San Diego Free Press

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San Diego’s Solution to Trump Starts in Less Than 30 Days

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Donald Trump’s name won’t be on the June 5 ballots in California. But you can still vote against him in a meaningful way.

Mail-in ballots for our primary elections will be arriving less than one month, starting on May 7th. In speaking with activists who have been canvassing neighborhood around San Diego, I’ve heard that a majority of people don’t even know there’s an election on the horizon.

It’s everybody’s responsibility to change this situation.

The act of voting in this election affords people the opportunity to both send a message to Washington and begin the process of resetting the direction of this country.  Ending the bad ideas and practices of the Trump regime requires taking it out by the roots. And those roots extend all the way across the political ecosystem to San Diego.   

It’s easy to be upset with President Donald Trump’s antics. Impeach or indict him and you get Mike Pence, a politician with the same agenda who smiles instead of growls.

Job security for those in the Trump administration exists because of political foundation decades in the making. The Congresscritters who enable this national nightmare are the product of a strategy dating back to the early 1970s to enable the ‘marketplace’ as the arbiter of our future as a nation.

House majority leader Paul Ryan is retiring at age 48, having built a legacy ensuring many working Americans won’t get that opportunity until they are 84. Or older.

Today’s County Supervisor could become tomorrow’s House Majority leader. Or he/she could make a deal making it possible for one of their cronies to ascend politically.

The time to stop this process is now. And San Diego is as good a place as any to get started.

Over the next six weeks, there will be events throughout the county urging people to vote. If people who don’t normally cast ballots can be persuaded to do so, we can take a step in a better direction politically.

The problem is largely a generational one.

A recently released poll by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics says 72% of 18- to 29-year-olds disapprove of President Trump. They also prefer that Democrats win a majority in Congress in this fall’s midterms, and there is an increase in the percentage who say they plan to vote come November.

From the Washington Post:

In Fall 2017, there was a 32-point partisan gap among the most likely young voters, 65 percent preferring Democrats control Congress, with 33 percent favoring Republicans.

Today, the gap has increased to 41 points, 69 percent supporting Democrats and 28 percent Republicans. “Millennials and post-Millennials are on the verge of transforming the culture of politics today and setting the tone for the future,” said John Della Volpe, Polling Director at Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics. “This generation of young Americans is as engaged as we have ever seen them in a midterm election cycle.

Here are some ways to get involved in the coming weeks.

Some of the same people who organized last year’s human RESIST and IMPEACH banners in Ocean Beach are organizing an April 21 effort to encourage fellow Americans to catch the Blue Wave and turn the tide by getting out the VOTE! Sign up for this fun event here.

A group in the Ocean Beach neighborhood in San Francisco is organizing a simultaneous event. Both human banners will be immortalized by aerial video and photography which will be shared on social media across the nation.

Photo via Indivisible SD

The March to Vote event on May 19 offers voters receiving mail-in ballots the opportunity to make a public statement about their participation in the electoral process.

They hoping for thousands of San Diegans to meet up at the Civic Center Plaza at 10am on that Saturday and march as a group to nearby the Horton Plaza post office to cast their votes.

The races for otherwise obscure county offices represent the biggest bang for your vote. Most of these races will be decided on June 5.

If you ever watched the Mash TV series, you know the guy (Radar) who controls the paperwork actually has a lot of power. In San Diego, the County Clerk/Assessor/Recorder position fills that bill, and the GOP functionary running for re-election has a bright and talented challenger.

The County District Attorney is absolutely one of the most powerful political players in San Diego, and we’re blessed to have a dynamic young progressive woman running for the job.

The County Sheriff’s position is up for grabs, and you have a choice between the guy whose jail department requires women prisoners to be shackled while giving birth, or an experienced member of the organization who is committed to progressive reforms.

In addition to the individual campaigns of Matt Strabone, Geneviève Jones-Wright, and Dave Myers, there are two independent groups working to get out the vote for those candidates.   

Get Out the Vote is a Political Action Committee already working to educate voters about all three of these candidates as part of the Vote for Justice Campaign. They’re looking for volunteers to help with phone banking.

The ACLU’s Smart Justice DA Campaign is part of nationwide effort to bring common sense reforms to our criminal justice system. They are looking for volunteers to help with phone banking and canvassing voters.

Register to Vote https://registertovote.ca.gov/

Confirm your voter registration http://www2.sdcounty.ca.gov/rov/Eng/Voters.asp

Some other articles I’ve written about the County Contests:

These County Elections Are The Ones to Watch in 2018
District Attorney Candidate Geneviéve Jones-Wright Runs on a Reform Agenda for San Diego
Help Wanted: A 21st Century San Diego County Sheriff
County Elections Matter: Matt Strabone’s Campaign for Assessor/Recorder/Clerk

Looking for some action? Check out the Weekly Progressive Calendar, published every Friday in this space, featuring Demonstrations, Rallies, Teach-ins, Meet Ups and other opportunities to get your activism on.

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Doug Porter

Doug Porter

Doug Porter was active in the early days of the alternative press in San Diego, contributing to the OB Liberator, the print version of the OB Rag, the San Diego Door, and the San Diego Street Journal. He went on to have a 35-year career in the Hospitality business and decided to go back into raising hell when he retired. He won numerous awards for his columns from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Doug is a cancer survivor (sans vocal chords) and lives in North Park.

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