@polarberry I don't know how many Virginia voters come to our forum, but I do hope some of the people here will try an hour or two at a phone bank to get someone in Virginia to make a plan to get themselves to the polls.
I believe that every action we take, whether it is a vote, a donation, a few hours at a phone bank, some postcards (too late for VA postcards now), each action we take sends a wave of energy across the nation that enlivens others to act.
I have a mild unease about the Virginia election but a longer term "zen" - but I'm also not having a lot of luck with visions lately.
I wouldn't necessarily worry about the yard sign indicator for a lot of the reasons people here have already said. For instance, there were zero Biden signs in my neck of the woods during the 2020 presidential election but my region is also where the people who wanted to kidnap and kill Governor Whitmer live, and several of them are also under investigation for the terrorist attack on January 6th. I'm not the only Progressive in the area that knows how dangerous it would be to have a yard sign in the current political climate.
I did intentionally trigger these people by wearing a Biden/Harris mask while out grocery shopping during the pandemic. For every "OMG i love your mask" that was silently whispered to me while I was inspecting my eggs, I had two "You F***ing commie!" in the checkout lines. It was exhilarating but - while this targeted Dannyboy the person in public, it didn't lead anyone to my home.
I'm not seeing anything clearly with Virginia, but there are some very good reasons why polling may be indicating the wrong person taking a lead and regardless, i'm still feeling okay about long term prospects.
Remember the spiral!
@jeanne-mayell, I live in Northern VA and I've been receiving a ton of emails for the past few months about McAuliffe being low on funds. I've been contributing on a regular basis and I do believe every little bit helps. The problem is the amount McAuliffe is receiving relative to the availability of unlimited cash in Youngkin's campaign. Youngkin $$ is coming primarily from his mass personal wealth and those mega Republican donors like the Kochs, DeVos, special interest groups, and corporate entities. He's trying to buy his way into the governorship, thanks to Citizens United. Youngkin is not receiving as much as McAuliffe through small, private donations from people like me. So are these individual donation numbers reflecting the number of Virginia residents who will vote? I don't know. I do think the outcome will depend on who shows up to vote, as well as the number of voters.
I will reiterate what @polarberry posted: VOTE, Democrats, VOTE.
I am also requesting that from now through Tuesday/Wednesday, this beautiful community sends their powerful and transformative light to McAuliffe and the VA Democratic ticket -- so that Virginia can move forward with the progressive accomplishments they have made over the past 8 years.
@dannyboy, I share your feelings about the VA gubernatorial race. I don't place much trust in polls (well, almost -- it depends on how anxious I am feeling.)
I do admire your courage in wearing your Biden/Harris mask in your neck of the woods. I gotta say, though ... couldn't they have come up with something more creative than " "You F***ing commie"? How trite and uninspiring.
Thanks for reminding us about the spiral!
@jeanne-mayell So did I.
Thanks for all these Virginia posts! @Deetoo you are a star. @Lauren you too. and @polarberry!
Today I decided to send this letter to four relatives who live in Virginia. I have never written to them about politics before. If anyone has ANY family or friends in VA, this is the time to make sure they get to the polls, unless they are, gasp, Repubs.
Hi family,
I hope it’s okay that I write to you about your upcoming election. I’ve never done that but things are so dangerous politically, and some are convinced that the republicans are going to get their coups in 202, that I am writing to you about Virginia.
The whole country is watching your state election which is neck and neck. If there is any chance you were not going to vote, please vote and please show up and vote Democrat all the way.
The Republican Party has already begun a plan to get Republican state legislators across the country to deny any democrat from getting electoral college votes in the next presidential election, regardless of popular vote. If there are enough Red state electoral votes then the popular vote won’t matter and our democracy is over.
So much is at stake.
If you know any Virginians who are democrats, please do whatever it takes to get them to the polls and do not vote for a single Republican state legislator no matter how nice or reasonable they are. If you want to discuss this please write back.
Love you!
Jeanne
Just sent a donation. Even though I do not enjoy it, I will make calls to voters tomorrow. Thanks for the suggestion.
Allyn,
Being a Tennessean, you are probably familiar with Trae Crowder, the liberal redneck. He's freaking hilarious! I love his videos.
I forget which video it is, but in one of them he says something along the lines of, Taylor Swift, I love her, God bless her. I hope people look at her and realize she's from Tennessee and think to themselves that not EVERYONE from the state of Tennessee is rock-chewin' stupid.... ?
If you only watch one thing of his, watch his video called IVERMECTIN. I've seen it a dozen times and still laugh all the way through it. He is laugh-out-loud funny.
@polarberry, I love Trae Crowder. First time I saw him was on Bill Maher, a week after the 45th was elected. I always make a point of watching Trae when I know he will be on. His humor was the only thing that lifted my spirits after T won. It didn't change the outcome, but it changed my outlook. Humor can be very healing.
I'd love to see a live performance. I've seen some of Trae's videos on TikTok and Youtube. I'll check out the Ivermectin video.
deetoo,
There are very few comedians I find genuinely funny anymore, but he's great!! I don't care for the occasional GD he uses, but for the most part he's hilarious.
In one of his videos, he's going on about how anytime he wakes up and sees Tennessee has made the news, he goes, oh, sh*t, this ain't gonna be about how someone caught a big 'ol fish or something, it's going to be about how some bunch of knuckle-draggers put southern stupidity on display...that cracked me up, because it's the same here...I always tell my husband that anytime Oregon makes national news, it's bad.
We always make the news because someone decides to poke a badger with a stick to see if it gets mad, or pet a black bear because it's fur just looked so soft, or cut down an 80 foot blue spruce with a handsaw, and gee, they didn't realize it was going to fall into the roof, and wow, let's learn the hard way that wasps don't like having a rock thrown at their nest.