VOTE

Ohio's Danny O'Connor and Troy Balderson
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The suspense in Ohio's 12th  congressional District today is palpable. The two candidates in a special congressional election won't know the results for a few weeks - the final tally is that close. It won't be until the provisional and absentee votes are counted that the results will finally be known to all. Whether or not the Democrats win this one, it's still good news for them. The 12th is a district that has been so gerrymandered to the benefit of the Republican Party in recent years, the area hadn't gone Democratic since 1982. This is a grim prologue to the November midterms for the GOP. We may very well see the "blue wave" that more than a few of the talking heads have been predicting for months. We shall see.
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This cannot be emphasized enough. The future of this country is at stake. Does that sound just a bit extreme for your tastes? Perhaps it might be; but please, I would beg you to consider this: In 2020, after the next census, the party in power - particularly in Governors mansions all over the country - will be redrawing the election districts. If the Democrats are not the party doing most of the redistricting, look forward to another decade (at least) of America sinking into the abyss that is being manufactured by America's extreme right wing.

I really hate to be seen as a PR man for the Democratic Party, as I've said on this site too many times to count, I left that party in May of 1998 and I've never regretted my decision. It's not the party of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt - and hasn't been for a very long time. But while the Dems make me pull my hair out in frustration at times, the Republicans are beyond redemption. Theirs has not been the "party of Abraham Lincoln" since 7:22 on the morning of April 15, 1865. That was the moment that old Abe breathed his last breath. Theirs is not a political party. Theirs is an organized criminal enterprise. America's very existence depends on them disappearing forever. Does that sound paranoid? I'll tell you what: keep voting Republican. Let's see what happens.

The Democratic Party needs to win this overwhelmingly in November. This is not the time to be experimenting with third parties. This is a time to get serious. It's later than you think.

I've never asked this before, but please share this little piece with as many people as possible. I think it's the most important thing I've ever posted on this site.

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY