The midterm elections have proven the following points:
- Every vote matters!
- Dehumanizing, errant candidates/leaders will do everything they can to limit voting and the power of your vote!
- Who we elect directly impacts the lives we lead--honest, intelligent, experienced, dedicated public servants enrich and lift living for ALL. These are the kind of leaders we need.
Just as we plan for important personal events such as birthdays, weddings, and graduations, families and community members have to work together to plan for important elections. What can you do?
Register to vote
Make sure that you register to vote. A simple Google search will let you know how to register in your locale. Also, encourage every family member to register to vote, and make voting registration part of that 18th birthday celebration for your children.
Stay abreast of information related to local, state, and national politics
- Know who your elected officials are
- Consider taking part in a campaign or running for office yourself
- Read local, state, and national newspapers to understand what these leaders do
- Attend events where these individuals speak
- Get involved in local campaigns and community action events
- Quiz yourself and your family members with the following questions:
- Who is your local representative in your town, city, and/or county?
- Who is your state representative?
- Who are the national leaders?
- How do elections happen and when do they happen?
- How does your local, state, and national government work?
Make a voting timeline and instructions shortlist, and keep that timeline and shortlist handy. Share it with your family, colleagues, neighbors, and friends.
The presidential election in 2024 will occur on Tuesday, November 5th.
Your state primary date can be found on via this list: https://www.thegreenpapers.com/P24/events.phtml?s=c
Find your local and state voter information documents, read those documents, and list important information related to those elections.
Encourage your work place, family, social groups, religious organizations and other groups to not plan events that conflict with elections and to offer assistance with regard to voter education and voting in any way possible. Too many people still don't vote. I missed voting now and then in my life simply because I was not ready to vote due to lack of information or I couldn't vote due to lack of childcare, transportation, time, or energy.
Know what you want?
Errant leaders have a much harder time manipulating people who understand our government and know what they want. It's far easier for self-serving, bogus leaders to manipulate people who haven't made the time to learn about our government and think about what they really want for our country and what kind of person they truly want to lead.
I've thought a lot about what I want, and my job is to figure out which candidates best represent that. These are some of the criteria I will consider as I read and study the lives and work of people running for local, state, and national offices:
- Our diversity as a people is our strength. I want leaders who embrace our amazing diversity as a people--a leader who does what they can to promote good living for ALL people no matter their skin shade, religion, locale, interests, who they love, gender and all the differences that make us the wonderful, diverse people that we are with the exception of traits that promote violence, harm, hate, and destruction.
- A well-educated population is a happy, peaceful, collaborative, strong population. If you read the stats related to education, you know that quality education correlates with good living. I am a fan of all that we can do to modernize and strengthen education opportunities for ALL Americans.
- Healthy people are happy people. Health matters. I believe there is much our country can do to promote good health amongst all people. I will support candidates who support accessible, quality health care including mental health, dental health, and public health for ALL Americans. I want to see the numbers of health professionals increase, and I want to see those numbers continue to earn fair salaries with reasonable work expectations.
- Fair taxation, fair pay, fair work expectations for ALL. I want to support candidates that work to bridge the too-great economic gap between the have's and have-not's. This kind of gap increases violence, despair, poor values, and unhappy living. Fair taxation is one way to do this. I also want every American to make a fair wage and have reasonable work expectations. Further, I want to continue social benefits such as medicare and social security that support good living for the elderly as well as those that face health and other struggles that prevent a living wage.
- Positive international relations and problem solving. We can't solve all problems on our own. I want to see the United States work intelligently with the international community with regard to the big problems we share, problems such as migration issues, issues of war/violence, poverty, hunger, climate change issues, and more.
- Preservation of our natural lands, waterways, and natural resources. We all know that Earth is changing at a rapid rate--to preserve the lands, water, air we need for survival, we have to change many of our life ways. We have to commit time, money, and good support for these changes in order to preserve good living for ourselves and the future.
- Lawless leaders weaken who we are and what we can be. I'd like to see an economist add up all the money, time, and potential Donald Trump and his cronies stole from the United States. One story after another demonstrates the Trump team's lawlessness, a lawlessness that cost the United States lots and lots and lots of money and lost potential. If you count up all the time and money spent on legal investigations, policing, and unnecessary extravagances and personal supports as well as the money lost due to Trump sloth, dishonesty, self-serving events, and conniving related to national issues such as the pandemic, fair taxation, elections and more, it's my guess that Trump cost the country hundreds of billions of dollars of waste--imagine what that money could have done to uplift the issues and needs that matter to all of us. We have to find streamlined, efficient, lawful ways to hold lawless leaders accountable, and even better, we should not choose lawless, corrupt cheaters to serve us in any way.
- I believe good living for ALL is possible. I don't believe that only some can succeed and live good lives. I don't want to elect officials that just work for some of us or themselves alone.
Two years is not a long time! The 2024 Presidential election will be here before we know it.
Two years flies by. The more you can do ahead of time to ready to vote, the better. Get involved now, and be prepared to vote for great leaders in every upcoming election. We can all do that.