There Is a Lot of Talk Lately About “Calling our Representatives.” But What If They Already Agree With Me?

You want America back? Grab a pencil and get in the trenches.

Jeff Merkley (Joe Riedl)
By Marty Smith

There is a lot of talk lately about "calling our representatives." But what if they already agree with me? Can I impersonate my parents and call their representatives? —Shaun W.

What do you suppose the Donald Trump who swears that 3 million noncitizens voted illegally would do with the news that calls to congresspeople were being faked? Yes, every subsequent groundswell of citizen outrage would be dismissed as "fake Congress calls" from George Soros' army of AI fembots. So for Christ's sake, Shaun, do not do this.

Money, on the other hand, is never fake, and it has a way of making itself heard across even the widest geographical divides. May I suggest a plan?

Remember when they said there was no way Dems could win the House in 2016, because of gerrymandering? Well, the next gerry is in 2020, and whoever controls state legislatures is going to get to mander it.

Now, everyone, watch how Shaun can make a difference. First, he finds a state legislative chamber that's pretty close. How about…the Colorado State Senate! (Republicans currently lead 18-17.)

Then, Shaun uses Ballotpedia to find a district whose voting was close in 2014 (those senators will be up for re-election in 2018). May I suggest District 24 (the fightin' 24th!), where GOP incumbent Beth Martinez Humenik won by less than 1,000 votes.

Now Shaun has a race that matters, at a human scale that he can grasp. Can he manage to raise just $10,000 for Humenik's opponent from his less-energetic friends? Ten grand is a lot of money in a state Senate race. With luck, it could swing the whole chamber. Maybe Shaun can even persuade a few of his friends to adopt their own swing candidates in other states.

Sounds boring, you say? Maybe so. But this is how the church ladies of the GOP took over the country while you and I were smoking marijuana and having gay sex and expecting Obama to handle it. You want America back? Grab a pencil and get in the trenches.

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