One Week Out: DO NOT OBEY IN ADVANCE!

In Timorthy Snyder’s On Tyranny, he lists 20 lessons for surviving the worst (if it happens) in 2024. Here is point #1”

1. Do not obey in advance.  Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked.  A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do. 

I will be repeating this next week, likely with more info from Mr. Snyder. But for today, it’s here to remind you that we don’t know ANYTHING until we FOR SURE know something, and therefore do NOT give in to fear, nor any “red mirage.” And especially - IGNORE THE POLLS.

There is some good news out of Philadelphia: at least, it appears to be good. The number of mail-in ballot applications has fallen by about half compared to 2020. This is in line with a statewide decrease in mail-in ballot requests, albeit the statewide decrease is closer to a third. It means more people voting in person on 5 November. Also in Philly, they have switched to electronic poll books, which, if they work, will speed up the check-in process. Full info here. This is good news if it means that the count out of Philly will come sooner. It’s also good news if it means that our awesome ground game will help get intermittent voters and undecideds to show up and vote straight blue ballots.

There are a few other pieces of good news. First, as odd as this sounds, the Nazi Rally at Madison Square Garden (MSG) last night. For those of us of a certain age, we know either personally, or through our parents, about the 1939 Nazi Rally at MSG. And this one had ALLLLLL the hallmarks of that earlier rally (which, rumor has it, Fred Trump attended.) As an aside, more info on notorious uses of MSG over the years here.

So why is this good? To start with, it was a hellscape. The “joke” about Puerto Rico was so bad that press in the audience reported that the venue fell silent as Tony Hinchcliffe called it “a floating island of garbage”. It fell so flat that even Rethuglicans endeavored to distance themselves from it. For all of those undecided voters, Haley voters, and “Never Trumpers” who were thinking of staying home, voting third party, or leaving the top line blank, this reminds them of how much chaos he brings with him, and it might get them over the hump to select “Kamala Harris for President.” The more times that people remember “the first term”: the family separations, the Muslim ban, the inability to handle the pandemic, “good people on both sides”, etc., etc., etc., not to mention his personal failings, convictions and civil judgements, the more likely they are to say “YUCK”.

In addition, there is on-going discussion within the Harris-Walz camp about whether Vice President Harris should stick to the opportunity economy and women’s reproductive health rights, or to talk about the Convicted Felon being a fascist. The Vice President herself says that she can do both. The Convicted Felon speaking AS a fascist means whether or not Vice President Harris speaks of it today in her speech on the Ellipse, it’s still in the zeitgeist.

The thing I find really encouraging, though, is what I’m hearing from people who have been out canvassing. While none of us canvassers bat a thousand, the anecdotes are good. About people in Bucks County, PA with Trump signs in their yards because they don’t want their neighbors to know they are voting Harris. Like the women who have told canvassers that they are voting Harris because they found out that their husbands wouldn’t need to know.

Also, Tom Bonier. If you see him on TV, LISTEN. I’ve posted the link to TargetEarly before, and it’s worth taking a look. What Mr. Bonier keeps saying is that things are not truly comparable between 2020 and 2024, but when we look at the early vote and really dig into it, it looks good in a lot of ways, including, but not limited to, the gender split. That is, polling limitations aside, there is a high correlation indicating that, overall, women are breaking for Harris and men are breaking for the Convicted Felon. But women at all age levels, income levels, educational attainment levels, and ethnicity, vote in higher percentages than men. And although Mr. Bonier didn’t mention it, there just plain ARE more women than men. Polling on non-binary people is seriously lacking, in part because in a lot of places, one can only register as male or female, and pollsters don’t generally utilize non-binary/gender expansive/other in their calculations. (TargetEarly includes gender expansive and other.) However, my years of looking at all sorts of stuff makes me believe with all my heart and soul that there is not a non-binary/gender expansive/other person who could possibly vote for the Convicted Felon. Okay, maybe a few, which is how we used to have the Log Cabin Republicans, but I’m pretty sure this is a bridge too far.

And then, there was my trip to the supermarket, 8 days out. Normal people go to the supermarket with a list, they get a basket and pick out their items, and their conversations are limited to “excuse me, can you move your cart?”

I am not normal. The supermarket is my arena. And you NEVER know who you might meet there.

My plan was to buy 3 items. The first was a pan of those incredible Wegman’s frosted brownies. They were NOT in their normal location, so I needed help. The two nice bakery workers told me that they’d been moved to the Eagles section, and I explained that I needed another pan since my last pan had gone stale, and I had to throw them out. “You can freeze them,” one said helpfully. I explained that I carried my pan around with me, with a fork, and whenever a thought of the Convicted Felon crossed my mind, I took a bite, and let it dissolve slowly on my tongue, the bite of brownie and the delicious frosting, and that was the only thing that calmed me, so they couldn’t go in the freezer, because I never know when the horror of him potentially winning might overtake me. We three had a nice conversation about the importance of the election: one had already dropped off her ballot, and the other planned to vote on Election Day since he wasn’t working that day.

Then, I took a spin around the mere-shadow-of-what-the-Wegmans-hot-bar-used-to-be-pre-pandemic. Where you could get JUST what one wanted - 1 strawberry, 4 blueberries, a spoon of peas, a slice of tomato, etc., each in their own designated area. But now, there’s only a very limited selection. And yet, I met a delightful woman and her son. The kid was there for the pizza, but the woman and I talked about how to talk to people about Gaza. ANOTHER PERSON OUT TALKING TO VOTERS!!! It was a charming and uplifting experience.

I found my other two items, and was also attracted to some more stuff….since I needed an orange pepper, I had to pass the cotton candy grapes, and needed them, and oh yeah a banana that was the correct color.¹ And finally, I went to check out.

After successfully navigating “how to pay” (Where to tap? Need I swipe? Very confusing.) I turned to the line and said (not quietly) “Everybody remember to vote on November 5th!” And the guy immediately behind me didn’t look good. So I said, “You look sad.” He told me that he had questions and was undecided. I waited for him. After he checked out, we talked childcare credits, food prices, and a bit about fascism, and we have another voter.

REMEMBER TO TALK TO EVERYONE!!!! You never know…

Completely unrelated, but the City of Philadelphia sued Elmo yesterday over his million dollar checks to voters. Source.

1. As many of you know, I am the world’s WORST eater.