by Pa Rock
Easy Touch
The time was, in times past when I was working full-time and had a couple of side incomes, that I could quell my urges to get out and do more for my country than just vote. In those personally good economic times I would quite often donate money to candidates whom I felt were particularly worthy of being elected to office. Sometimes my donations might total three or four hundred dollars - spread over several candidates - in an election year. (Cue the music to Sweet Charity's "Hey Big Spender!")
Now, being retired, my resources are far more limited, and even in the Time of Trump when there are so many elected troglodytes who need defeating, it is hard to muster much in the way of donations to oust them from office. Certainly the $25 and $50 contributions that I used to occasionally cough up are out of the question.
Bet, even so, I felt the urge to do something.
Last week I decided to send contributions to two U.S. Senate candidates whose elections I considered to be critical to the survival of the Republic. I saw Kyrsten Sinema speak at an outdoor rally one evening in Phoenix several years ago, back before she had ever run for public office, and I was very impressed. Professor Sinema was speaking on immigrant rights, and the rally was to see a couple of bus loads of Dreamer supporters off to rally for the cause in Washington, DC. Sinema could very well become Arizona's first Democratic senator in decades and the state's first female senator ever - but she is in a tough race.
Beto O'Rourke of Texas is challenging Republican incumbent Senator Ted Cruz, easily one of the most repugnant members of that august body. O'Rourke is young, thoughtful, forceful, and eloquent - and he is giving Cruz one helluva race.
But deciding to send some money to Sinema and O'Rourke presented the problem of how much should I (and could I) donate. Clearly there would be other candidates who would also like for me to put some cash in their collection plates, so my donations could not be large, yet I did not want to be the $5.00 "minimum" Joe. I finally decided to go with a low amount that carried with it a wish of good luck - $7.77.
Over the past few days I have made five of those "lucky" contributions: Senate candidates Sinema and O'Rourke, House candidates Sharice Davids of Kansas (who will represent two of my grandchildren in Congress) and Angie Craig of Minnesota, and gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum of Florida. I know that I will make a few more donations to other candidates before the November elections. The amount may be small, but the intent is enormous - and I am assuming that every bit helps - and I feel good about doing something to stop the evil machinations of Donald John Trump.
That's my $7.77 club so far - but it has room to grow before November, and I feel good about helping to preserve decency and democracy for my grandchildren - and their grandchildren.
Get registered and vote in November. It's damned important - now more than ever!
Easy Touch
The time was, in times past when I was working full-time and had a couple of side incomes, that I could quell my urges to get out and do more for my country than just vote. In those personally good economic times I would quite often donate money to candidates whom I felt were particularly worthy of being elected to office. Sometimes my donations might total three or four hundred dollars - spread over several candidates - in an election year. (Cue the music to Sweet Charity's "Hey Big Spender!")
Now, being retired, my resources are far more limited, and even in the Time of Trump when there are so many elected troglodytes who need defeating, it is hard to muster much in the way of donations to oust them from office. Certainly the $25 and $50 contributions that I used to occasionally cough up are out of the question.
Bet, even so, I felt the urge to do something.
Last week I decided to send contributions to two U.S. Senate candidates whose elections I considered to be critical to the survival of the Republic. I saw Kyrsten Sinema speak at an outdoor rally one evening in Phoenix several years ago, back before she had ever run for public office, and I was very impressed. Professor Sinema was speaking on immigrant rights, and the rally was to see a couple of bus loads of Dreamer supporters off to rally for the cause in Washington, DC. Sinema could very well become Arizona's first Democratic senator in decades and the state's first female senator ever - but she is in a tough race.
Beto O'Rourke of Texas is challenging Republican incumbent Senator Ted Cruz, easily one of the most repugnant members of that august body. O'Rourke is young, thoughtful, forceful, and eloquent - and he is giving Cruz one helluva race.
But deciding to send some money to Sinema and O'Rourke presented the problem of how much should I (and could I) donate. Clearly there would be other candidates who would also like for me to put some cash in their collection plates, so my donations could not be large, yet I did not want to be the $5.00 "minimum" Joe. I finally decided to go with a low amount that carried with it a wish of good luck - $7.77.
Over the past few days I have made five of those "lucky" contributions: Senate candidates Sinema and O'Rourke, House candidates Sharice Davids of Kansas (who will represent two of my grandchildren in Congress) and Angie Craig of Minnesota, and gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum of Florida. I know that I will make a few more donations to other candidates before the November elections. The amount may be small, but the intent is enormous - and I am assuming that every bit helps - and I feel good about doing something to stop the evil machinations of Donald John Trump.
That's my $7.77 club so far - but it has room to grow before November, and I feel good about helping to preserve decency and democracy for my grandchildren - and their grandchildren.
Get registered and vote in November. It's damned important - now more than ever!
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