Super Duper Tuesday
I’m seeing the walls of my echo chamber. For the last few weeks, I’ve been volunteering and promoting Elizabeth Warren for president. What this has meant for me is a few hours making phone calls to Democratic voters in the state for the Get Out the Vote effort here in Minnesota, a Super Tuesday state, and each day finding and sharing positive articles about Warren to my 700 Facebook friends.
From this very modest, basically minimally-involved effort, I am seeing the race. When I make calls, I can predict that if someone picks up who is under 30 (they often pick up), they’re going to tell me they’re voting for Bernie. If they are a woman between 40 and 60, they might pick up the phone (one woman even called me back when she missed the call) and they’re nice, and they’re probably voting for either Warren or Klobuchar. Or Bernie.
No one else wants to tell me who they’re voting for, or say they’re undecided. Which is fine. I know, however, that they are not voting for Warren.
On my Facebook shares, the “likes” are steady but not rising. I’ve got the educated Democratic women (and men) between 40 and 60 well covered in my friends list. The same crew likes and shares the posts. At first this felt like I was amplifying the message (one that was being covered sparsely by the media), but lately it feels like we’re a small group sharing among ourselves.
On the edges of my Facebook world the vestiges of 2016 feminist groups like Pantsuit Nation and Progressive Peeps have propelled me into a Warren-specific group and provided even more positive posts about Warren to share. The assessments. The endorsements. The “case.” The love.
Here I am. A woman who wants a president who is smart and can get things done. Who has bold plans and a way to pay for them, and the proven ability to persist in her efforts to advocate for the vulnerable in our society. Male or female, I believe Warren is the best candidate for president this year — has the most integrity and grit and intelligence and experience to run the country.
Of course, all the Democratic candidates remaining have similar priorities and agendas. And Bernie has caught fire with the youth, who just might come out in droves in November. I live in a predominantly white state, a state I think is going for Bernie.
It is sad, however, to stand on the ashes, or what feels like the ashes, of the post-2016 feminist surge, the height of which was the Women’s March the day after the inauguration. That standing with Warren is starting to have a very “Hillary” feel to it, although they are very different candidates. When I first started getting that “Hillary” vibe, my heart kind of sank. That became a sad and rancorous vibe and I don’t want this election to be like that one. I don’t want to be this fragmented within our party. I don’t want to vote for a lukewarm establishment candidate like Biden or a revolutionary like Bernie.
This is the time to be bold. It is also the time to try to make even a little bit of peace. I don’t see any reason, really, people would not back Elizabeth Warren. Other than that she is a woman.
The first caller I got through to yesterday, when I said I was calling for Warren’s campaign, said, “Oh, no, I really don’t like her.” I told him I’d take him off our call list and thanked him for his time. But it was a bad feeling. The emphasis was so directly on her gender.
I’m going to vote with my heart on Tuesday, for Warren. I’m going to vote Blue in November.
