It's hard to stay positive.

[AirmensMom]

Seriously. I live in a very red area. Most of the time, the republicans run unopposed for every local office. I vote in every election, but have never and will never vote for a republican.

I write to my "representatives" ... if that is the correct word for them. I can't tell you how many messages I sent to them regarding Kavanaugh. Then I got canned emails back about the orange one's Russian summit. WTF???? Just last week, I got 3 identical emails telling me how qualified the K-perv is and why they were so proud to vote for him. I could just as easily have written to them something along the lines of "white gravy isn't food" and would no doubt get the same canned response. These people do NOT represent me and don't even pretend to anymore.

To top it off, my adult kids don't vote. I have talked with them until I'm blue in the face, but they refuse. I've heard everything from "both sides are the same" to "it's all fixed anyway." One of them is a graduate student and has NO idea how close she came to having to pay income tax on the value of the tuition that she gets for free because she's a TA. I tried to explain it to her. She's over 40 and has never even registered to vote. Now it's too late in this state for this election, as registration ended on October 9. She gets irritated when I bring it up and says I'm just trying to upset her.

I've talked to other adults who "just don't care about politics." But they're happy to blame their woes on "the government." Yes, I take that opportunity to explain that "the government" is who we elect by voting. If they're unhappy now, it's because the republicans are in charge and they have the opportunity to try to change it, if only they would vote! How can I persuade strangers to vote when I have no influence over my own kids and friends?

I am majorly pissed off at Bredesen for his statement that he would have voted for Kavanaugh. Still, this state is RED and I understand him wanting to appeal to the rural voters. But I fear he may have shot himself in the foot because he pissed off his base. Yes, I still voted for him, but not everyone will. Non-republicans simply will not vote, and Democrats may or may not. You can bet your ass that the deplorables will come out in huge numbers to vote for mini-Trump Blackburn.

Still, I'm really trying to stay positive. This nightmare has gone on too long already. I'm afraid to trust the polls at this point.

[saidsimplesimon]

1. Hang in there Mom

I live in Arizona. If I allowed polls to interfere with my political activism, I would never leave my home.

[AirmensMom]

2. Thanks.

Really, I would consider it a huge victory if I could just get my kids to vote.

[pnwmom]

29. Adult kids have their own ideas, and you might actually have less influence with them.

I know -- it doesn't seem fair!

My mother was stranded in a red state for her last decades (followed my sister's family). I got her an online subscription for the New York Times, which helped her feel sane. I also suggested that she'd find some compatible friends if she joined a local Democratic organization. And maybe do some good, too.

[AirmensMom]

34. I have always said

that parents are not the only influence in their children’s lives. We’re not even necessarily the biggest influence, or any at all, certainly once they’ve flown the nest.

We do have some compatible friends, fortunately.

[BeckyDem]

3. You sound like such a wonderful parent, so patient and yet deternined. You can only do so

much.

Bredesen, sounds like he has a shot at it although he is only up by a point.

I thought this was positive too:

Blackburn persisted, arguing that Bredesen was bought and paid for by Schumer. Majority Forward, a nonprofit organization aligned with Schumer, has pumped millions into the Tennessee race, so the issue was fair game.

“We know he will vote with Chuck Schumer because his vote is already bought and paid for, his campaign is bought and paid for by Chuck Schumer,” Blackburn said in a familiar refrain.

Blackburn stands for conservative principles and causes, and that’s her prerogative. It has worked for her. She was elected on promises based on the Republican platform and won her campaigns with landslide election results. That’s what she needs to talk about.

The problem is, Blackburn takes positions that fly in the face of scientific evidence and the fact. She too often resorts to name-calling, like President Donald Trump, when she’s cornered or criticized for her positions.

Blackburn led an investigation of the abortion industry with less-than-stellar results. In a final report, Blackburn’s Select Investigative Panel falsely reported that fetal tissue “makes a vanishingly small contribution to clinical and research efforts, if it contributes at all.” The conclusion was rejected by the scientific community.

Many of her stances through the years have raised eyebrows, going against consensus. She questions evolution and global warming, well-established beliefs in the scientific community. She opposes net neutrality, making it harder for municipalities to offer broadband to desperate rural residents. She fought against federal health-care insurance programs, knowing her region suffers immensely without proper coverage.

To me, Blackburn has not taken responsibility for a law that stripped the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency of its ability to stop the shipment of opioids. She led the charge for the legislation, using the excuse that many who suffer from chronic pain could not get the medicine they need. In fact, the bill allowed drug companies to flood the market with opioids. Tennessee was one of the worst-hit states in the nation.

http://www.columbiadailyherald.com/news/20181021/commentary-blackburn8217s-arguments-fall-short-against-bredesen

[AirmensMom]

10. Thanks, Becky.

That is somewhat positive.

[BeckyDem]

14. My pleasure. One thing I know for certain, its going to get better.

[maxsolomon]

4. I'm in a solid Blue bubble and I'm angry all the time.

I can't imagine how PO'd I'd be if I were you.

Hang in there.

[AirmensMom]

11. I have nightmares.

And then wake up to the reality and want to go back to the sleeping nightmares. Yeah, I'm pretty angry.

Thanks.

[MontanaMama]

5. I got you AirmensMom

I live in red Montana and sometimes (daily) I want to bang my head against the wall. While my city is fairly blue, I get really down when my fellow Montanans continually vote against their own best interest and in turn, mine. It seems that ignorance is contagious and red hats are everywhere I look. I think you are wise to disregard the polls and GOTV. I had to chase my spouse around for two days last week to get him to vote. He wouldn't vote if I didn't bug him about it. Voting is all we have - that and picking each other up when we're down.

[AirmensMom]

12. I get that.

We have both tried to talk with our evangelical relatives, but nothing matters to them except for abortion and insuring their place in eternity.

I think I'd really have to bang my head if my spouse had to be nagged to vote. At least he does that on his own... and has already early voted.

Thank you for the pick-me-up.

[TreasonousBastard]

6. I hear you, but keep on plugging, hard as it is...

I really don't know why some people absolutely refuse to vote. All I do know is that the canned reasons they give are not the real ones. I think there's a fundamental stubbornness behind it all-- they don't vote and they refuse to discuss it. People do that with a lot of things.

The movie "They Live" had a brilliant scene when Roddy Piper's character found a pair of glasses that allowed him to see through the disguises of evil aliens. He tried to get his friend to look through the glasses, but the friend refused, thinking Roddy was a little nuts and wouldn't humor him by looking. "Just look through the glasses!" "No!" They ended up in a big fistfight and the friend never did look through the glasses.

From silly little movies great allegories come.

[anarch]

7. "They Live" is basically a documentary

Also, that's probably the best fight scene ever committed to film.


"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass...and I'm all out of bubblegum."

[TreasonousBastard]

8. John Carpenter don't get no respect.

[AirmensMom]

13. You are right.

At some point, my daughter said something about "Homeland Security" on the voter registration form that scared her. But it doesn't scare her when she gets her driver's license or applies for school loans, etc.

I haven't seen that movie. Sounds about right, though.

[marylandblue]

9. Consider a different argument for voting next time

Voting is an American ritual. It something patriotic Americans do like Christians go to church or high schoolers support the team at football games. You go to be part of something bigger than yourself, whether you believe prayer does anything or not, and whether your team wins or not. So they should vote to join this big American journey that we've been on for almost 250 years.

[MiniMe]

15. What she needs to understand is that it is about healthcare, social security, medicare, etc

Aside from what the "both sides are the same" arguments that are made. Both sides are NOT the same on these issues.

[AirmensMom]

19. She actually had to buy healthcare this year,

when she quit her job to start school and work as a TA. She went to some fly-by-night place that would sell a policy for $100/month and pay a whopping $200/day for hospitalization. I suggested she go to healthcare.gov and never heard a word after that. She did tell me that her healthcare plan was to not get sick. She tried that once and ended up with a huge hospital bill that took her years to pay off. And that was just for an overnight stay. Needless to say, I am very worried.

And I have told her about all of those things and gotten absolutely no response. I'm wondering how badly they have to muck up the school loans before she'll start to notice. I DID tell her that if she doesn't vote, she doesn't get to complain.

[AirmensMom]

16. Love it!

It might go a little farther. Well, except that women haven't been on that journey for as long as the men. I have tried the "you know, women died so you and I could vote" argument on my daughter at one point, which was probably not too bright.

What's strange about kids is that they'll happily pick up our bad habits and then do the opposite when we have a good habit, like voting.

[gratuitous]

24. Or . . .

Try this tack, if the "American ritual" argument doesn't work (though I like it).

I can understand you thinking that both sides are the same, and that voting is useless. You've been very carefully conditioned to think that by powerful forces that prefer to leave the political field clear for themselves. Advertising works; there's a multi-billion dollar industry dedicated to getting people to want to buy stuff they probably don't want or need. Those powerful forces have watched advertising for years, and hit on a winning formula for discouraging citizens from using their rights. And where people don't voluntarily decline to participate, these forces have installed their own people to disenfranchise voters who don't absorb their message, like in Georgia and Kansas.

Don't do their job for them. They're trying so hard to persuade you that voting is useless because the exact opposite is true.

[AirmensMom]

30. I actually tried that once.

She thought I was insulting her intelligence by implying she would fall for it. Sort of ironic, actually. She is convinced that she drew her conclusions on her own, with no outside influence.

[spanone]

17. Hopefully trump will get a serious talking to....

only the voters can deliver it.

I believe they will.

[AirmensMom]

21. I surely hope so!!!!

[spanone]

25. 👍🏼

[Vinca]

18. Make sure to tell your non-voting kids they don't have bitching rights.

If we don't kick the GOP out of office, they might not have Medicare and Social Security when they need it most.

[AirmensMom]

20. Done.

That was the last thing I said when I got shut down. They don't care about Medicare and Social Security yet, but they haven't figured out how quickly that comes up. Perhaps I should mention that all this will eat into their eventual inheritance?

[Vinca]

22. Sadly, money seems to speak more than anything else these days.

[AirmensMom]

23. True.

However, we really don't have enough for it to say a lot. And we'll have less once the republicans get done with us.

[beachbum bob]

26. If your kids don't care, nothing you can do but when they whine about

anything, tell them to kiss your ass....they are part of the problem...until they take responsibility...they have no opinions. As for bredesen, it's a red state and tough maneuvering...the choice is simple...a batshit crazy Blackburn? Or some resemblance of reality. No brisket if you are a democrat or not batshit crazy

[AirmensMom]

31. I know.

And the one who lives here is vocal about not wanting Blackburn... but won’t do anything to stop her.

[peggysue2]

27. On an Upbeat Note

I am a Tennessee resident and voted last Friday. My polling station was mobbed. Had to drive around the parking lot twice to get a space. Once parked, I noted the line out the door, longer than any I recall from former midterm voting experiences, very close to a presidential year. Plus:

there was a good spread of ages, quite a few fresh, young faces in the crowd, not just the 'white hairs' that Mike Barnacle remarked on yesterday morning.

So what does this mean?

As of yesterday, nearly 400,000 votes had been cast in the State of Tennessee. In Knox county, the numbers exceeded a 10-year record. This is being repeated statewide in Chattanooga, Nashville, Memphis, etc. And from past voting cycles, we know the bigger the electorate participation, the better our Democratic candidates do. Indies in this cycle are leaning decidedly towards the Democratic Party.

So my advice? Cheer up and get the cautious optimistic vibes going, encourage everyone you know to trot on down to the polls and honor their civic responsibility. Marsha Blackburn is a horror and serial liar. About everything, particularly healthcare. Lie, lie, lie.

Bredesen might not be far enough Left for some tastes but down here he's as Blue as you're likely to find. And he's proven himself as a 2-term Gov, popular with Dems and Republicans alike. In my mind, he still has a shot with the massive turnout we're witnessing.

At this point the polls are irrelevant. It's all about GOTV, everywhere.

We can do this!

[AirmensMom]

32. Yay!

I voted last week too, as did my husband. He said he had a hard time parking.

Yes, Bredesen is the best we can get here. And miles better than that monster Blackburn.

Cautious optimism is a good idea. Working on it.

[Freddie]

28. It takes time but

We (my son) finally got his girlfriend to care and to vote, straight D in Florida. She was “I don’t care about politics” for ages and her parents are Trumpers (fetus worshippers). She’s going to marry into this blue family she has to get with the program.

[AirmensMom]

33. Wow!

Good job! That is certainly encouraging!

[TomSlick]

35. Hang in there.

You know, the arc of history thing.

[UTUSN]

36. I hear ya, I really really hear ya

[Duppers]

37. The redness in our state

Really troubles and depresses me too.

Thank goodness we can express ourselves here.

[LBM20]

38. Tell them if they don't vote then they have NO right to complain. Period.