WE CAN REVERSE THIS! 2

Okay, I admit, I sent out that very provocative blog post without much research.  But now I know more.  

Look, Trump actually SAID on "60 Minutes" that the winner of the National Popular Vote should be President.  He doesn't WANT this job!  He just wanted the attention of the campaign!  He'll be THRILLED to not be President!  Let's help Trump get out of this spectacular jam he's in!

There is already an online petition to sign saying the exact same thing I'm saying on Change.org  (thank you, Lillian for the info).  There is absolutely nothing preventing electors from voting for the winner of the national popular vote, even if that candidate did not win the popular vote in their state.  This petition already has 4,000,000 signatures.  However, I could NOT figure out how to sign it, damn it.  The link to the petition is at the bottom of this post.  Please, when somebody figures out how to sign it, tell me.

BUT I BELIEVE WE NEED TO DO MORE THAN SIGN AN ONLINE PETITION.  I AM SUGGESTING.........

HAND-WRITTEN POSTCARDS!

That's right, folks.  We've got to put our fingers and a 32 cent stamp where our mouths are.  Everyone loves to get postcards -- especially now when almost no one sends them (except me which is why I had this idea).

We need to send postcards to ALL the electors who are committed to Trump. Below is a list of the names of all the electors of the states who voted Republican.  Of course, if you're in a red state, you should concentrate on your own state.  

As I said in the previous blog, some states do not demand that electors vote for the winner of the popular vote in that state.  But even in states where electors are "supposed" to vote the way their state voted,  if they vote otherwise, their vote will still be counted.  The elector would have to pay a small fine.  I'd be happy to foot the bill for one elector voting their conscience.  How about you?

For my list of electors below, I left out all the states that voted for Clinton.    If you want a list of all the electors, you can find it on Politico:

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/list-who-will-cast-a-formal-vote-for-president-2016-231235

So you can sit down right now and write a ....POSTCARD FOR DEMOCRACY!  

We need to get the addresses of these people.  Can someone help me with this?  My friend, Richard Winger, who is my source for information on All Things Political, says they are available at state elections offices.  If for some reason, we cannot get the addresses, we will find another way of getting the postcards to them.  But it would be so cool to just put a 34 cent stamp on, and send it off.

I'd also like to have buttons made:  "I think democracy would be a very good idea! Electors:  Make Clinton President."  Hmmm... maybe too much info for a button.  Needs work. Yes?  No? 

I'm also going to personally make up a card to give to folks.  Hey, does anyone want to help me with any of this?

You can get pre-printed postcards from the post office.  You can buy postcards anywhere.  How about a Collage Postcard Party!! (Thanks for the idea, Eve.)  I love the idea of people getting together to create/write postcards.  If you live near me, you can come over and choose some postcards from my VAST collection!  

I'M HAVING A POSTCARDS FOR DEMOCRACY PARTY AT MY HOUSE, TOMORROW, WEDNESDAY, 7 PM.  I'LL SUPPLY POSTCARDS, STAMPS, AND PENS.  And I hope I'll have some addresses by then:

547 Douglass St. (between 21st & 22nd St.)

Buses:  24, 35, 48. 

Let's spread this idea around.  It's a lot more fun to write a postcard than to click on a petition.  One friend responded to my last blog with, "Sorry, but it's hopeless."  Well, yeah, if you THINK it's hopeless, then it IS!  A LOT of hopelessly improbable things have happened -- including the jam we're in right now.  Certainly we need to try every hopelessly improbable idea to resolve this crisis.   BUT THIS IS NOT A HOPELESS QUEST!  THE ELECTORS CAN DO THIS IF WE DEMAND IT!

When you write postcards, please email me the NUMBER of the elector, so I can keep track.  After all, we don't want #1 Frank Burt Jr. of Alabama to get 100's, and #538 Teresa Richards of Wisconsin to get none. 

At the bottom, along with the petition link, is my first postcard to that good ol' Alabama boy, Frank Burt, Jr.  Found his address on the internet.  Please send me addresses as you find them.

I think democracy would be a very good idea!  How about YOU?

This is the text of my postcard: "November 15, 2016, Dear Elector  Frank Burt, Jr.:

I think democracy would be a good idea.  How about you?  In a democracy, the winner of the popular vote should always win.   I feel my vote doesn’t count in this most important election.  This is very bad for our democracy.   I beg you, please cast your vote for the winner of the popular vote.

Sincerely, Terry Baum, 547 Douglass St., SF CA 94114"

I love to make postcards out of my photos.  This is one of my dear sister Nancy and me at a demonstration against the invasion of Iraq.  Nancy made our banner.  I don't expect anyone else to go to all this trouble to create a postcard.  Unless you want to.  OK, folks, it's time for.. POSTCARDS FOR DEMOCRACY!   

Okay, I'm clicking the button to send this, and then I'm mailing my first postcard. 

THE PETITION:  https://www.change.org/p/electoral-college-electors-electoral-college-make-hillary-clinton-president-on-december-19

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS

2016

ALABAMA (GOP)

1. Frank Burt, Jr., 312 Courthouse Square, Suite 12, Bay Minette, Alabama 36507

2. Will Sellers

3. Jim Wilson

4. Tim Wadsworth

5. Elbert Peters

6. Mary Sue McClurkin

7. Bob Cusanelli

8. Perry Hooper Jr.

9. Grady Thornton

ALASKA (GOP)

10. Sean Parnell

11. Jacqueline Tupou

12. Carolyn Leman

ARIZONA (GOP)

13. Bruce Ash

14. Walter Begay

15. Sharon Giese

16. Robert Graham

17. Alberto Gutier

18. Jerry Hayden

19. Carole Joyce

20. Jane Lynch

21. Foster Morgan

22. James O'Connor

23. Edward Robson

ARKANSAS (GOP)

24. Jonelle Fulmer

25. Jonathan Barnett

26. Keith Gibson

27. Sharon Wright

28. Tommy Land

29. John Nabholz

FLORIDA (GOP)

107. Ade Aderibigbe

108. Larry Ahern

109. Brian Ballard

110. Kristy Banks

111. Michael Barnett

112. LizBeth Benacquisto

113. Robin Bernstein

114. Pam Bondi

115. John Browning

116. Sharon Day

117. Dena DeCamp

118. Nick D

119. Jeremy Evans

120. John Falconetti

121. Peter Feaman

122. Kat Gates-Skipper

123. Joe Gruters

124. Debbie Hannifan

125. Blaise Ingoglia

126. Tony Ledbetter

127. Mike Moberley

128. Susan Moore

129. Joe Negron

130. Clint Pate

131. Ray Rodrigues

132. Carlos Trujillo

133. Robert Watkins

134. Susie Wiles

135. Christian Ziegler

GEORGIA

136. Bruce Allen Azevedo

137. Brian K Burdette

138. Lott Harris Dill

139. John David Elliott

140. James Randolph Evans

141. Bobbie D. Frantz

142. Linda D. Herren

143. Rachel Blackstone Little

144. Deborah M. McCord

145. Michael Neil McNeely

146. Mary L. Padgett

147. Neil L. Pruitt

148. Joshua Kirk Shook

149. Frank B. Strickland

150. Baoky Nguyen Vu (resigned, will be replaced by alternate)

151. John B. White

IDAHO (GOP)

156. Jennifer Locke

157. Melinda Smyser

158. Layne Bangerter

159. Caleb Lakey

INDIANA (GOP)

180. Stephanie Beckley

181. Kevin Steen

182. Kelly Mitchell

183. Daniel Bortner

184. Laura Campbell

185. Jeff Cardwell

186. Donald Hayes

187. Randall Kirkpatrick

188. Edwin Simcox

189. Ethan Manning

190. Chuck Williams

IOWA (GOP)

191. James Whitmer

192. Don Kass

193. Dylan Keller

194. Alan Braun

195. Kurt Brown

196. Polly Granzow

KANSAS (GOP)

197. Ashley J. McMillan

198. Helen Van Etten

199. Mark Kahrs

200. Ron Estes

201. Clayton L. Barker

202. Kelly Arnold

KENTUCKY (GOP)

203. Jim Skaggs

204. David Disponett

205. Robert Duncan

206. Michael Carter

207. Scott Lasley

208. Walter Reichert

209. Mary Singleton

210. Troy Sheldon

LOUISIANA (GOP)

211. Chris D. Trahan

212. Lloyd A. Harsch

213. Charles L “Charlie” Buckels

214. Louis R. Avallone

215. Kay Kellogg Katz

216. Lennie H. Rhys

217. Garrett C. Monti

218. Steven “Scott “ Wilfong

MAINE (3 D, 1 R)

219. Diane Denk

220. David Bright

221. Sam Shapiro

222. Richard Bennett (R)

MICHIGAN (GOP)*

244. John Haggard

245. Jack Holmes

246. Kelly Mitchell

247. Judy Rapanos

248. Henry Hatter

249. Robert Weitt

250. Wyckham Seelig

251. Ross Ensign

252. Michael Banerian

253. Brian Fairbrother

254. Ken Crider

255. Mary Vaughn

256. Jim Rhoades

257. William Rauwerdink

258. Hank Fuhs

259. Joseph Guzman

*Trump led Michigan by 12,000 votes as of Friday morning, though the state hasn't officially been called.

MISSISSIPPI (GOP)

270. Ann Hebert

271. Joe F. Sanderson Jr.

272. Bradley R. White

273. J. Kelley Williams

274. William G. Yates Jr.

275. Wirt A. Yerger, Jr.

MISSOURI (GOP)

276. Tim Dreste

277. Janice DeWeese

278. Hector Maldonado

279. Sherry Kuttenkuler

280. Casey Crawford

281. Tom Brown

282. Cherry Warren

283. Scott Clark

284. Al Rotskoff

285. Susie Johnson

MONTANA (GOP)

286. Thelma Baker

287. Nancy Ballance

288. Dennis Scranton

NEBRASKA (GOP)

289. Phil Berlin

290. John Dinkel

291. Chuck Conrad

292. Craig Safranek

293. Paul Burger

NEW HAMPSIRE (Dem)*

300. Bev Hollingworth

301. Terie Norelli

302. Carol Shea Porter

303. Dudley Dudley

*Clinton led New Hampshire by 2,500 votes as of Friday morning, though the state hasn't officially been called.

NORTH CAROLINA (GOP)

352. Linda Harper

353. Charles Staley

354. Karen Kozel

355. Martha Jenkins

356. Celeste Stanley

357. Donald Webb

358. Robert Muller

359. Jennifer Dunbar

360. Andrea Arterburn

361. Glenn Pinckney Sr.

362. Mark Delk

363. David Speight

364. Ann Sullivan

365. Lee Green

366. David Smuski

NORTH DAKOTA (GOP)

367. Duane Mutch

368. John Olson

369. Ronald Carlisle

OHIO (GOP)

370. Alex Triantafilou

371. Mary Anne Christie

372. Cory Schottenstein

373. Jim Dicke II

374. Cheryl Blakely

375. Marilyn Ashcraft

376. Christina Hagan

377. Richard Jones

378. Tom Coyne

379. Judy Westbrock

380. Ralph King

381. Leonard Hubert

382. Tracey Winbush

383. James Wert

384. Brian Schottenstein

385. Curt Braden

386. LeeAnn Johnson

387. Ed Crawford

OKLAHOMA (GOP)

388. David Oldham

389. Teresa Turner

390. Mark Thomas

391. Bobby Cleveland

392. Laurie Beth

393. Charlie Potts

394. George Wiland

PENNSYLVANIA (GOP)

402. Robert Asher

403. Mary Barket

404. Robert Bozzuto

405. Theodore Christian

406. Michael Downing

407. Margaret Ferraro

408. Robert Gleason

409. Christopher Gleason

410. Joyce Haas

411. Ash Khare

412. James McErlane

413. Elstina Pickett

414. Patricia Poprik

415. Andrew Reilly

416. Carol Sides

417. Glora “Lee” Snover

418. Richard Stewart

419. Lawrence Tabas

420. Christine Toretti

421. Carolyn “Bunny” Welsh

SOUTH CAROLINA (GOP)

426. Glenn McCall

427. Matt Moore

428. Terry Hardesty

429. Jim Ulmer

430. Brenda Bedenbaugh

431. Bill Conley

432. Shery Smith

433. Moye Graham

434. Jerry Rovner

SOUTH DAKOTA (GOP)

435. Dennis Daugaard

436. Matt Michels

437. Marty Jackley

TENNESSEE (GOP)

438. Joey Jacobs

439. Beth Scott Clayton Amos

440. Jason Mumpower

441. Susan Mills

442. Liz Holiway

443. Lynne Davis

444. Tom Lawless

445. Mike Callahan

446. Pat Allen

447. Shannon Hanes

448. Drew Daniel

TEXAS (GOP)

449. Marty Rhymes

450. Thomas Moon

451. Carol Sewell

452. John Harper

453. Sherrill Lenz

454. Nicholas Ciggelakis

455. William Hickman

456. Landon Estay

457. Rex Lamb

458. Rosemary Edwards

459. Matt Stringer

460. Shellie Surles

461. Melissa Juett Kalka

462. Kenneth Clark

463. Sandara Cararas

464. David Thackston

465. Robert Bruce

466. Marjorie Forster

467. Scott Mann

468. Marian Stanko

469. Curtis Nelson

470. Tina Gibson

471. Kendell Muenzler

472. Alexander Kim

473. Virginia Able

474. John Dillard

475. Thomas Knight

476. Marian Knowlton

477. Rex Teter

478. Stephen (Chris) Suprun Jr.

479. Jon Jewett

480. Susan Fischer

481. Loren Byers

482. William Lawrence Greene

483. Mary Lou Erben

484. Art Sisneros

485. Candace Noble

486. Fred Farias

UTAH (GOP)

487. Peter Greathouse

488. Jeremy Jenkins

489. Kris Kimball

490. Cherilyn Eagar

491. Chia-Chi Teng

492. Richard Snelgrove

WEST VIRGINIA (GOP)

521. Ron Foster

522. Patrick Morrisey

523. Ann Urling

524. Mac Warner

525. Bill Cole

WISCONSIN (GOP)

526. Steve King

527. Mary Buestrin

528. Kim Travis

529. Kim Babler

530. Brian Westrate

531. Brad Courtney

532. Kathy Kiernan

533. Dan Feyen

534. Jim Miller

535. Bill Berglund

WYOMING (GOP)

536. Karl Allred

537. Bonnie Foster

538. Teresa Richards

WE CAN REVERSE THIS!

Look, a great many electors are NOT legally committed to vote for the candidate that won the popular vote in their state.  Way more electors than Hillary needs to reach 270.  We need to be contacting those people --- say simply this is not a judgment of Trump.  It is a judgment of our idiotic system that awards the victory to the loser of the popular vote every 16 years!  Look what happened the LAST time the President was NOT the candidate who won the popular vote!  Not good, right?  We're STILL dealing with the repercussions of that Presdiency -- in spades.

We must ALL demand that the electors who are free to do so should vote for the winner of the national popular vote.  And -- if you felt your vote didn't count, tell the electors that.

How many felt their votes counted?  Only the Trump supporters in the swing states.  That's IT!  This is not a good sign about our democracy, folks.

I must tell you I'm not worried about Trump as much as the man who is a heartbeat away from the Presidency.   I don't KNOW what the hell Trump actually believes.  I DO know that Pence is a right-wing evangelical Christian.  He is a True Believer and a MEAN man.

My greatest fear used to be that Trump would be President and get into a nuclear war with the President of North Korea.  Little did I know that Trump actually ADMIRES the guy.

Now my greatest fear is that Trump will die --- not necessarily assassination.  Possibly expiring in some way because TRUMP REALLY DOESN'T WANT TO BE PRESIDENT!

Hello??  This man craves ATTENTION not POWER. (Thank goodness).  But PENCE craves POWER.

So really the most efficient thing to do is: Demand that the electors who can, give their votes to the winner of the popular vote.  That's all.  There is NOTHING radical in that.  It's just 

DEMOCRACY!!!!!

I think democracy would be a very good idea.

Terry

TAKE HEART

DEAR FRIENDS: Rick Hanson sends out a weekly email "Just One Thing" that I subscribe to.  He's a Buddhist and psychologist and I've often found his  advice/musings very helpful.  He's never before written about dealing with a event in the world.   I find his words beginning "Guard and guide your attention" particularly useful to me.  I'll be just toddling along in my life feeling pretty decent and then get gobsmacked by some radio, newspaper or internet info about what the Trump Presidency will mean, and I go spiraling down.   My friend Mary told me her housemate Evelyn's response to this moment has been:   Add volunteering for Planned Parenthood to her already full life -- and take a break from the alarming news and opinions flooding the media. I don't intend to go as far as Evelyn.  But it's good to be reminded that I have the right to guard and guide my attention rather than being open to everything that comes my way. I also love that he tells us to explore those scary feelings when they arise.  He would never say "Don't panic," as I did.  He asks you to acknowledge every feeling, explore it.  I know that when I do that, the feeling loses its power. I'm not a big forwarder of emails, but I want to share this with you. Terry

Take Heart Rick Hanson, Ph.D. November 9, 2016 What do you do when the bottom falls out? The Practice: Take heart. Why It takes heart to live in even ordinary times. By "taking heart," I mean several related things: Sensing your heart and chest  Finding encouragement in what is good both around you and inside you  Resting in your own warmth, compassion, and kindness; resting in the caring for you from others; love flowing in and love flowing out  Being courageous, whole-hearted and strong-hearted - going forward wisely even when anxious, knowing your own truth and as you can speaking it When you take heart, you're more able to deal with challenges like aging, illness, trauma, or conflicts with others. You're also more able to take advantage of opportunities with confidence and grit. Additionally, it takes heart to live in, live with, and live beyond times that are really hard. Your personal hard time might be bad news about your health, the death of a parent, or betrayal by others. Or it could be related to changes in your country and world, and your concerns about their effects on others and yourself; I've written about the importance of finding and facing facts at the level of society (feel free to skip it if you don't want my take on politics). There are so many examples of honorable people facing great difficulty with dignity, principle, and courage. They did it. We can, too. How Start by riding out the storm. When big things happen at any scale - in your child's schoolyard or in a refugee camp on the other side of the world - it is completely natural and normal to be shocked and disturbed by them. As best you can, stay with the raw experience, the body sensations, the deep feelings, the stirred up fears and anger and perhaps paralysis. Whatever it is, it is your experience; some may be upset about a big event while others may be glad about it; I am definitely not trying to talk you out of your experience. Be mindful of whatever is passing through the big open space of awareness, observing it without being flooded by it. Painful and counter-intuitive as it may be, this is the foundation of releasing really hard experiences and replacing them gradually and authentically with thoughts and feelings that are helpful, wholesome, wise, and even happy. Do things that help you come back to center and find your footing. Personally, I prioritize exercise, sleep, and meditation; I try to feel the truth of being basically alright right now, in this moment, moment after moment (alongside and deeper than pain or sorrow); I do the dishes and make the bed. Walk the dog, call a friend, eat something, look at trees and sky, get a cup of tea and stare into space. Take good care of your body. Guard and guide your attention. It's one thing to find facts and form the best plans you can. It's another thing to get distracted or upset by news or other people that do not add any useful value. Take heart in the good that is real. Outside you, there is the kindness in others, the beauty of a single leaf, the stars that still shine no matter what hides them. Right now as you read, all over the world children are laughing in delight, families are sitting down to a meal, babies are being born, and loving arms are holding people who are dying. Inside you, there is your compassion, sincere efforts, sweet memories, capabilities - and much more. Take heart with others, sharing worries, support, and friendship. Do the things you can. The more that events are turbulent, alarming, and beyond your influence, the more important it is to grow stability, safety, and agency inside you and around you. Have courage. At all human scales, strong forces have always tried to confuse and frighten others. Whatever outward action is necessary, you can preserve an inner freedom, never cowed or bowed in your core. Last, I've found it really helps to have perspective. Without minimizing one bit of whatever is awful, it is also true that humans like you and I have been walking this earth for nearly 200,000 years. I see the trees, the land, the ocean - all of it here before me and lasting long after me. Empires rise and fall. Sometimes the center does not hold - in a body, marriage, or nation - and still. And still people love each other, go out of their way for a stranger, and marvel at a rainbow. Nothing, nothing at all can change this. We keep putting one foot in front of the other one, lifting each other up along the way. This comes from Rick Hanson, Ph.D., clinical psychologist, New York Times best-selling author, and invited speaker at Oxford, Stanford, and Harvard universities. See Rick's workshops and lectures.

DON'T PANIC.

Not that we don't have REASON to panic.  We do.  The unimaginable has happened.  But it just doesn't do any GOOD to panic.  And those panic hormones are very bad for your health.  So don't go there, if you can possibly avoid it.  

I'm stunned, grieving.  I'm glad my parents aren't alive to witness this.

I don't think people should leave the country.  I believe we have a responsibility to stay here and deal with this.  It's not like this is Albania or Kazakhstan that has elected some nutcase.  What the United States does affects the whole world.  But citizens of other countries have no control over what the U.S. does.  That's up to us, the citizens.  If the people who think Trump is a catastrophe move to other countries -- then there are fewer of us left here to change things for the better.  

It's different if someone is in danger of arrest or physical harm for their political beliefs.  Then they're entitled to flee.  But that is not the case now. 

So this is what life is presenting us with.  What are we supposed to do?  I don't know.  We have to figure that out.  We have to see what happens and figure out what to do. 

It's time to be kind to ourselves.  My friend Elizabeth said she was going to have an ice cream even though she knew it's what Weight Watchers calls "emotional eating."  I said, "If not now, when?"  As for me, I just ordered some things from a catalog:  two silly joke gifts for people I love, and something beautiful to hang in my garden.  

CANVASSING IN CARSON CITY

THE DAY HAS ARRIVED!  DO THAT VOTING THANG!

PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO OTHERS IF YOU WISH.
READ ALL MY BLOGS AT WWW.TERRYBAUM.BLOGSPOT.COM .


Just got back from two days of walking around Carson City, Nevada, knocking on doors -- and I MEAN knocking because more often than not there was no doorbell -- talking to anyone who answered, about the election.  

Originally I planned to stay through the election.  But then I discovered that two days of tramping the suburbs of Carson City was enough.  After all, I'm almost 70!  I'm entitled to be tired!  I'm old!  Is this selfie not proof?  (I'm popping my eyes to make them as big as possible because they seem to have shrunk over the years.)

But now I think it was a big mistake coming back early.  I should have stuck with my original plan and stayed through the election.  What if we DO win Nevada?  How cool would that have been, to be there, at that moment?  Oh well.  Shoulda coulda woulda.  Such is life.  

The Carson City adventure began on Friday afternoon. I took BART to North Berkeley, where I met John Skonberg, who was driving to Reno.  Nan Weiner was also there for the ride.  The three of us had never met before.  We were being organized and sponsored by the Sierra Club's political arm, which was partially subsidizing our hotel rooms in Reno.  John was also getting 25 cents per mile.

John lives in Berkeley and works as a lawyer in a downtown SF firm.  Nan lives in SF and works a free-lance editor.  She had already canvassed in Reno.  John and I were newbies.  After checking in at the Silver Legacy Hotel, Resort, Casino, Spa and whatever, we went to meet a bunch of Nan's friends, also in Reno for canvassing, for dinner.  First we went to the wrong restaurant and then  we had to drive absurdly far, considering we'd just driven four hours.  John and I got very grumpy.  I told Nan that her friends had better be very charming or I would never forgive her.  I think that made her a little nervous.  I was just joking.  Sort of.  

Anyhow, it all turned out wonderfully.  I met lots of very charming people from San Francisco who asked to be put on my mailing list! Now, THAT'S what I call a good time!   

Then back to our very nice hotel rooms.  From the 27th floor, I had a lovely view of the Circus Circus clown tower!  What's not to like?  

I walked through the underground casino before going to bed.

Oh, how the mighty Trevi Fountain of Rome hath fallen!

Next morning, 9 am, we were at the office of FOR NEVADA'S FUTURE. This was a group of very smart, passionate progressive people who have been working long at organizing for the election.  Almost all the organizers were young and all the volunteers were old.

Nan, John, and me.  We were a good team.
 Unidentified Old Person in Background

I loved the organizers' hand-drawn charts of how how close they got to their weekly goals of convincing people to vote for Hillary and Catherine Cortez Masto, who is running for the Senate.

They were SO ORGANIZED!  They had water bottles, they had breakfast burritos (delicious), they had all the canvassing precincts divided into groups so that everyone in the same car could go to the same area.  They trained us, they inspired us. 

The Sacramento Bee was there to cover the meeting

The organizers told us wonderful stories:  Latino people lining up until 10 at night for early voting! And, for the first time, there was an early voting polling place on an Indian Reservation.  One organizer talked with a 103- year old woman who was so proud to vote FOR THE FIRST TIME on the Rez! 

Then we all got into our respective cars to go to Carson City, the state capitol, 32 miles from Reno, population 54,080 (ain't GoogleSearch wonderful?).

The landscape on the way was quintessential Wild West desert and and snow-capped mountains.

John dropped Nan and I off with our little maps and lists, and he went to his own precinct.  And we three walked and knocked and knocked and walked.  Mostly, folks didn't answer.  A beautiful weekend, and they were out.  We were in working class and poor suburbs, with wide streets.  The trees blazed yellow with Fall colors.  And always, the beautiful mountains in the distance.  

For two days, we walk-knocked from 11am-2pm, came together for lunch and check-in, and walk-knocked some more from 3pm-5:30pm.   The land was flat, but there were a lot of two or three-story apartment buildings.  At this late date, our voters had been pre-selected to be probable Clinton/Cortez Masto supporters.  

I recorded everything on my smartphone with the Minivan app.  This is my app map at the end of Sunday:

All the little balloons were white when I began.  Each balloon represents a different address, with the number of potential supporters there.  I would click on the balloon, and get the actual name and address.  After I walked, then knocked and hopefully talked, I filled in the response.  Blue: Supporter.  Orange: Not home.  Gray: Take off list (moved or refused to talk).

My most important job was to identify those supporters who had not already voted (lots of early voting in Nevada) so they could be urged to the polls on Election Day.  

My second most important job was to discuss with supporters the logistics of how and when they would be voting.  One Hillary supporter hadn't considered that, since he worked 10:30-7:00 and the polls close at 7, he had to vote before he went to work.

And, third in importance was trying to move undecided voters toward Clinton/Cortez Masto.  That of course was the most rewarding.    

I tried to discern what might be most important to a particular person.  With a woman whose living room was littered with toys, I talked about Hillary's support for paid parental leave after the birth of a child.  Guess how many countries, out of 185 surveyed by the International Labor Organization, DON'T have paid parental leave!  Guess!  I dare you!   THREE:  Lesotho, Papua New Guinea and...... Drum roll please.....THE UNITED STATES!  Cool shameful fact, huh?

I met one undecided young man for whom this must be the first Presidential election. He was very shy, but as we talked about climate change, he agreed that, yes, he had actually experienced the world getting warmer, that global warming was a reality -- a reality which Clinton AND Cortez Masto want to do something about. 

One man yelled that he wasn't voting because BOTH candidates were so horrible.  ME:  "Is there perhaps one that you consider a little less awful?"

HIM:  "No!"  Then I talked about my concern that Trump might press the nuclear button.  I told him about an op-end column I'd read by an army veteran who had been in the position of actually launching a nuclear warhead when he was in the service.  The veteran wrote that he and other veterans worry that Trump might start a nuclear war.  My voter grudgingly agreed that Trump was more inclined to incinerate the planet than Clinton. In a rational world, that would move him to the polls to vote.  I know, I know.  That's not the world we're living in at the moment.

One young Latina woman was soo thrilled to be voting for the first time!  We discussed logistics of getting to the polls on Tuesday, and I gave her my big Hillary button.  She also wanted a house sign "Because that jerk across the street just put up a Trump sign!"  I let For Our Future know, and I'm sure she got her sign. 

Yes,  using the App was confusing at first.  I was scared the first few times I knocked.  A few who answered the door were hostile.  Some scorned voting altogether, which made me really sad. Yes, it seems like an incredibly inefficient way to win an election. But the people who know these things say that it works.    

When I DID have a real conversation, I often left feeling I could have done better.  But, imperfect as it was, the time spent talking to people face-to-face seems very precious to me.  Even if I didn't actually convince anyone to vote for Clinton and Cortez Masto, those conversations have to be a positive thing.  After all, we are mourning the loss of civility.  To have a civil conversation with someone who doesn't agree with me is no small achievement -- for both of us. 

On Sunday night, we three exhausted canvassers returned home.  The next morning, I woke up, stepped into my backyard, looked up and saw this:

The world's a beautiful thing.  We have to start talking with people who don't agree with us, if we're going to save it.

This post was written with the help of Carolyn Myers.

I'M SCARED.

First:

HILLARYCLINTON.COM/EVENTS.  TYPE IN YOUR ZIP CODE TO FIND LOCAL EVENTS.  DO SOMETHING.  IF YOU'RE IN A CITY IN A BLUE STATE, YOU CAN PHONE BANK FOR SURE IN BATTLEGROUND STATES.

I admit I let down my guard.  After the last debate, I thought it was in the BAG!  I mean, COME ON:  

1. That disgusting tape of Trump boasting about his sexual assaults on women
2. All the women he had actually assaulted coming out of the closet
3. Hillary's damn good debate performance and Trump's smirking creepiness

I woke up the morning after the debate with a smile on my face and a song in my heart.  I absolutely GORGED myself for breakfast on New York Times op-eds predicting Trump's catastrophic defeat. 

Hey, let's face it:  even TRUMP thought he was a goner.  

  

Sooo.... I didn't phone bank as much..... (well, really not at all until this Monday night)....  I procrastinated on writing a blog..... I prioritized all the little and big details of my life over getting out the vote for Hillary.

I'm back phone banking.  I highly recommend it.  It can be very rewarding.  I had a great discussion with an undecided voter in Arizona on Monday.  And just identifying Hillary supporters is CRUCIAL.  This is what the Democratic Party does best:  GOTV -- Get Out The Vote.   In order to do that, the voters must be identified before election day.  You can be part of that.  Yes, you can.  

If you can actually get yourself to a battleground state to canvas and GOTV in person, that is super.  I'm going to Nevada with the Sierra Club on Friday and staying until it's over.  I'm hoping this knot in my stomach will untie itself if I'm putting boots on the ground with other folks.  

For folks in Northern CA who'd like to canvas in Nevada, call 415 977-5678.  The Sierra Club is arranging car pools and subsidizing hotel rooms.

I talked to my good friend J, who in despair had withdrawn into reading the Wizard of Oz books (there are a lot of them).  He'd had a frustrating experience phone banking -- sometimes people are angry that you called them.  That's a drag. But, as I pointed out to J, that does not mean that they are unaffected by the fact that a human being, an actual human being, has reached out to them with a political position.  J's decided to phone bank some more.

I understand the desire to escape.  I myself have been reading Zen koans to relax.  I'm thinking of switching to The Wizard of Oz. 

I mean, I'm not saying I'm working on the election 24/7.  But I got a knot in my stomach 24/7, a fear that the impossible, the irreversible might happen.

We cannot withdraw.  We cannot give up.  We cannot despair.  Oh, hell, alright -- DESPAIR!  I don't give a damn what you FEEL.  Just DO something!  Do something so that you can say "I did something."  

And it is so GOOD to be with others who are doing something.  Did you know that activism is an antidote to depression?  I swear to you, it IS. Despair is impossible when you're surround by like-minded people DOING something.  Well, at least it's much less likely.

HILLARYCLINTON.COM/EVENTS.  TYPE IN YOUR ZIP CODE TO FIND LOCAL EVENTS.  DO SOMETHING.  IF YOU'RE IN A BLUE STATE, YOU CAN PHONE BANK FOR SURE IN BATTLEGROUND STATES.

 Okay now, WHAT HAPPENED between the last debate and now?  

The slow poisonous drip drip drip of those stupid fucking emails.  Thank you, Putin and Wikileaks.  

Why does the NY Times put them on the FRONT PAGE??  

Why aren't people outraged at our "free" press being a pipeline for Putin's interference in this election?  Okay, maybe they have to cover it.  But the front page?

Why doesn't Obama fire the director the FBI for what HE did?  

Why doesn't somebody hold Trump accountable for his suggestion that someone assassinate the future President Clinton before she appoints someone pro-gun control to the Supreme Court? Isn't it a crime to threaten the life of the President, even when they DON'T do it on television for a mass audience of gun nuts?  

Why doesn't Hillary get up on a table and DEMAND Trump's tax returns?

Why?  Why?  Why?  How did we get here?

But this is not the time to devote ourselves to understanding what has happened.  This is the time for action.

HILLARYCLINTON.COM/EVENTS.  TYPE IN YOUR ZIP CODE TO FIND LOCAL EVENTS.  DO SOMETHING.  IF YOU'RE IN A  BLUE STATE, YOU CAN PHONE BANK IN BATTLEGROUND STATES.

A child handed me this wonderful brochure on Castro and Market.

Children were handing out these brochures to everyone.  This is the response of the 8th grade class at CDS Middle School to the election.

The topics covered are:Taxes, Schools & Jobs; Health Care; Climate Change; Policing; Gun Control; LGBTQ+ Community; Immigration; Foreign Policy.  

On each issue, they compare the positions of Clinton and Trump.  It's very informative, well-written.  I take it with me when I phone bank.  

We are doing this for the children, right?  That's always the most important thing.  The children.  The future.  They're entitled to a decent world, don't you think?  I'm not saying this as a parent, because I'm not.  I'm saying this as a human being.

DO SOMETHING.

AMBIVALENT HILLARY VOTERS: DON'T ASSUME THAT SOMEONE ELSE WILL STOP TRUMP!

My subject heading is stolen from Katha Pollitt's great article in The Nation Magazine.  Here's the link:

https://www.thenation.com/article/ambivalent-hillary-voters-dont-assume-someone-else-will-stop-trump-2/

I want to clarify who I am politically:  I am a Green Party activist who switched my affiliation to Democrat so that I could vote for Bernie Sanders.  I volunteered and donated to his campaign.  I have not worked for a Democratic Presidential nominee since 1992.  I feel this election is exceptional and it is close.  So I'm all in with Hillary.

Since I wrote my last blog, I've heard from many friends who were waaay ahead of me in volunteering for Hillary.  Bless you, bless you, bless you.  On the other hand, I've heard from one Hillary supporter who believes Bernie is the devil incarnate and one Bernie supporter who prefers Trump to Hillary.  And I've talked to several people who are ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that Trump has no chance of winning, so they can just relax!

Ah yes, I remember those days.  I KNEW he was going to do himself in.   I didn't have to lift a finger.  That was a nice feeling.  Strangely, Trumpian self-destruction hasn't happened.  And if the recent loathsome revelations of his complete contempt for women haven't done it, then I don't expect anything else to work.  As of today, Hillary has a 5% lead.  Five percent is NOTHING!  That means if 3% change their minds, she's behind!  And before the "locker room" tape revelation, she had a 1% lead!  Folks, this is scary stuff.  I'm writing this at 4:15 am because I can't sleep.

There are three important phenomena (at least) going on to cause the cataclysmic possibility of a Trump presidency:

Trump himself.  You gotta hand it to him, he's a very successful demagogue (Demagogue:  a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular prejudices rather than by using rational argument.)

The people who support Trump.  This is harder for me to understand than Trump the individual.  But certainly some of them are justifiably angry at the economic changes wrought in their lives by globalization.  I also think people are terrified by cultural changes:  gay marriage, a black president, a woman presidential candidate, gender-neutral bathrooms.  Neither candidate talks about these issues, but I think a lot of Trump's support is fueled by people's unspoken anger at the symbolic and legal progress towards greater equality.  It's just too much!  (Frankly, even I have trouble with gender-neutral bathrooms, and I've been almost thrown out of women's bathrooms for being a man!)

Good old-fashioned misogyny.  Wow!  Who knew?  Or, how COULD we know, since contempt for women is the very air we breathe?  Even people who SUPPORT Hillary for President can't seem to refrain from debasing her!  The New York Times, which emphatically wants Hillary to win, said in a recent news article that Hillary appeared "cold" in the first debate.  Cold?  COLD?  COLD????  WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU HEARD A MALE POLITICAL CANDIDATE DESCRIBED AS COLD?  Never!  It's never happened!  Men running for office are not COLD.  They are serious, strong, authoritative, assertive, perhaps cool as in calm and level-headed --- but never COLD!  A woman cannot escape being constantly trivialized, even by her supporters.  We may have come a long way, baby, but we've got a looooong way to go!

Well.  I've been phone banking, joined by friends, and having coffee after.  Very enjoyable.  I will again be doing:

Wednesday:  1 West Portal, 5:30-8:00
Thursday:  540 Alabama (18th/Mariposa), 5:30-8:00.

PLEASE VOLUNTEER, WEAR A BUTTON, PUT UP A HOUSE SIGN, DO SOMETHING!  GO TO:

HILLARYCLINTON.COM/EVENTS!