#you're not gonna do that if Republicans control Congress or the presidency

[katarh-mest]

You don't have to like Biden to vote for him - and to vote for Democratic candidates down ballot for that matter.

But please bear in mind that we'll be more likely to survive Biden, and there are many among us who will not survive another 4 years of convicted felon Trump.

Give those fuckers in the Republican party the shellacking they deserve at the polls. We're not going to get better options until we've nuked the GOP into the ground and given space for a different party to take that space, hopefully one that competes with the Democratic party from the progressive angle instead of the conservative one.

WIPE THE REPUBLICANS OUT AT THE POLLS then we can spend four years being angry at the government for not being left enough for our tastes.

i kind of wish the anti voting people wouldn’t dance around the idea of what happens after the election. Like okay, the democrats lose, you taught them a lesson (and fwiw, I do think its a legitimate message to send- the people are not happy with the actions and status quo of the DNC). Now What. Trump, the multiply indicted crime president who incited a violent mob upon the capitol, is now President. He has all the qualities you hate about Biden, AND more, except he and his administration have even less reason to be sensitive to the wishes of their democratic constituents. He is a puppet for the far right and white supremacists and christian nationalists. I really shouldn’t even have to go over this- we LIVED it already. Genuinely asking, is this what you want? Because frankly I do not think 4 more years of Trump is worth it over Biden. Your hands are not clean, this is the future you want to choose. I just don’t understand why.

[thorntonkrell-blog-blog]

I first started writing on ABC tales six years ago when I was diagnosed with cancer and had no idea what was coming next. I decided to record whatever was happening and/or might happen and/or happened as honestly and objectively as I could.

I survived and I'm still around so there's always hope.

I've written about a wide variety of subjects in the last six years but I've pretty much avoided poilitics. Can't avoid it any more just like I couldn't avoid the cancer so I might as well be as honest and objective as I can.

I'm woried about both candidates.

They're old, the both of 'em.

I'm old too.

I'm an American so thre American Dream is open to me.

Why shouldn't I be President?

I'm white. I'm male. I'm middle class. I've never been arrested. I've got both common sense and common touch. I've written three books. I've never been arrested. I'm a cancer survivor. I'm well educated both privately and publicly.

Genie come to me and say: "You President, Slim."

Slim say: "I ain't slim and I ain't gonna be president. Im too old. I read. I write. I watch teevee. I nap. I argue with my wife. I go to the store. I go to the library. I do chair yoga. I'm getting ready for the wedding of my youngest daughter.We watch true crime stories. Whhda I wanna be President for. Leave me alone.

How bout you, Joe?

Whhadya wanna be President for?

Okay you wanna stop Trump but you admit that there are other candidates who could beat Trump.

You could get off this bus right now and historians would be kind. You did your job Joe. You realized the American Dream. You've fought the good fight for almost fifty years. Hey Joe what more do you want? We don't need you anymore.

How bout Trump?

Donald, you're rich. You've got tall sons. You play golf. You control the Republican Party and will continue to control the party for as long as you stay out of jail and might even stay in control while in jail as the Repos strangle themselves while seeking your blessing and finally become so repellent to the growing horde of independents that they ride off into the sunset and stop destroying democracy. You've got a knockout for a wife and your best buds with Hannity.

So there we are. Hoping that one of these guys will somehow disappear while we get bombarded with bad news every day. First thing yesterday, the Supreme's ruled against Colorado in that states effort to keep Trump off the ballot. One of the reasons Colorado's claim was rejected is because a riot is not an insurrection.

While both insurrection and riot involve acts of violence and civil unrest, an insurrection is a more organized and deliberate attempt to challenge or overthrow established authority, often with political motivations. A riot, on the other hand, is generally more spontaneous and may not necessarily have a clear political objective, with the violence often stemming from social tensions or immediate grievances.

Pretty sure that the "riot" on January 6th was an organized, deliberate attempt to overthrow Congress and change the outcome of the election and that was Trump out there with his megaphone inspiring his good people if not actually leading them which he said he planned on doing but even bailed out on that. The fiasco was definitely organized but shitty organization does not disclude organization and it was only because of the shitty organization that the coup failed etc.

MMMMKKKKAAAY

Then we got rocked by the special counsel's investigation of Biden's handling of top secret documents. Joe was cleared partly because if he went to trial he would come across as an old guy overwhelmed and out of it which most juries would empathize with and fail to convict so why pursue it any further.

This report forced Joe to come out of hiding and confront the press to express his rage at the Comeylian report and to make it clear that he remembered the death of his son while the press crew disgraced itself with noises I only have nightmares about regarding classes that have gone out of control.

I was feeling sorry for the old guy when he finally decided to walk off the stage. He almost made it and then he stopped. I thought to myself "don't go back." and then he went back and he confused Egypt with Mexico and gave every appearance of the diminshed elderly gentleman portrayed in the report.

And this is the guy that's trying to pull Israel off of Gaza? This is the guy whose gonna keep Ukraine out of Putin's hands?

Now I'm really scared and reminded of the Irish funeral in which the priest asked the small gathering at the fueral to say a few kind words about the deceased. Nobody spoke until finally someone said "his brother was worse."

Yeah Trump is worse than Biden. At least Biden turned over the documents when asked. Trump hid them and refused to give them back until his house was raided by the FBI.

At least Biden knows the difference between Nancy Pelosi and Nikki Haley. Trump doesn't know the difference between his ex wife and a woman that he assaulted and slandered who he now owes 8o million dollars

The Democrats are bad but the Reps are worse. The Reptiles are led by the fraudster Trump doing everything he can to stay out of jail.

And these are the choices.

America is asking.

How the hell did this happen?

As with most moral and finanical bankrupticies it has happened slowly, slowly and now suddenly.

In summary, while both insurrection and riot involve acts of violence and civil unrest, an insurrection is a more organized and deliberate attempt to challenge or overthrow established authority, often with political motivations. A riot, on the other hand, is generally more spontaneous and may not necessarily have a clear political objective, with the violence often stemming from social tensions or immediate grievances.

Then we got rocked by the special counsel's investigation of Biden's handling of top secret documents. Joe was cleared partly because if he went to trial he would come across as an old guy overwhelmed and out of it which most juries would empathize with and fail to convict so why pirsue it any further.

This report forced Joe to come out of hiding and confront the press to express his rage at the Comeylian report and to make it clear that he remembered the death of his son while the press crew disgraced itself with noises I only have nightmares about regarding classes that have gone out of control.

I was feeling sorry for the old guy when he finally decided to walk off the stage. He almost made it and then he stopped. I thought to myself "don't go back." and then he went back and he confused Egypt with Mexico and gave every appearance of the diminshed elderly gentleman portrayed in the report.

And this is the guy that's trying to pull Israel off of Gaza? This is the guy whose gonna keep Ukraine out of Putin's hands?

Now I'm really scared and reminded of the Irish funeral in which the priest asked the small gathering at the fueral to say a few kind words about the deceased. Nobody spoke until finally someone said "his brother was worse."

Yeah Trump is worse than Biden. At least Biden turned over the documents when asked. Trump hid them and refused to give them back until his house was raided by the FBI.

The Democrats are bad but the Reps are worse. The Reptiles are led by the fraudster Trump doing everything hs can to stay out of jail.

And these are the choices.

America is asking.

How the hell did this happen?

As with most moral and finanical bankrupticies it has happened slowly, slowly and now suddenly.

[griseldagimpel]

The Party for Socialism and Liberation

Article about The Party for Socialism and Liberation.

If you're an American (and especially if you can vote), it might be worth emailing any Democratic candidates running and encourage them to get on board with ______ policy of The Party of Socialism and Liberation.

Which, just so we're clear, the PoSaL ain't gonna win the presidency, and even if they did, they couldn't do much with their agenda unless they had a supermajority in both Houses of Congress.

BUT it's good to have somebody pushing for super far left ideas in the political sphere because that is what shifts the Overton Window to the left.

'Seize the wealth of the rich' might not happen, but if people start advocating for that, then 'make the rich pay their fair share of taxes dammit' becomes more feasible by comparison.

(Seriously, this strategy works. It's what the damn Republican party does all the frigging time.)

[batboyblog]

Senate 2022: You'd Better Vote!

If you're an American VERY IMPORTANT! elections are coming up on November 8th. Since the 2020 election the US Senate has been tied at 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans with Vice-President Harris casting the tie breaking vote that gives Democrats their majority. Even with such a tight margin Democrats have managed to pass the largest climate action taken by any country so far on earth (yet), lower prescription drug costs, pass the first gun control law since the 1990s , made lynching a federal crime after over 100 years of trying, made Juneteenth a federal holiday, confirmed the first black woman ever to serve on the Supreme Court, passed a trillion dollar infrastructure bill to rebuild our roads, bridges, transportation, better internet, clean water, and support electric cars, saved the US Post Office, passed a renewal of the Violence Against Women Act which had been in limbo since 2019.

Imagine all that the Democrats in the Senate could get done in the next 2 years with a stable majority? On the Flip side if Republicans net just one seat Mitch McConnell has made it clear there will be no progress if he's majority leader again. There are 35 Senate seats up on November 8th, I'm gonna list out the 9 seats with vulnerable Democrats who need re-electing and seats Democrats can flip to expand their majority. Everyone needs to vote, but voting is the start, the most basic thing you need to do, if you live in any of these states PLEASE sign up to volunteer for these candidates, to go talk to voters, to register new voters, to give rides to the polls etc. If you don't live in any of these states, you can still volunteer to make phone calls or text voters it's easy! if you have money to give please please give money campaigns are so expensive. Finally most of these campaigns have merch shops so if you feed more comfortable buying a shirt or a bag or whatever do that lots of them have cool pro-choice things.

Arizona

Mark Kelly (Re-elect)

Senator Mark Kelly was elected in a special election in 2020 and is running for a full term this year. Kelly is a former astronaut and the husband of gun violence survivor and gun control advocate Gabby Giffords. Kelly is a strong supporter of gun control an issue he's worked on with Giffords as an activist for 10 years before Congress. Republicans have nominated Blake Masters, who worked for one of Trump's top supporters, Peter Thiel, Thiel spent 13 million dollars to get Masters nominated. Masters calls himself a "America First Conservative" and a "hard-core nationalist". Masters has embraced the racist "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory, supports Trump's conspiracy theories about the 2020 election being stolen, is against gay marriage, says gun violence is all the fault of black people, and is against aid to Ukraine. Kelly is a good democrat, Masters is a white nationalist and election denier, we need Kelly back in the Senate, and we need to keep Masters far far away

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Florida

Val Demings (Flip)

Congresswoman Val Demings has represented the city of Orlando in the US House since 2017. Before that she served as Orlando's first woman chief of police. In Congress Demings has used her law enforcement background to lend credibility to gun control and police reform. Demings also served as one of the impeachment managers in Trump's first impeachment trial. If elected Val Demings will be Florida's first woman and first black Senator. Demings is running to unseat Republican Senator Marco Rubio. After running against Trump in the 2016 primaries Rubio became one of Trump's biggest supporters in Congress. Rubio reacted to the Parkland shooting in his state by doubling down on opposing any gun control, Val Demings voted to ban assault rifles. Rubio has also been a cheerleader for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' anti-LGBT/anti-Trans policies that bully queer students in Florida, he doesn't believe in the right to same sex marriage and is for banning books. Rubio also wants a total ban on abortion in all cases, Val Demings has a 100% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America. Florida needs a strong supporter of Gun control, climate action, the right to choose, and LGBT rights in the Senate, Florida needs Demings not Rubio

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Georgia

Raphael Warnock (re-elect)

Senator Raphael Warnock was elected in a special election in 2020 and is running for a full 6 year term this year. Warnock is the first black senator from the State of Georgia and the first Democrat elected in 20 years. Before becoming a senator Warnock was the pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, which was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's church and a center of the 1960s civil rights movement. Warnock used his position to protest and fight against the death penalty, to expand medicare in Georgia, for gun control, and for voting rights. In the Senate, Senator Warnock has been one of the most outspoken on voting rights pushing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act named after his late friend Georgia Congressman John Lewis. Republicans for nominated former football player, and Trump super fan, Herschel Walker to try to unseat Senator Warnock. Walker vocally supported Trump's election lies, posting many times on social media that Biden did not win the 2020 election. Walker declared this week that climate action was "giving money to trees" and "don't we have enough trees?". Walker believes in a total ban on abortion, and is against LGBT rights. Walker is against gun control and floated the idea of the government monitoring all social media and internet usage by Americans instead of gun control. Walker beat his now ex-wife Cindy Grossman, and threatened her with a gun and knives multiple times, after the divorce Grossman feared Walker would kill her and her boyfriend. Walker also is a dead beat dad who has a number of children out of wedlock that he has no contact with, he has criticized black men many times for being absent fathers. The US Senate doesn't need a man who threatens to shoot women, re-elect Senator Warnock.

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Nevada

Catherine Cortez Masto (re-elect)

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto was narrowly elected in 2016 and his running for her second term in the Senate. Senator Cortez Masto is the first women elected to represent Nevada in the Senate and the first and to date ONLY Latina elected to the US Senate. When she was Nevada's attorney general Cortez Masto sued Bank of America for it's predatory lending practices and won nearly a billion dollars against the bank. As a US Senator Cortez Masto has been a major supporter of clean energy jobs and hopes to turn Nevada into the solar energy capital of America. Republicans have nominated former Nevada attorney general Adam Laxalt to try to unseat Cortez Masto. Laxalt spent his time as AG (2015-2019) suing the Obama Administration EPA to fight against strong climate regulations. Laxalt opposed a multi-state law suit against ExxonMobil for it's role in downplaying Climate change. Laxalt also sued the Obama administration to stop DACA, filed briefs supporting radical anti-abortion laws from Texas and Mississippi when they went to court, and sued the Obama Department of Labor to stop certain workers being paid over time. After leaving office Laxalt was the Chairman of Trump's 2020 re-election effort in Nevada. As Chairman Laxalt was the leading figure in the election conspiracy in Nevada claiming the election in his state was fraudulent and Biden hadn't really won Nevada. Laxalt has made many false claims of election fraud in Nevada in the 2020 election. Laxalt launched his 2022 campaign for Senate claiming "woke corporations" "academia" and "the radical left" have taken over America. Nevada has to send Cortez Masto, the only Latina in the Senate, back for another term, Laxalt is dangerously unfit.

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New Hampshire

Maggie Hassan (re-elect)

Senator Maggie Hassan was elected in the closest senate race of 2016 and is running for her second term in the senate. Senator Hassan was a key vote to save Obamacare from repel in 2017. During her time in the US Senate Senator Hassan has helped pass bills to more than double the funding to help treat the opioid crisis as well as banning surprise medical billing. Senator Hassan first ran for office 20 years ago as a way to advocate for her son who has Cerebral palsy, she's been a strong advocate for disability rights and special education through out her time in public service. Because New Hampshire has one of the latest primaries (September 13th) we don't know for sure which Republican will be nominated to face her in November. The front runner is a retired general named Don Bolduc. Bolduc's first foray into into politics was spinning and supporting 2020 election denial conspiracy theories, even after the January 6th riot. Bolduc has closely tied himself to Trump. Bolduc called fellow Republican, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu "Chinese Communist sympathizer" and accused him of "supports terrorism" for not being conservative enough and loyal to Trump enough. New Hampshire should send back a Senator who gets things done and not a wing-nut calling people in his own party communists and terrorists.

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North Carolina

Cheri Beasley (flip)

Former Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court Cheri Beasley is running to fill a Senate seat opened up by the retirement of Republican Senator Richard Burr. In 2008 Beasley became the first black women to win a state wide election in North Carolina when she was elected to the Court of Appeals. In 2012 she was appointed to the state Supreme Court and won election in 2014. She was appointed the Chief Justice in 2019 the first black woman to serve as the State's Chief Justice. Beasley lost by less than 500 votes her run for a full term as Chief Justice in 2020. In her time as a public defender and elected Judge and Justice Beasley has stressed fairness and equity. If elected she'd be the first black Senator from North Carolina. She's stressed health care and abortion rights as key issues of her campaign. Republicans have nominated Congressman Ted Budd to try to fill the seat. Congressman Budd is a member of the radical "House Freedom Caucus". He voted to repeal Obamacare in 2017. Budd was also a major support of Trump's attempt to over throw the result of the 2020 election. Congressman Budd voted against certifying the election result on January 6th, even after the capital had been stormed by violent Trump supporters. Budd is Trump's hand picked candidate for the North Carolina Senate seat, Budd only launched his campaign after meeting with Trump in Mar-a-Lago. North Carolina doesn't need an election denying Trump toady for Senator, send Cheri Beasley to Congress.

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Ohio

Tim Ryan (flip)

Congressman Tim Ryan is running to fill a Senate seat being opened up by the retirement of Republican Senator Rob Portman. Congressman Ryan has represented the Youngstown area of Ohio since 2003. In his time in Congress Ryan has been a champion of unions and American workers. His Senate run is focused on protecting American manufacturing jobs and bring well paying union jobs back to the American heart land. Ryan is strongly pro-choice. Republicans have nominated author and venture capitalist JD Vance. Vance is closely tied to Trump money man Peter Thiel as well as Arizona candidate and white nationalist Blake Masters. Vance has publicly said that women should stay in abusive marriages. Vance is against abortion in all cases even rape or health of the mother. Vance has also publicly stated he sees the populist, antisemitic, anti-LGBT dictatorship of Hungarian Prime Minster Viktor Orbán as a model for America. Vance talked about how he hopes in a second Trump term to purge all civil servants who don't agree with Trumpism and replace them with "our people". America does not need a pro-fascist who supports wife beating in the Senate, send Tim Ryan to the Senate instead.

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Pennsylvania

John Fetterman (flip)

Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman is running to fill a seat opened by the retirement of Republican Senator Pat Toomey. First elected Lt Governor in 2018 Fetterman has used his platform to advocate the legalization of marijuana. Fetterman also is a vocal supporter of the LGBT community clashing with the Republican state legislature repeatedly about the display of a pride flag off the balcony of his official office at the state capital. Fetterman is running a campaign that is strongly pro-choice, supportive of criminal justice reform, and calls healthcare a human right. Republicans have nominated Mehmet Oz, better known as Dr. Oz. As a reality TV star "physician" Oz was criticized repeatedly for advocating fake cures and dangerous weight loss pills. During the Covid-19 pandemic Oz pushed Trump's favorite fake cure, Hydroxychloroquine, which is not a treatment for Covid. While running for the senate Oz has endorsed banning trans people from sports by law, and that trans youth are based on "false science". Oz is also says he'd vote to repeal Obamacare and strongly supports fracking. Pennsylvania doesn't need a flip flopping TV huckster from New Jersey as its Senator, election Fetterman.

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Wisconsin

Mandela Barnes (flip)

Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes is running to unseat Republican Senator Ron Johnson. Barnes served in the state legislature from 2013 till 2017 before being elected Lt Governor in 2018, he is the first black person to win state wide office in Wisconsin. As Lt Governor Barnes served as the chair of the Climate Task Force putting forward a 55 point plan to combat climate change. Barnes has been a vocal supporter of policies like Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, and marijuana legalization. If elected Barnes would be the first black Senator from Wisconsin and one of only two Senators in their 30s. Incumbent Republican Senator Ron Johnson has been Wisconsin's Senator since 2010 and is running for his 3rd term in office. In the Senate Johnson was one of Trump's strongest allies. Johnson was one of the main congressional pushers of the 2020 election conspiracy theories to the point his home town paper the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel called him a member of the "Sedition Caucus". Johnson also has pushed conspiracy theories that the January 6th riot was the fault of Nancy Pelosi or the FBI, and said he didn't think it was a big deal and felt safe during the attack because they were Trump supporters. Johnson has also pushed Covid misinformation, such as mouthwash as a treatment for Covid-19 or that "thousands" of deaths had been linked to the vaccine. Johnson has blamed mass shootings on a failure to teach "values" and is against gun control. in resent weeks Johnson has floated the idea of privatizing Social Security and Medicare. Protect Social Security, send Barnes to Congress.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

If you're one of the 85 million Americans who live in one of these States please PLEASE PLEASE remember to VOTE November 8th

Everyone remember to VOTE NOVEMBER 8th! vote in EVERY election from School Board on up to Governor and Senate, now more than ever all these elections matter and they matter a lot.

if you have $10, $5, even $1 to spare please please please think about giving it to one of these candidates, Democrats are passing big things and are running against the worst of the worst.

If you live in one of these states please please PLEASE think about giving just one weekend between now and Election Day to talk to voters and help turn out the vote. Even if you don't live in any of these states you can call or text voters in these states and help these campaigns

[goopgirlie813]

I pointed this out on a different post, but people tend to forget that the president doesn't have total power. Not everything that happens while they are in office is under their control.

The president's powers are limited by congress who, by the way, have had a republican majority since like 2015. That right there is what we need to change, moreso than the presidency.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_divisions_of_United_States_Congresses

So before you start blaming everything on Biden just because he was in office, take some time to look a little more critically at the situation.

Republicans are the ones attacking trans rights. The Biden administration has made policy changes to protect trans workers and students.

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/04/biden-administration-releases-new-title-vii-rules-protecting-trans-employees/

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/04/biden-administration-unveils-new-title-ix-rules-protecting-trans-students/

His actions protecting trans people have been limited, but they exist. Biden was not responsible for discriminatory anti-trans laws, our republican majority federal government and state governments have been the ones behnind that. Why do they have that majority? Because republicans show up to vote at all levels of election instead of only caring about the presidency.

And abortion rights? The overturn of Roe v Wade? Biden had nothing to do with that decision. That was the supreme court, who also have a republican majority. It is their job to interpret the laws and they decided that the law used to protect abortion rights didn't actually have grounds to do so.

Biden has showed support for abortion rights.

The issue is that the entire rest of our government is controlled by republicans who make it very difficult for anything to come of these efforts.

Quit expecting the president to have complete decision making authority. Quit expecting the president to be responsible for every single thing that happens in our country during their term. Quit expecting the president to be able to pop in and change everything at the snap of a finger.

That is not how our government works. You can't rely on just the president to make everything happen. You can't just ignore the other branches of government.

There is a meaningful difference between republicans and democrats if you actually look at the whole picture. Neither is as progressive as we'd like and yes there are plenty of reasons to criticize democrats. But there is a very real difference here.

I urge ya'll to please go review your understanding of our government system. Idk if your school was shit or if you just didn't pay attention, but if you're gonna be throwing shade at people for their stances make sure you at least understand the subject matter behind what you are talking about. Go review your civics/government class notes. Use google to help you out. Read through the constitution or some shit. As long as you figure out how to properly place the blame when shit happens politically.

You motherfuckers yes I hate Kamala too but when she is announced to be the Democratic candidate we are all going to shoot fireworks and go to the goddamn polls

[qqueenofhades]

Don't act like this isn't the Democrats fault. They didn't codify Roe when they had the chance, and now they're paying the price.

Hooweeeee. Normally, I just block these kinds of asks out of hand and go on with my day, but you've caught me at the end of two solid days of Rage, and unfortunately for you, I'm not gonna do that. Instead, just to start, I would like to politely ask the following question:

Hello! Have you ever considered the possibility that you may be A Total Fucking Idiot?

Since there are many of us, present company regretfully included, who struggle with history, let's start out with a quick lesson. Roe was handed down in 1973. It took a while to really get evangelicals hot under the collar, but by 1987, in Ronald Reagan's second term, it had definitely happened. To further the Republicans' cherished goal of overturning it, Reagan nominated far-right whackjob Robert Bork to the Supreme Court. The Democrats, led by then-Senator Joe Biden, fought back on a massive scale and defeated the nomination, leading to Anthony Kennedy joining the SC instead of Bork.

In 1992, another abortion-related case reached the Supreme Court: Planned Parenthood v. Casey, wherein Roe was pretty much reaffirmed in its entirety. By 1992, George H.W. Bush had finished one term, generally underwhelmed the public, and was voted out, thus to be replaced by Bill Clinton. In 1994, in Clinton's first midterm election, the Newt Gingrich Republicans took the House and the Strom Thurmond and Bob Dole Republicans took the Senate. This GOP control of at least one branch of Congress remained the case until 2001, when George W. Bush became president. (Also, the GOP Clinton-era Republicans had other things to do, such as the Lewinsky scandal in 1998, back when they still pretended to have moral values and impeached Clinton accordingly). Considering the fact that any attempt to pass a national law to codify Roe was obviously doomed with Dubya in the White House, since he would have vetoed it, and that the Democrats didn't fully control the House, Senate, and Presidency again until 2009, one might feel that formalizing a twice-affirmed decision by the Supreme Court maybe wasn't the top priority. Abortion rights were and are popular (in fact, that's why the three Trumpists on the SC had to lie to the Judiciary Committee about their plans to repeal it), and Obama had other things on his plate. Like, you know, saving the national and global economy from total meltdown after the crisis of 2008, and trying to jam through the Affordable Care Act in the short time he had before 2010, and once more losing the House to the Tea Party. The loss of the Senate followed in 2014. Once again, we didn't get it back until 2021, when the three wingnut justices were already seated on the Court and Trump had run his reign of terror.

Considering those empirical circumstances, the fact that the Democrats have only had control of all three branches of the federal government for two-year periods at MOST and were busy fixing all the other most pressing messes, and that the Republicans have said for decades that this is exactly what they want to do, I am truly gobsmacked (if not surprised) at the sheer number of morons who want to make this, yet again, the Democrats' fault. Apparently the Republicans are just a force of nature who can't really be blamed or actually considered to have agency; it's only ever on the Democrats for Not Doing Enough To Stop Them. Instead, we now have hordes of told-you-so-ers swarming out of the woodwork and acting like this was a five-alarm fire that the Democrats willfully ignored and/or fanned on. That is incredibly moronic on multiple levels, but hey, that kind of seems to be your Brand. That is, when you're not labeling smug inactivity and self-professed moral superiority as the most pure and correct course of action, but again, we all have our talents.

There was no way for the Republicans to overturn Roe without the exact kind of judicial skulduggery, right-wing extremism, and scads of dark money that finally came together in the perfect storm. (Ever hear of Citizens United in 2010, and the way in which hard-right interest groups have been funding this planned takeover of the judiciary for years? Or does that conflict with your predetermined hypothesis?) Apparently Democrats should have Done More to stop Trump from choosing Supreme Court justices (a Very Smart White Man on twitter made the argument that it was actually Senate Democrats' fault for not stopping McConnell on procedural grounds, or.... something). This was after actual Democrats begged the Holier Than Thous to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016, explicitly because we pointed out that the Supreme Court was in a precarious position with elderly justices and open seats, and the next president would be poised to reshape it for the next generation. You all laughed at us, more or less openly called us a bunch of bootlicking neoliberal traitors, and told us that the Supreme Court didn't matter and we were all delusional. Then you didn't vote. Then Trump won the election by squeaking out wins in a handful of key states. Then.... well, we all know what happened next.

So tell me, Oh Wise Internet Sage. Where, in what Congress, and according to what actual rules of reality, procedure, and priority, should the Democrats have passed a law to codify a popular twice-affirmed Supreme Court decision that was not under serious threat precisely until this confluence of circumstances took place under the Trump presidency? Be specific, and point out exactly how it would have happened. Otherwise, your argument is bad and you should feel bad.

Biden, Harris, Pelosi, Schumer, Warren, Obama, and all the other prominent Democratic leadership and/or congresspeople have already made strong statements within hours of the draft opinion being leaked. Republicans are screaming in unison that whoever leaked it is the actual story, not the content or impact of the decision (literally what McConnell said today on CNN). The DEMOCRATS DO SOMETHING!!! crowd need to, uh, actually say what they're fucking supposed to do now. Instead you blame RBG, you blame HRC, you blame the Democrats, and absolutely everyone and anyone except the actual people responsible for doing this. You may think it's an enlightened and complex stance that reflects the Realities of the World, or whatever. You may think that Joe Manchin doesn't exist (believe me, I wish he fucking didn't) and that Biden can wave a magic wand and overturn SCOTUS. Do they need to do more? YES! MANY OF THEM HAVE EXPLICITLY SAID THEY WILL BE EXPLORING ALL OPTIONS! BUT WE STILL LIVE (FOR THE NEXT FEW MONTHS) IN A DEMOCRACY AND THAT REQUIRES US DOING OUR JOB AND VOTING IN NEW AND BETTER PEOPLE TO HELP THEM!

I'm sick and fucking tired of this pissbaby whining from the exact same people who make us beg and plead for their vote every single election, feel morally justified in withholding it, and have done literally nothing to advance any of the causes they claim to care about. "Hindsight is 20/20" some of you like to point out, but with the expected irony, you miss it completely when it comes to reviewing any of your own (non) actions and any hint of genuine acknowledgment that your apathy and nihilism helped this happen. So. Suck on that, then go step on a rake. If this should knock some sense into you, we can then talk again.

[batboyblog]

What Does Voter Harder Mean?

So you likely have seen "Vote Harder" over the last few days as either a literal response to what happened to Abortion rights, or mocking that reaction so some points:

Why does voting matter now that Roe has been overturned?

It's important to understand that the Supreme Court didn't make abortion illegal. What they did was make it no longer protected by the US Constitution. This means that state governments can pass laws banning abortion, a number of states have automatic laws in place that'll ban abortion with-in 30 days of Roe being overturned. Other states will have to pass laws. Some states have laws on the books still from before Roe. Michigan is one of those states, however Michigan has a pro-choice woman Democratic Governor who declares she will not try to enforce that law. She's also up for re-election. You seeing what I'm getting at? if she losing a Republican Governor will try to enforce that law and make abortion illegal in the state.

Thats the case literally everywhere in the US, 36 states are having statewide elections in November (the 8th!) if Republicans gain control of a states Governorship, and State House and Senate they WILL! ban abortion in your state.

On the Federal level the whole House of Representatives and 35 Senate Seats are up. Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell have both floated the idea of banning abortion nationally if they win in November. Now as long as Biden is President that'd get vetoed. However if Democrats lose control of the Senate I'll remind you how we got here. In February 2016 Ultra Conservative Justice Antonin Scalia died. Obama appointed moderate liberal Merrick Garland to fill the seat in March. Mitch McConnell was Senate Majority leader at the time, and refused to hold hearings or a vote. Garland of course never became a Justice, by holding the seat open McConnell allowed Trump to fill it in 2017.

Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito are old men in their 70s, if one of them dies while Joe Biden (or the next Democratic President) is President and Republicans control the Senate they will just refuse to fill the seat for as long as it takes for there to be a Republican President. They will do this to the Liberal Justices as well. When Biden nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace retiring liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, 47 Republicans voted No even though there were no real objections to her.

So to sum up, what your state government looks like after November will determine if you have abortion rights in your state. If Democrats lose Control of Congress Republicans will pass a national abortion ban, if Democrats don't keep control of the Senate no more liberal Justices will be able to be appointed to the court.

But What Does Vote Harder Mean?

Assuming you are an American citizen, legal adult, and registered to vote, (If you are not registered to vote, please fix that ASAP) and you vote in major elections, this is what that means:

Vote in every, yes EVERY election. Do you vote for President? great! so glad to hear it! but dramatically fewer people vote in mid-term elections, these elections decide who controls Congress and your state Government. In Taxes before 2020 a majority of voting aged adults had NEVER voted in a statewide election in my life. current nightmare Governor Greg Abbott won his first election to be governor in 2014 with the votes of just.... 14.7% of Texas voting aged adults.....

Past midterms you have to vote in even less exciting elections, elections for city government, county government and school board as well as primaries. Lots of local races like City Council and School Board are "non-partisan" meaning what political party a candidate is a part of isn't listed or even they can't say. This means you're gonna have to do your research. Your votes for School Board will decide if teens are getting realistic sex education or abstinence only, if the school nurse is handing out condoms or reporting sexually active teens to their parents. Your vote can decide if your city gives a contract to Planned Parenthood or using zoning and red tape to harass a clinic out of town.

2. So you already vote in every election. You're great! and I love you! you're the kind of person who votes in school board elections during off-off years on a random Tuesday in June, love it! How about trying to register other people to vote? have you ever registered a voter? All States have different rules, but most allow you random citizen to help a fellow citizen fill out a brief card that you can hand over to a election clerk and get that person registered to vote.

3. Talk to people you know. Do you have ANY one in your life who's a flakey voter, or maybe they're flakey in general. An aunt, uncle, cousin, niece, nephew, friend or co-worker who doesn't vote every time? guess what it's now your job to remind them, call, text, talk to them remind them, keep reminding them. Do you have someone in your life with vague liberal ideas/ideals but don't really know how that translates into politics. It's your job to explain it to them, help them figure out what the candidates in their area are and when they need to vote. Are you LGBTQ, of color, disabled, or a woman of child baring age with a beloved older relative (who's white) who loves you very much but still keeps voting Republican? Its time, its time to have that really hard talk with great-grandpa, uncle Bob or grandma. Whoever it is, that talk you've been avoiding because its awkward and might be painful. You need to explain to them, as many time as it takes, that a vote for Republicans is a vote against you the person they love, that you WILL be hurt by Republicans in government.

4. Talk to people you don't know. Volunteer to talk to voters, to knock doors and make phone calls. Join the Democratic Party's effort to talk to voters. Look at your state Democratic Parties and sign up. You can sign up with Planned Parenthood Action Fund NARAL Pro-Choice National Organization for Women Human Rights Campaign or Lambda Legal

There is no fast easy way to overturn this, no magic bullet, no quick fix. Republicans worked for 40 years to do this. Since 1980 Republicans have controlled at least one branch of the federal government for 36 of those 42 years. Democrats have controlled all 3 branches of government just 6 years over the last 42. Since 2011 Republicans have controlled more State Governments and Governors offices in America every year for the last 10.

The only answer is to win, to organize and fight and win, and not to go "voted once and everything isn't all better, I give up!" because they will take more from you.

[alarajrogers]

OK, I do actually have to say something here.

First of all, insurance is bullshit and I want single payer, badly. I'd love this Medicare 4 All shit. But I do not approve of eliminating private insurance, and this is why:

The government cannot be trusted with women's health care. Or health care for trans people or gay people. They have proven this, extensively.

Unless you have a way to completely eliminate the Republican Party and make sure they never get power again, and no, you don't, then we need private insurance to exist for those times when the Republicans get control of the entire Congress and the Presidency and they gut Medicare 4 All by removing birth control, trans healthcare, and maybe even make pregnancy care onerous to receive if you're not married to a man (and if you're a trans guy, none at all.)

"People would never stand for that" -- it's happening right now, through laws that try to make those things illegal. It'd be a lot easier to do it by just refusing to pay for it.

Medicare 4 All may also undergo sporadic outbreaks of severe fatphobia (we won't allow you to get an organ transplant unless you lose weight. We won't fully cover your medical bills if you are overweight. We demand that if you are overweight you must attend a weight loss program in order to keep your benefits), prejudice against addiction (we won't cover any form of drug rehab except alcohol and tobacco, we will take your benefits away unless you join an AA-like program), and other socially acceptable forms of prejudice that exist on the Left a lot. And this might happen under Democrats. It might remove coverage for autistic children unless the parents put them in ABA. It might reduce providers' payments if they don't push ABA hard on those parents.

Look, I know how Medicare and Medicaid work now. You don't see too much of this bullshit because the elderly population mostly don't suffer from controversial disorders, and often, if they're fat, the attitude is "well, whattya want, they're 76". But right now, CMS and The Joint Commission (this regulates hospitals) produce quality standard metrics that hospitals must try to meet in order to fully qualify for all their payments, and these are supposedly based on current accepted science-based practices. And most of them are in fact pretty good. (Or were, when I worked with them 10 years ago.) Like, for mental health, they dinged you hard on restraint and seclusion, and they made you prove that if you gave the patient lots of different drugs, it was because they didn't respond to fewer drugs. For surgery, they defined what counts as a good way to remove hair from the area, and they got rid of shaving because it introduces potential for bacteria. Compression stockings do not count as sufficient protection against DVTs. Etc.

But the rules also said that if you're a person with pneumonia, and you smoke, they have to give you materials on how to stop smoking, even if they did it three months ago, even if you say "I'm not gonna stop, doc." Can you see how this might be misused against fat people? Against addicts? By people who absolutely mean well and think this will improve health outcomes? And I'm sure you all know by now what Republicans will do to gut health care for everyone they don't like.

Is this a good reason not to have Medicare For All? No, of course not. If they explicitly said "We will not cover medical treatment for trans people, we will not help women not get pregnant, we will not treat addicts unless they are no longer addicts", it would still be better than what we have now... but there would need to be something that exists to cover what they won't.

Private insurance should continue to exist, but should be sold direct to consumers with a risk pool consisting of all of their customers statewide. That allows competition to actually do what it's supposed to. Going through businesses always prevented the pressure of consumer choice from being applied, because workers can't pick where they work based on the insurance that's offered.

And private insurance should be competing with free. Because that's some strong incentive to offer decent service with low prices.

oh no

[sybbi]

When you come from a state that is completely controlled by Republicans, I can assure you, it's pretty easy to see the difference between the two parties. To act like voting doesn't matter and politics is pointless and the only way anyone will get anywhere is if we BuRn It AlL dOwN (definition: continue to do nothing but bitch about things on Twitter) is spitting in the face of every left-leaning group struggling to defend their values and communities in states where Republicans repeatedly make a target out of them, and whose efforts even BLUE STATE LEFTISTS consistently belittle.

The same people that say they TOTALLY care about minorities and poor people and queer people and women are so quick to discount these populations in red states bc, hey, they're in California!! Even if the next president is a Republican who tries to do bad things, California won't allow it! Their state will protect them! And oh, they'll be all upset and outraged when they see another outrageous news story coming out of a red state as a DIRECT RESULT of Republican leadership. But all those people they CLAIM to care about who AREN'T in a state like California? Well, they don't have to THINK about how a Republican president and heavily Republican-controlled Congress might affect real people in a real way, because let's be real!! They don't care!!

Because all those people are in fly-over states! They're people in the abstract! There's nothing to do there and WHO would choose to live there? It's expensive and hard to move, but they should just, you know, move! The butt of all their jokes are the less populated states -- everything they do in those states is weird, and nothing that happens there matters anyway, they're so irrelevant, haha! Also all the people there are ugly and unfashionable, you know? Oh but body positivity and poor people deserve better (clothes) and all that!

We're gonna say both parties suck equally even when we're benefitting from one side's leadership and you're suffering from the other!!!

My respect for blue state leftists is nearing an event horizon

[90363462]

Senate 2022: You'd Better Vote!

If you're an American VERY IMPORTANT! elections are coming up on November 8th. Since the 2020 election the US Senate has been tied at 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans with Vice-President Harris casting the tie breaking vote that gives Democrats their majority. Even with such a tight margin Democrats have managed to pass the largest climate action taken by any country so far on earth (yet), lower prescription drug costs, pass the first gun control law since the 1990s , made lynching a federal crime after over 100 years of trying, made Juneteenth a federal holiday, confirmed the first black woman ever to serve on the Supreme Court, passed a trillion dollar infrastructure bill to rebuild our roads, bridges, transportation, better internet, clean water, and support electric cars, saved the US Post Office, passed a renewal of the Violence Against Women Act which had been in limbo since 2019.

Imagine all that the Democrats in the Senate could get done in the next 2 years with a stable majority? On the Flip side if Republicans net just one seat Mitch McConnell has made it clear there will be no progress if he's majority leader again. There are 35 Senate seats up on November 8th, I'm gonna list out the 9 seats with vulnerable Democrats who need re-electing and seats Democrats can flip to expand their majority. Everyone needs to vote, but voting is the start, the most basic thing you need to do, if you live in any of these states PLEASE sign up to volunteer for these candidates, to go talk to voters, to register new voters, to give rides to the polls etc. If you don't live in any of these states, you can still volunteer to make phone calls or text voters it's easy! if you have money to give please please give money campaigns are so expensive. Finally most of these campaigns have merch shops so if you feed more comfortable buying a shirt or a bag or whatever do that lots of them have cool pro-choice things.

Arizona

Mark Kelly (Re-elect)

Senator Mark Kelly was elected in a special election in 2020 and is running for a full term this year. Kelly is a former astronaut and the husband of gun violence survivor and gun control advocate Gabby Giffords. Kelly is a strong supporter of gun control an issue he's worked on with Giffords as an activist for 10 years before Congress. Republicans have nominated Blake Masters, who worked for one of Trump's top supporters, Peter Thiel, Thiel spent 13 million dollars to get Masters nominated. Masters calls himself a "America First Conservative" and a "hard-core nationalist". Masters has embraced the racist "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory, supports Trump's conspiracy theories about the 2020 election being stolen, is against gay marriage, says gun violence is all the fault of black people, and is against aid to Ukraine. Kelly is a good democrat, Masters is a white nationalist and election denier, we need Kelly back in the Senate, and we need to keep Masters far far away

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Florida

Val Demings (Flip)

Congresswoman Val Demings has represented the city of Orlando in the US House since 2017. Before that she served as Orlando's first woman chief of police. In Congress Demings has used her law enforcement background to lend credibility to gun control and police reform. Demings also served as one of the impeachment managers in Trump's first impeachment trial. If elected Val Demings will be Florida's first woman and first black Senator. Demings is running to unseat Republican Senator Marco Rubio. After running against Trump in the 2016 primaries Rubio became one of Trump's biggest supporters in Congress. Rubio reacted to the Parkland shooting in his state by doubling down on opposing any gun control, Val Demings voted to ban assault rifles. Rubio has also been a cheerleader for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' anti-LGBT/anti-Trans policies that bully queer students in Florida, he doesn't believe in the right to same sex marriage and is for banning books. Rubio also wants a total ban on abortion in all cases, Val Demings has a 100% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America. Florida needs a strong supporter of Gun control, climate action, the right to choose, and LGBT rights in the Senate, Florida needs Demings not Rubio

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Georgia

Raphael Warnock (re-elect)

Senator Raphael Warnock was elected in a special election in 2020 and is running for a full 6 year term this year. Warnock is the first black senator from the State of Georgia and the first Democrat elected in 20 years. Before becoming a senator Warnock was the pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, which was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's church and a center of the 1960s civil rights movement. Warnock used his position to protest and fight against the death penalty, to expand medicare in Georgia, for gun control, and for voting rights. In the Senate, Senator Warnock has been one of the most outspoken on voting rights pushing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act named after his late friend Georgia Congressman John Lewis. Republicans for nominated former football player, and Trump super fan, Herschel Walker to try to unseat Senator Warnock. Walker vocally supported Trump's election lies, posting many times on social media that Biden did not win the 2020 election. Walker declared this week that climate action was "giving money to trees" and "don't we have enough trees?". Walker believes in a total ban on abortion, and is against LGBT rights. Walker is against gun control and floated the idea of the government monitoring all social media and internet usage by Americans instead of gun control. Walker beat his now ex-wife Cindy Grossman, and threatened her with a gun and knives multiple times, after the divorce Grossman feared Walker would kill her and her boyfriend. Walker also is a dead beat dad who has a number of children out of wedlock that he has no contact with, he has criticized black men many times for being absent fathers. The US Senate doesn't need a man who threatens to shoot women, re-elect Senator Warnock.

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Nevada

Catherine Cortez Masto (re-elect)

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto was narrowly elected in 2016 and his running for her second term in the Senate. Senator Cortez Masto is the first women elected to represent Nevada in the Senate and the first and to date ONLY Latina elected to the US Senate. When she was Nevada's attorney general Cortez Masto sued Bank of America for it's predatory lending practices and won nearly a billion dollars against the bank. As a US Senator Cortez Masto has been a major supporter of clean energy jobs and hopes to turn Nevada into the solar energy capital of America. Republicans have nominated former Nevada attorney general Adam Laxalt to try to unseat Cortez Masto. Laxalt spent his time as AG (2015-2019) suing the Obama Administration EPA to fight against strong climate regulations. Laxalt opposed a multi-state law suit against ExxonMobil for it's role in downplaying Climate change. Laxalt also sued the Obama administration to stop DACA, filed briefs supporting radical anti-abortion laws from Texas and Mississippi when they went to court, and sued the Obama Department of Labor to stop certain workers being paid over time. After leaving office Laxalt was the Chairman of Trump's 2020 re-election effort in Nevada. As Chairman Laxalt was the leading figure in the election conspiracy in Nevada claiming the election in his state was fraudulent and Biden hadn't really won Nevada. Laxalt has made many false claims of election fraud in Nevada in the 2020 election. Laxalt launched his 2022 campaign for Senate claiming "woke corporations" "academia" and "the radical left" have taken over America. Nevada has to send Cortez Masto, the only Latina in the Senate, back for another term, Laxalt is dangerously unfit.

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New Hampshire

Maggie Hassan (re-elect)

Senator Maggie Hassan was elected in the closest senate race of 2016 and is running for her second term in the senate. Senator Hassan was a key vote to save Obamacare from repel in 2017. During her time in the US Senate Senator Hassan has helped pass bills to more than double the funding to help treat the opioid crisis as well as banning surprise medical billing. Senator Hassan first ran for office 20 years ago as a way to advocate for her son who has Cerebral palsy, she's been a strong advocate for disability rights and special education through out her time in public service. Because New Hampshire has one of the latest primaries (September 13th) we don't know for sure which Republican will be nominated to face her in November. The front runner is a retired general named Don Bolduc. Bolduc's first foray into into politics was spinning and supporting 2020 election denial conspiracy theories, even after the January 6th riot. Bolduc has closely tied himself to Trump. Bolduc called fellow Republican, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu "Chinese Communist sympathizer" and accused him of "supports terrorism" for not being conservative enough and loyal to Trump enough. New Hampshire should send back a Senator who gets things done and not a wing-nut calling people in his own party communists and terrorists.

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North Carolina

Cheri Beasley (flip)

Former Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court Cheri Beasley is running to fill a Senate seat opened up by the retirement of Republican Senator Richard Burr. In 2008 Beasley became the first black women to win a state wide election in North Carolina when she was elected to the Court of Appeals. In 2012 she was appointed to the state Supreme Court and won election in 2014. She was appointed the Chief Justice in 2019 the first black woman to serve as the State's Chief Justice. Beasley lost by less than 500 votes her run for a full term as Chief Justice in 2020. In her time as a public defender and elected Judge and Justice Beasley has stressed fairness and equity. If elected she'd be the first black Senator from North Carolina. She's stressed health care and abortion rights as key issues of her campaign. Republicans have nominated Congressman Ted Budd to try to fill the seat. Congressman Budd is a member of the radical "House Freedom Caucus". He voted to repeal Obamacare in 2017. Budd was also a major support of Trump's attempt to over throw the result of the 2020 election. Congressman Budd voted against certifying the election result on January 6th, even after the capital had been stormed by violent Trump supporters. Budd is Trump's hand picked candidate for the North Carolina Senate seat, Budd only launched his campaign after meeting with Trump in Mar-a-Lago. North Carolina doesn't need an election denying Trump toady for Senator, send Cheri Beasley to Congress.

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Ohio

Tim Ryan (flip)

Congressman Tim Ryan is running to fill a Senate seat being opened up by the retirement of Republican Senator Rob Portman. Congressman Ryan has represented the Youngstown area of Ohio since 2003. In his time in Congress Ryan has been a champion of unions and American workers. His Senate run is focused on protecting American manufacturing jobs and bring well paying union jobs back to the American heart land. Ryan is strongly pro-choice. Republicans have nominated author and venture capitalist JD Vance. Vance is closely tied to Trump money man Peter Thiel as well as Arizona candidate and white nationalist Blake Masters. Vance has publicly said that women should stay in abusive marriages. Vance is against abortion in all cases even rape or health of the mother. Vance has also publicly stated he sees the populist, antisemitic, anti-LGBT dictatorship of Hungarian Prime Minster Viktor Orbán as a model for America. Vance talked about how he hopes in a second Trump term to purge all civil servants who don't agree with Trumpism and replace them with "our people". America does not need a pro-fascist who supports wife beating in the Senate, send Tim Ryan to the Senate instead.

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Pennsylvania

John Fetterman (flip)

Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman is running to fill a seat opened by the retirement of Republican Senator Pat Toomey. First elected Lt Governor in 2018 Fetterman has used his platform to advocate the legalization of marijuana. Fetterman also is a vocal supporter of the LGBT community clashing with the Republican state legislature repeatedly about the display of a pride flag off the balcony of his official office at the state capital. Fetterman is running a campaign that is strongly pro-choice, supportive of criminal justice reform, and calls healthcare a human right. Republicans have nominated Mehmet Oz, better known as Dr. Oz. As a reality TV star "physician" Oz was criticized repeatedly for advocating fake cures and dangerous weight loss pills. During the Covid-19 pandemic Oz pushed Trump's favorite fake cure, Hydroxychloroquine, which is not a treatment for Covid. While running for the senate Oz has endorsed banning trans people from sports by law, and that trans youth are based on "false science". Oz is also says he'd vote to repeal Obamacare and strongly supports fracking. Pennsylvania doesn't need a flip flopping TV huckster from New Jersey as its Senator, election Fetterman.

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Wisconsin

Mandela Barnes (flip)

Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes is running to unseat Republican Senator Ron Johnson. Barnes served in the state legislature from 2013 till 2017 before being elected Lt Governor in 2018, he is the first black person to win state wide office in Wisconsin. As Lt Governor Barnes served as the chair of the Climate Task Force putting forward a 55 point plan to combat climate change. Barnes has been a vocal supporter of policies like Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, and marijuana legalization. If elected Barnes would be the first black Senator from Wisconsin and one of only two Senators in their 30s. Incumbent Republican Senator Ron Johnson has been Wisconsin's Senator since 2010 and is running for his 3rd term in office. In the Senate Johnson was one of Trump's strongest allies. Johnson was one of the main congressional pushers of the 2020 election conspiracy theories to the point his home town paper the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel called him a member of the "Sedition Caucus". Johnson also has pushed conspiracy theories that the January 6th riot was the fault of Nancy Pelosi or the FBI, and said he didn't think it was a big deal and felt safe during the attack because they were Trump supporters. Johnson has also pushed Covid misinformation, such as mouthwash as a treatment for Covid-19 or that "thousands" of deaths had been linked to the vaccine. Johnson has blamed mass shootings on a failure to teach "values" and is against gun control. in resent weeks Johnson has floated the idea of privatizing Social Security and Medicare. Protect Social Security, send Barnes to Congress.

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If you're one of the 85 million Americans who live in one of these States please PLEASE PLEASE remember to VOTE November 8th

Everyone remember to VOTE NOVEMBER 8th! vote in EVERY election from School Board on up to Governor and Senate, now more than ever all these elections matter and they matter a lot.

if you have $10, $5, even $1 to spare please please please think about giving it to one of these candidates, Democrats are passing big things and are running against the worst of the worst.

If you live in one of these states please please PLEASE think about giving just one weekend between now and Election Day to talk to voters and help turn out the vote. Even if you don't live in any of these states you can call or text voters in these states and help these campaigns

Senate 2022: You'd Better Vote!

If you're an American VERY IMPORTANT! elections are coming up on November 8th. Since the 2020 election the US Senate has been tied at 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans with Vice-President Harris casting the tie breaking vote that gives Democrats their majority. Even with such a tight margin Democrats have managed to pass the largest climate action taken by any country so far on earth (yet), lower prescription drug costs, pass the first gun control law since the 1990s , made lynching a federal crime after over 100 years of trying, made Juneteenth a federal holiday, confirmed the first black woman ever to serve on the Supreme Court, passed a trillion dollar infrastructure bill to rebuild our roads, bridges, transportation, better internet, clean water, and support electric cars, saved the US Post Office, passed a renewal of the Violence Against Women Act which had been in limbo since 2019.

Imagine all that the Democrats in the Senate could get done in the next 2 years with a stable majority? On the Flip side if Republicans net just one seat Mitch McConnell has made it clear there will be no progress if he's majority leader again. There are 35 Senate seats up on November 8th, I'm gonna list out the 9 seats with vulnerable Democrats who need re-electing and seats Democrats can flip to expand their majority. Everyone needs to vote, but voting is the start, the most basic thing you need to do, if you live in any of these states PLEASE sign up to volunteer for these candidates, to go talk to voters, to register new voters, to give rides to the polls etc. If you don't live in any of these states, you can still volunteer to make phone calls or text voters it's easy! if you have money to give please please give money campaigns are so expensive. Finally most of these campaigns have merch shops so if you feed more comfortable buying a shirt or a bag or whatever do that lots of them have cool pro-choice things.

Arizona

Mark Kelly (Re-elect)

Senator Mark Kelly was elected in a special election in 2020 and is running for a full term this year. Kelly is a former astronaut and the husband of gun violence survivor and gun control advocate Gabby Giffords. Kelly is a strong supporter of gun control an issue he's worked on with Giffords as an activist for 10 years before Congress. Republicans have nominated Blake Masters, who worked for one of Trump's top supporters, Peter Thiel, Thiel spent 13 million dollars to get Masters nominated. Masters calls himself a "America First Conservative" and a "hard-core nationalist". Masters has embraced the racist "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory, supports Trump's conspiracy theories about the 2020 election being stolen, is against gay marriage, says gun violence is all the fault of black people, and is against aid to Ukraine. Kelly is a good democrat, Masters is a white nationalist and election denier, we need Kelly back in the Senate, and we need to keep Masters far far away

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Florida

Val Demings (Flip)

Congresswoman Val Demings has represented the city of Orlando in the US House since 2017. Before that she served as Orlando's first woman chief of police. In Congress Demings has used her law enforcement background to lend credibility to gun control and police reform. Demings also served as one of the impeachment managers in Trump's first impeachment trial. If elected Val Demings will be Florida's first woman and first black Senator. Demings is running to unseat Republican Senator Marco Rubio. After running against Trump in the 2016 primaries Rubio became one of Trump's biggest supporters in Congress. Rubio reacted to the Parkland shooting in his state by doubling down on opposing any gun control, Val Demings voted to ban assault rifles. Rubio has also been a cheerleader for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' anti-LGBT/anti-Trans policies that bully queer students in Florida, he doesn't believe in the right to same sex marriage and is for banning books. Rubio also wants a total ban on abortion in all cases, Val Demings has a 100% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America. Florida needs a strong supporter of Gun control, climate action, the right to choose, and LGBT rights in the Senate, Florida needs Demings not Rubio

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Georgia

Raphael Warnock (re-elect)

Senator Raphael Warnock was elected in a special election in 2020 and is running for a full 6 year term this year. Warnock is the first black senator from the State of Georgia and the first Democrat elected in 20 years. Before becoming a senator Warnock was the pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, which was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's church and a center of the 1960s civil rights movement. Warnock used his position to protest and fight against the death penalty, to expand medicare in Georgia, for gun control, and for voting rights. In the Senate, Senator Warnock has been one of the most outspoken on voting rights pushing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act named after his late friend Georgia Congressman John Lewis. Republicans for nominated former football player, and Trump super fan, Herschel Walker to try to unseat Senator Warnock. Walker vocally supported Trump's election lies, posting many times on social media that Biden did not win the 2020 election. Walker declared this week that climate action was "giving money to trees" and "don't we have enough trees?". Walker believes in a total ban on abortion, and is against LGBT rights. Walker is against gun control and floated the idea of the government monitoring all social media and internet usage by Americans instead of gun control. Walker beat his now ex-wife Cindy Grossman, and threatened her with a gun and knives multiple times, after the divorce Grossman feared Walker would kill her and her boyfriend. Walker also is a dead beat dad who has a number of children out of wedlock that he has no contact with, he has criticized black men many times for being absent fathers. The US Senate doesn't need a man who threatens to shoot women, re-elect Senator Warnock.

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Nevada

Catherine Cortez Masto (re-elect)

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto was narrowly elected in 2016 and his running for her second term in the Senate. Senator Cortez Masto is the first women elected to represent Nevada in the Senate and the first and to date ONLY Latina elected to the US Senate. When she was Nevada's attorney general Cortez Masto sued Bank of America for it's predatory lending practices and won nearly a billion dollars against the bank. As a US Senator Cortez Masto has been a major supporter of clean energy jobs and hopes to turn Nevada into the solar energy capital of America. Republicans have nominated former Nevada attorney general Adam Laxalt to try to unseat Cortez Masto. Laxalt spent his time as AG (2015-2019) suing the Obama Administration EPA to fight against strong climate regulations. Laxalt opposed a multi-state law suit against ExxonMobil for it's role in downplaying Climate change. Laxalt also sued the Obama administration to stop DACA, filed briefs supporting radical anti-abortion laws from Texas and Mississippi when they went to court, and sued the Obama Department of Labor to stop certain workers being paid over time. After leaving office Laxalt was the Chairman of Trump's 2020 re-election effort in Nevada. As Chairman Laxalt was the leading figure in the election conspiracy in Nevada claiming the election in his state was fraudulent and Biden hadn't really won Nevada. Laxalt has made many false claims of election fraud in Nevada in the 2020 election. Laxalt launched his 2022 campaign for Senate claiming "woke corporations" "academia" and "the radical left" have taken over America. Nevada has to send Cortez Masto, the only Latina in the Senate, back for another term, Laxalt is dangerously unfit.

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New Hampshire

Maggie Hassan (re-elect)

Senator Maggie Hassan was elected in the closest senate race of 2016 and is running for her second term in the senate. Senator Hassan was a key vote to save Obamacare from repel in 2017. During her time in the US Senate Senator Hassan has helped pass bills to more than double the funding to help treat the opioid crisis as well as banning surprise medical billing. Senator Hassan first ran for office 20 years ago as a way to advocate for her son who has Cerebral palsy, she's been a strong advocate for disability rights and special education through out her time in public service. Because New Hampshire has one of the latest primaries (September 13th) we don't know for sure which Republican will be nominated to face her in November. The front runner is a retired general named Don Bolduc. Bolduc's first foray into into politics was spinning and supporting 2020 election denial conspiracy theories, even after the January 6th riot. Bolduc has closely tied himself to Trump. Bolduc called fellow Republican, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu "Chinese Communist sympathizer" and accused him of "supports terrorism" for not being conservative enough and loyal to Trump enough. New Hampshire should send back a Senator who gets things done and not a wing-nut calling people in his own party communists and terrorists.

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North Carolina

Cheri Beasley (flip)

Former Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court Cheri Beasley is running to fill a Senate seat opened up by the retirement of Republican Senator Richard Burr. In 2008 Beasley became the first black women to win a state wide election in North Carolina when she was elected to the Court of Appeals. In 2012 she was appointed to the state Supreme Court and won election in 2014. She was appointed the Chief Justice in 2019 the first black woman to serve as the State's Chief Justice. Beasley lost by less than 500 votes her run for a full term as Chief Justice in 2020. In her time as a public defender and elected Judge and Justice Beasley has stressed fairness and equity. If elected she'd be the first black Senator from North Carolina. She's stressed health care and abortion rights as key issues of her campaign. Republicans have nominated Congressman Ted Budd to try to fill the seat. Congressman Budd is a member of the radical "House Freedom Caucus". He voted to repeal Obamacare in 2017. Budd was also a major support of Trump's attempt to over throw the result of the 2020 election. Congressman Budd voted against certifying the election result on January 6th, even after the capital had been stormed by violent Trump supporters. Budd is Trump's hand picked candidate for the North Carolina Senate seat, Budd only launched his campaign after meeting with Trump in Mar-a-Lago. North Carolina doesn't need an election denying Trump toady for Senator, send Cheri Beasley to Congress.

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Ohio

Tim Ryan (flip)

Congressman Tim Ryan is running to fill a Senate seat being opened up by the retirement of Republican Senator Rob Portman. Congressman Ryan has represented the Youngstown area of Ohio since 2003. In his time in Congress Ryan has been a champion of unions and American workers. His Senate run is focused on protecting American manufacturing jobs and bring well paying union jobs back to the American heart land. Ryan is strongly pro-choice. Republicans have nominated author and venture capitalist JD Vance. Vance is closely tied to Trump money man Peter Thiel as well as Arizona candidate and white nationalist Blake Masters. Vance has publicly said that women should stay in abusive marriages. Vance is against abortion in all cases even rape or health of the mother. Vance has also publicly stated he sees the populist, antisemitic, anti-LGBT dictatorship of Hungarian Prime Minster Viktor Orbán as a model for America. Vance talked about how he hopes in a second Trump term to purge all civil servants who don't agree with Trumpism and replace them with "our people". America does not need a pro-fascist who supports wife beating in the Senate, send Tim Ryan to the Senate instead.

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Pennsylvania

John Fetterman (flip)

Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman is running to fill a seat opened by the retirement of Republican Senator Pat Toomey. First elected Lt Governor in 2018 Fetterman has used his platform to advocate the legalization of marijuana. Fetterman also is a vocal supporter of the LGBT community clashing with the Republican state legislature repeatedly about the display of a pride flag off the balcony of his official office at the state capital. Fetterman is running a campaign that is strongly pro-choice, supportive of criminal justice reform, and calls healthcare a human right. Republicans have nominated Mehmet Oz, better known as Dr. Oz. As a reality TV star "physician" Oz was criticized repeatedly for advocating fake cures and dangerous weight loss pills. During the Covid-19 pandemic Oz pushed Trump's favorite fake cure, Hydroxychloroquine, which is not a treatment for Covid. While running for the senate Oz has endorsed banning trans people from sports by law, and that trans youth are based on "false science". Oz is also says he'd vote to repeal Obamacare and strongly supports fracking. Pennsylvania doesn't need a flip flopping TV huckster from New Jersey as its Senator, election Fetterman.

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Wisconsin

Mandela Barnes (flip)

Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes is running to unseat Republican Senator Ron Johnson. Barnes served in the state legislature from 2013 till 2017 before being elected Lt Governor in 2018, he is the first black person to win state wide office in Wisconsin. As Lt Governor Barnes served as the chair of the Climate Task Force putting forward a 55 point plan to combat climate change. Barnes has been a vocal supporter of policies like Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, and marijuana legalization. If elected Barnes would be the first black Senator from Wisconsin and one of only two Senators in their 30s. Incumbent Republican Senator Ron Johnson has been Wisconsin's Senator since 2010 and is running for his 3rd term in office. In the Senate Johnson was one of Trump's strongest allies. Johnson was one of the main congressional pushers of the 2020 election conspiracy theories to the point his home town paper the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel called him a member of the "Sedition Caucus". Johnson also has pushed conspiracy theories that the January 6th riot was the fault of Nancy Pelosi or the FBI, and said he didn't think it was a big deal and felt safe during the attack because they were Trump supporters. Johnson has also pushed Covid misinformation, such as mouthwash as a treatment for Covid-19 or that "thousands" of deaths had been linked to the vaccine. Johnson has blamed mass shootings on a failure to teach "values" and is against gun control. in resent weeks Johnson has floated the idea of privatizing Social Security and Medicare. Protect Social Security, send Barnes to Congress.

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If you're one of the 85 million Americans who live in one of these States please PLEASE PLEASE remember to VOTE November 8th

Everyone remember to VOTE NOVEMBER 8th! vote in EVERY election from School Board on up to Governor and Senate, now more than ever all these elections matter and they matter a lot.

if you have $10, $5, even $1 to spare please please please think about giving it to one of these candidates, Democrats are passing big things and are running against the worst of the worst.

If you live in one of these states please please PLEASE think about giving just one weekend between now and Election Day to talk to voters and help turn out the vote. Even if you don't live in any of these states you can call or text voters in these states and help these campaigns