote against its own interests …?" Man, thats a helluva question. I have no answer other than misogyny and racism have contributed to the cult mentality. In Missouri, I have actually seen Harris signs...I never thought I'd see that! Biden was the right man at the right time...and Kamala is the right woman for the right time. I'm cautiously optimistic. My 200 postcards to Wisconsin voters went out yesterday. 💙✌️
Thank you, Susan!
Appreciate you.
That's awesome! I sent 200 to NC and about 100 letters to various swing states. I hope all the hurricane ravaged ares are able to vote without too much trouble.
Good for you! Early on I sent 100 to Ohio about their gerrymander situation. I hope we make a difference! And indeed I hope the hurricane affected areas are able to handle voters! 💙💙
We just did a road trip from New Mexico (very blue) through Arizona and California. Like other people commenting here, we saw some Trump signs but no where near as many as before. The most Trump signs we saw were in Arizona but even there it wasn’t very many. In the Phoenix area there were big billboards for Republicans for Harris, which I found encouraging.
I was in the southwest myself very recently, mostly in New Mexico, and I don’t think I saw even one Trump sign, and I was all over the state for three days. I have a Native American friend down there, and he absolutely believes that people are not giving enough credit to what will potentially be the biggest percentage of Native Americans voting in a very long time, and they are NOT voting for Donald Trump. Also, Colorado Democrats have worked hard to get Native Americans registered, so I think this will have a big positive impact on outcome, with the two Ute tribes here playing a big part.
This is encouraging to read. In neighboring Arizona I’d read a while ago the Republican legislature were trying to pass legislation requiring physical addresses (number, street name, and city) for voter registration which would suppress the vote on the indigenous nations/reservations because not all, especially Navajo, have a numerical street address.
That doesn’t surprise me at all. Anyone who isn’t white is going to be subjected in some way to voter repression techniques. I think Colorado might have set up automatic voter registration for its tribal communities. We have an excellent secretary of state, and she has helped to modernize our system here.
That was happening in one of the Dakotahs too; can’t remember which.
Not sure what came to pass on that.
Michael, I’m in Arizona and I remember reading about that too. I just don’t know the end result. I’ll ask around.
Love that.
The Dem ground game and unbridled enthusiasm for Harris-Walz has got this one, Earl...yes, every day a new poll arrive showing tRump "gaining" half a fecking point, whatever, but just statistical noise.
Essentially, the non-MAGA majority are burnt out on tRump, we're exhausted, we want peace and quiet, and we DON'T want the POS chaos-maker in our collective lives for another four goddam years, end of!!
Agree. Harris's ceiling is 10 feet higher.
I believe this year signs are not going to be indicative of the results. I live in Michigan, and I see Trump signs everywhere, but few Harris ones. I don't have a sign out either, and I usually do, but one day as I was leaving my house a young man in camouflage gear was walking by and extended his arm and said, "Heil Hitler". I never saw this man before (or since). I tried to see where he was going, but he disappeared before I got in my car to hunt him down. We live on a small street in a fairly secluded area, but there is a path to a mobile home park about a 1/2 mile away. I am not afraid for myself, but I have grandchildren living here too. Most people around here are afraid of what the Trump people will do if they put a sign out. Most of the people I know are Harris fans, and they have already voted. The Trumpers don't usually vote. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
Good morning! Thank you for the cautious pep talk that I so badly needed to hear. I had my faith shaken yesterday morning when I took a friend in to get a scheduled surgery at Eisenhower hospital here in Palm Springs, California. While we were sitting at the desk to get her checked in, the small Filipino woman registering her overheard us talking about Trump and what a danger he is to our country. She said, and I quote: "President Trump was sent by God to lead us." I almost choked on my green tea and laughed out loud. Then, I blurted out: "Donald Trump is a sociopathic narcissist, a lifelong con man, a serial adulterer, a tax cheat, a rapist and a pathological liar who his own former vice president won't support." She replied: "That's your opinion." With a slightly raised voice, I replied: These are the FACTS, not my opinion." She just went about her work and stayed silent after our uncomfortable interaction. I really wanted to tell this woman, who is obviously from the Philippines and not born in the USA, that Trump even wants to deport legal immigrants whose skin is brown, but I was able to stop myself. My friend burst out laughing as we were escorted to the waiting room and said: "Damn, girl! You're not holding back anymore, are you?!" "Nope", I said. But I was shaken. Knowing that these hard working, legal immigrants are supporting a convicted felon who couldn't give less of a shit about them and only serves himself, and are voting for him scares the daylights out of me. Mind you, this is in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA! So, after I got back home, I self-soothed by binge watching an entire series on PBS (Van der Valk) and ate an entire pint of chocolate Haagen-Dazs ice cream, I felt a little better. I'm trying so hard to remain positive. I'll be in Sydney Australia on voting day (it'll be 11/6 there) and am going to have a great time regardless of how the election is going. I'll be front and center at Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Sunset Boulevard" starring one of my favorite English actresses, Sarah Brightman, and I'm going to savor every "normal" moment I can. It's time for me to let this go and hope for the best...
I'll never understand how anybody could support the SOB, but I understand why -- and it is revolting.
Be good to yourself, and enjoy everything, Meg.
Evangelical Christian. Blind to facts about Trump, but also a minority.
Thank you - I'm trying really hard to remain positive and know that I'm doing my best to help get Kamala Harris and Tim Walz elected. I've been phone banking for 8 months now and the support for Harris has lifted my spirits immensely! That encounter yesterday just kind of blew my mind...
I meant to add also—way to go on all you are doing! Millions of registered democratics did not vote in the last election and getting those people who didn’t vote to get to the polls may well be the difference!
As a Canadian I watch with worry what is happening with no ability to affect the outcome other than to cheer you on!!
There was an article (in the New Yorker I think?) “why the facts don’t change our minds”. The TL/dr is that the need for people to belong to a group leads them to adopt the group’s beliefs even if they don’t square with objective reality. “When you’re a Jet you’re a Jet all the way…” applies to the MAGA gang.
I do suspect, from the hospital worker’s reference to TFG being sent by God, that she will be Evangelical Christian, as some Filipinos are (along with others of course). Evangelical churches are using the pulpit to tell their congregations to support Trump, flouting the law big time. Doesn’t change the shock you felt, Megan, and I have felt it too after similar encounters. But it might help put it into perspective as the result of a particular kind of brainwashing.
Megan, I love this whole story so much! Thank you!
I actually don’t find your interaction with this woman all that surprising for several reasons. As others have replied, she could be an evangelical Christian or strict Catholic. I’ve met many people who came from strong-man, authoritarian rule countries (remember Ferdinand Marcos? His son is now President of the Philippines), who know nothing other than strong man rule and have no problem voting for it here. It gives them a sense of safety. But more so because there are many large deep Red pockets in Southern California and have no problems showing it - parts of San Bernardino County (high desert) and Riverside County, the east half of San Diego County is one of the reddest areas in the country.
Even here in deep-red East TN, there are a lot of signs for Harris/Walz, for Gloria Johnson to take out Blackburn and for our local reps - and very few Trump signs. This is a flip of massive proportion. As a fail-safe election judge, I have watched my precinct historically choose 90% GOP; that may still be true, but the lack of public signage means minds have changed or voters are embarrassed to show they are backing tRump. I am hopeful...
Thanks for the update, my friend. Keep them coming.
will do...I'm encouraged. change won't be quick, but I see positive indications. I don't hear many tRump conversations and my 'prosecutor or criminal' t-shirt gets thumbs-up. a group of my girlfriends and I do pop-up street corner sign fests and there are way more positive interactions than negative ones. would not have been the case 4 or 8 yrs ago.
L P, I am trying hard to feel confident about Gloria Johnson beating Marsha Blackburn! Gloria understands what people in Tennessee need. She has run an excellent campaign. Along with a Harris sign, I have a sign for Gloria, for Jane George,for Cary Hammond in my front yard. No one else in our small subdivision has put out any signs, unlike 2016 and 2020 when they had trump signs.
Same here. I am just over the Loudon county line in Roane county which for the last two elections has been a hotbed of decorated pickup trucks, huge lawn size demos, store window signage, road signs...none of that has been on display this season. There are a few houses with small 12x18" unobtrusive signs on fences, standing in yards. And, surprisingly, nearly as many Harris, Johnson signs. I have seen quite a few well decorated Dem houses in Loudon. But Loudon has a larger, more politically active Dem group than Roane. I wish we had as many show up to canvass, call and text as show up for the annual picnic! But, we are making progress. When I moved here 35 years ago we had a Dem governor and a sane state legislature - I would like that again. And jettisoning Blackburn would be an excellent start.