Get Out the Vote

The November 5 elections are shaping up to be a huge win for the Democratic Party, but as we learned in the Florida recount, don't count your ballots until the chads are hatched.

You know the stakes.

You know that, left unchecked, Bush will finish out his term systematically dismantling fifty years of social progress. You know that the next two weeks will determine the fate of labor rights, social security, medicare, progressive taxation, and any meaningful protection of the environment or regulation of global capitalism. But consider this:

The next two weeks will also determine if Bush spends the next two years installing a virulent right wing judiciary who would dominate the Federal Courts for the next two decades. If we lose the Senate in 2002, even a complete sweep in the 2004 elections, kicking out not only Bush but Hastert and Lott, could be rendered completely irrelevant. Right wing ideologues on the Federal Bench, installed by Bush and serving for life, could strike down laws enacted by progressive majorities for years.

2004 is too late. Bush must be stopped now.

Fortunately, the fear of Bush and his far right agenda appears to be having the desired effect. The name of the game for both parties is getting their voters to the polls, and the early returns indicate Democratic voters are going to the polls in record numbers. In Texas, where voters are allowed to vote early, record numbers are showing up at polling places in heavily Democratic counties. If this trend continues nationally, and hopefully Democrats are scared enough of the Bush administration that it will, then we should be enjoying a divided government until at least the next election. But if it doesn't, we could be witnessing the beginning of the end of the American Dream.

Don't leave anything to chance. If you have never given money to politicians before, do it now. Target one of the close Senate or Congressional races. If they are Democrats, repeatedly urge your friends and family to vote. If they are Republicans, send them away on vacation. Take November 5^th off work, and volunteer to drive some elderly Democrats to the polls. Do everything you can to stop Bush now, or it will be too late.

When this country was founded, every single man who signed the Declaration of Independence knew that if they didn't pull it off, they would be hung for treason. You don't have to take that risk. All you have to do is vote. Democracy demands participation, and your future, all of our futures, is in your hands.