Roger Angell, one of the best baseball writers this country has ever produced, has written an essay for The New Yorker imploring people to get off their asses and vote - at least those how intend to vote Democrat tomorrow:
I am ninety-eight now, legally blind, and a pain in the ass to all my friends and much of my family with my constant rantings about the Trump debacle—his floods of lies, his racism, his abandonment of vital connections to ancient allies and critically urgent world concerns, his relentless attacks on the media, and, just lately, his arrant fearmongering about the agonizingly slow approach of a fading column of frightened Central American refugees. The not-to-mention list takes us to his scorn for the poor everywhere, his dismantling contempt for the F.B.I. and the Justice Department, and his broad ignorance and overriding failure of human response. A Democratic victory in this midterm election, in the House, at the least, will put a halt to a lot of this and prevent something much worse.
If the Democrats only win the House tomorrow with Republicans still controlling the Senate, I'm not sure how much it will halt Trump's agenda. Otherwise, I have no disagreement with everything up to his last sentence. I am appalled by Trump's being and his actions. However, here is where I part company with Angell:
What we can all do at this moment is vote—get up, brush our teeth, go to the polling place, and get in line. I was never in combat as a soldier, but now I am. Those of you who haven’t quite been getting to your polling place lately, who want better candidates or a clearer system of making yourself heard, or who just aren’t in the habit, need to get it done, this time around. If you stay home, count yourself among the hundreds of thousands now being disenfranchised by the relentless parade of restrictions that Republicans everywhere are imposing and enforcing. If you don’t vote, they have won, and you are a captive, one of their prizes.
No one is entitled to my vote. If a candidate wants my vote then he or she must earn it. As such I have no plans to vote tomorrow.
To start with, I have recently moved to New York City and reside in its 10th Congressional District, one of the most liberal in the country. Jerrold Nadler, who is seeking his 14th term in office, will not need my help in getting re-elected let alone Governor Cuomo or Senator Gillibrand. My Dad tried to enlist the help of Nadler's office with regard to his Medicare and let's just say they weren't very helpful. So he will not be getting my vote. Over the weekend, we bumped into his Republican opponent Naomi Levin outside Fairway's on Broadway & West 74th. She wasn't exactly eager to answer his question about marijuana legalization nor was I interested in engaging her. I have nothing against Gillibrand per se, but Cuomo's declaration in August that "America was never that great" makes me question why he is involved in civic life at all. Frankly, I haven't lived here long enough to properly assess my state representative or state Senator or meaningfully render a judgment on any ballot initiatives.
Now had I still been living in Massachusetts, I would have cast a ballot for Charlie Baker in his re-election bid for Governor. Baker is one of the few Republicans who don't disgust me with his consistent opposition to Trump. Indeed, I wrote him and Ben Sasse in on my ballot in 2016. In his final debate with his Democrat opponent Jay Gonzalez last week, Baker called Trump "outrageous, disgraceful and a divider." I certainly wouldn't have voted for Elizabeth Warren, but nor would I have voted for Trump apologist Geoff Diehl.
But the reality is that I now reside in New York and as much I despise Trump, the Democrats in charge haven't earned my vote.
With that said, I will certainly vote against Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Who I vote for, however, very much remains to be seen.
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