Tuesday, October 21, 2008

politics

Yesterday I did two things I've never done before. In the afternoon, I bit the bullet, dragged myself out of bed, went to our local library, and voted early. There was a good turnout. At 2:30 the line was long, over half an hour's wait. When I got to the booth, the voting was electronic, with nothing to show for it (no paper ballot), which didn't give me any warm fuzzy feeling about what I was doing and in fact made me a little nervous. I've watched that Homer Simpson video too many times to be happy about electronic voting.

Then last night, late, I made two political contributions online. I don't believe I've ever contributed to a political campaign before. I have no problem contributing to the arts, or to any number of good causes, e.g., Juvenile Diabetes, ALS, Susan G. Komen foundation, etc. But when it comes to politics, I’ve donated time but not cash, not even a dollar on my income tax return. I've never felt a reason to contribute financially, before now. And although I'm weary to the bone of this seemingly interminable campaign season, it was a politician who finally made me see the light, as we like to say in the south.


So who's responsible for my seeing that it makes sense, for me, to contribute some cold, hard earned cash to the cache, so to speak? The answer might surprise you. The person who prompted me to finally take action financially is Minnesota congresswoman Michelle Bachman. Yep, her comments to Chris Matthews on Hardball re anti-Americanism and how she would like to see the news media "do a penetrating expose and take a great look at the views of the people in congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America?" smacked so loudly of McCarythyism that it pushed me over the edge (you can watch the video here). And so although I've lived in Texas for 25 years, last night I found myself looking on the internet to see who is opposing Ms. Bachman in Minnesota for her congressional seat this year. The answer is Elwyn Tinklenberg, and having found that out, I made a donation to him and of course to Obama.


I wasn't alone in having this reaction to Bachman, btw. It turns out that her comments brought in $810,000 to Tinklenberg's campaign in less than 72 hours, in contrast to the year it had taken him to raise $1 million prior to that. And I smile to think, I doubt that was the reaction Michelle was anticipating when she spoke to Chris Matthews. And if things don't turn out as I hope they do in November, and if the time comes when people start drawing up lists of who did what, who contributed to whom...well, I'd be proud to show up as having made those donations.

7 comments:

Far Side of Fifty said...

Hi Judi, Hope you are feeling better! It is always nice to meet someone from Minnesots! Where in MN did you call home? Texas sounds great to me..especially during the winter! Ah..Politics ..what a circus:)

emmapeelDallas said...

I grew up on the Mississippi, in southeastern Minnesota, in a college town, Winona. In fact, Ms. Bachman, of whom I've written so disparingly, is an alum of Winona State, or so I've read. Yes, the falls and winters in Texas are a vast improvement on those times in Minnesota. I miss the bluffs and the river, though.

:)

Tammy Brierly said...

Judi, you are so very clever! You walk the walk and I for one am grateful! XXOO

Jan said...

Good for you. I need to vote early soon.

Diane M. Roth said...

I have to say that I am mortified to be from the same state as she is.

I'm glad you donated.

TJ said...

Proud to have a friend like you.
I love women who can stand up for what they believe is right and ready to back up what they know is right.
Good for you, the donations are very important.
My nephew is with Barack Obama's campaign offering his services as a lawyer for free.
This country can pull together...I love that!
Hugs,
TJ

alphawoman said...

Yesterday I caught wind of what SP said about "small town America being the real America" (possibly when she was in Fort Wayne..lol)and the brutal responce from Jon Stewert. Where do these ideas come from? And people think being a libral is a bad thing...geez!