Concession, Confession, & Resolution: #GoPopular on #ElectorDay

I am feeling right now. Mostly sadness, some fear, and a little anger. That is where I am.

I began last night in high spirits. I attended an Election Watch party at a vegan and social justice solidarity bar in Asheville, NC, with really good tamales.

At The Block Off Biltmore.

Then, between the hours of nine and ten EST, I started to realize the race was much closer than I had anticipated. And this happened:

The Hours Everything Changed.

This morning, I have come across many thoughts. One of them hit me when I read my friend’s Facebook post:

“I need to make politics something more than an interest. I need to recognize political involvement as an obligation to people more vulnerable than me.
I spent a lot of the past year-and-a-half explaining why Trump must not be president to people who already agreed, for fun and profit.
I did not phone bank. I did not knock on doors. I did not give up my weekends to advance political causes I cared about.
I am more powerless than I would like to be. But not as powerless as I have made myself.
If you feel the same about yourself on some of these fronts, maybe lets try to keep each other accountable.”

I realized: I could have done more.

It is not solely my burden. We are all responsible for this country. That means I too, bear a part of this. I have played into classism, racism, sexism, and more. I have played into apathy and condescension and more.

I wanted to begin this tour last year. I wanted to travel across the South and dialogue, as a liberal, with conservatives. I wanted to learn from them, and to share my own perspective with them. I wanted to change with them. I did not want to turn anyone Democrat per se, but I did want to help demonstrate that Trump was not a helpful alternative. It is too late to know how much difference a year’s earlier departure would have made.

I was too late.

I have worked at a peace-education summer camp for five summers. I have worked at an activist-education summer camp for three. I am earning a Master of Education in humane education. I work in varying capacities with multiple activist organizations. I have difficult conversations with strangers and loved ones. And I could have done more.

I made two canvassing calls, but had trouble with the phone software, so I stopped.

I went to two different meeting that I thought were door-to-door canvassing events. They turned out to be (very cool) organizing events, that I am grateful to have been part of. Still, I never further researched canvassing events.

I make intentional efforts to dialogue with conservatives, and to open conversations with them. And I, too, have joked at their expense, and used social media that alienated, rather than engaged.

Once I did finally begin the trip, I could have done more to micro-demonstrate on behalf of the election. I did not do one.

Time for Renewal

There is still a great amount of work I can do on this trip. And I will. Part of that work, though, is reconciling with the fact that I did not do more.

One thing I can do now, is help campaign the electors to #GoPopular, so that they vote for Clinton rather than Trump on December 19th, 2016. If you are unfamiliar with what I am saying, watch: (relevant from 2:46)

Ruins Voting… Saves Democracy?

I am not aware of the results of every election this country has had, but I think this may be the most appropriate time in our country’s history for the strange electoral college system that our founding fathers created. The constitution does not bind electors to vote for their states’ candidate. National elections tell the electors whom to vote for, but not all of them have to listen.

The president is not decided on election day. The president is decided on “elector” day: December 19th, 2016.

24 states allow their electors to cast votes for whomever they like on December 19th. These include Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Texas, which had significant turnout for Clinton, and whose proportionate distribution of electoral votes would go a long way. And even in some “binding” states, a “violating vote” cancels the vote, still reducing Trump’s count. Given that many of the GOP’s own leadership have distanced themselves from Trump, and that Clinton won the popular vote, the electors may be more willing to forego the generally accepted practice of voting the way of the whole state.

These states’ electors may vote for whomever they like.

I am not the only person with this idea. This movement is happening:

Screenshot: Link Down

Is this likely? I do not know. It certainly is not if we do not try. And that is all I have right now. Because I need to do more.

Sign the petition here: Tell electors to #GoPopular on #ElectorDay

Electoral College Electors: Electoral College Make Hillary Clinton President on December 19