| | |  Editorials | Opinions | September 2008 
Calling All Democrats: The Time to Vote is NOW!
 Paul Crist - Democrats Abroad Mexico
| | For more information or voting assistance, contact Susan Wichterman at 044-322-303-5181 or mexicoms(at)hotmail.com or Paul Crist at 322-222-4793 or editor(at)mexicodemocrats.org. | | |
The Democratic and Republican Conventions in the U.S. are over. The Presidential candidates are officially nominated, and their running mates are chosen. The official General Election Campaigns are now underway. It seemed like the Primaries were over months ago. The entire world has long known who the candidates are, but technically, the primary campaigns are not over until the candidate is officially nominated at the party’s convention.
This election year, the conventions were held a bit later than usual, making an already interminable primary season seem even longer. That will make the General Election, mercifully, shorter than usual.
For those of us living in Mexico, the shortened campaign season means we have to focus on the political choices before us now, even before the confetti is fully swept up in Denver and St. Paul. Because voting from Mexico takes a little more time and effort than most voters back in the 50 states have to endure.
But vote we must. America faces challenges of both greater scope and greater magnitude than any we have faced since Franklin Roosevelt was President. We all know the laundry list of ills (although a remarkable 57% of Republican Party Convention delegates thought the U.S. economy was in "pretty good shape" ... huh?), so there seems little need to enumerate the list here. But we do need to decide which candidate is best equipped to lead us through the thicket of thorny problems we currently confront.
There is no candidate with whom we will agree on every issue. Most of us base our voting decisions on our perceptions about a candidate’s values; intelligence; understanding of the issues; vision for the future; leadership qualities; compassion; personal philosophy of governance; and whether or not we "connect" with the candidate on an emotional level.
But issues do matter. A candidate’s stand on, and comments about the issues of the day provides a window through which we view and measure those intangible qualities that he or she offers as a leader, as well as the general direction that he or she would take us as a nation.
In this election, the differences between the candidates and their running mates are stark.
On the Republican side, John McCain admits he’s clueless about the economy, and it appears that his learning curve after 26 years as a legislator in Washington has flatlined. In 2000, he told an interviewer that he would make up for his lack of attention to "those issues." As he entered the 2008 campaign, he was still saying the same, vowing to read "Greenspan’s book" as a tutorial.
As a fiscal conservative and deficit hawk, McCain claims he can balance the federal budget by extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, and cutting the "wasteful pork barrel spending and earmarks." Well enough, but For fiscal 2008, the budget watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense said there was $18.3 billion earmarked in spending bills. Citizens Against Government Waste came in at $17.2 billion. The Office of Management and Budget tallied earmarks at a mere $16.9 billion. With a projected federal deficit in 2008 of $410 billion, and McCain promising to increase defense spending, it seems that the numbers might be a little off. But as McCain points out, math isn’t his forte.
Speaking on Social Security at a town hall in Denver, McCain indicated that "he isn’t completely clear on what Social Security does." He called the program’s premise — young taxpayers foot the bill for their elders (including him) — an "absolute disgrace." As anyone who knows anything about Social Security understands, "paying present-day retirees with the taxes paid by young workers" is pretty much the functional definition of Social Security. It always has been. And his policy description on social security describes at least partial privatization, by advocating that workers should be allowed to establish private savings accounts in lieu of paying into social security. It is not clear how he would take current payroll tax revenues out of the system and still pay current retirees. But again, math is not his forte.
John McCain envisions American troops in Iraq "for 100 years," fighting a war we now know was waged over oil, based on lies, and executed by incompetent leaders. In sum, it was a mistake of epic proportions on all counts. As Ted Kennedy stated, "young Americans in uniform must never be committed to a mistake, but always for a mission worthy of their bravery."
On healthcare, McCain’s plan eliminates the payroll deduction on healthcare benefits, undermines the employer based healthcare system, and will lead to more workers losing coverage.
Worse still, instead of being concerned only about dire consequences of a possible McCain Presidency, we have to worry that his Vice Presidential choice, Sarah Palin, will be just a (72-year-old, 5-time cancer survivor’s) heartbeat away from the Oval Office.
His running mate opposes all forms of gun control, opposes a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body, and supports teaching creationism in science classes. She claims to be a fiscal conservative, but as mayor of Wasilla (a town that has fewer residents than some high schools), she inherited a town with no debt, and left it with a debt of $22 million. Had that money been spent on a much needed sewage treatment plant, that could be forgiven, but the borrowed money funded a park and $15 million sports center built on land that the city did not have clear title to.
During her mayoral administration, most of the actual work of running her small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she got herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had given rise to a recall campaign. Is this the experience we need in Washington?
It’s hard to believe, but despite these facts, the election could be a nail-biter. National polling shows that Barack Obama may win the popular vote, but the ELECTORAL VOTES are what counts. There are some big states in play that could make the difference.
Here in Mexico, in the Costa Banderas region, we probably have voters from those key states who would vote for the kind of CHANGE Obama offers. We MUST reach those voters NOW, and encourage them to request an absentee ballot and VOTE! Time is running out.
The election is less than 2 months away, and absentee voting takes time for the mailings to be processed.
Democrats Abroad has been operating a Get-Out-The-Vote effort June, and have registered many voters at the MAILBOXES ETC. store at Plaza Caracol, where they have a table set up to assist voters every Wednesday from 1 to 3 pm.
But from now until October 15, the very last date for voting from Mexico, we must reach more eligible voters. We need your help.
What can you do? Two key things:
1. Talk to everyone you know, and ask if they have requested their Absentee ballot.
2. Help Democrats Abroad raise funds to reach every last eligible voter in Costa Banderas and in Mexico. For Democrats, turnout is always the key to winning.
Democrats Abroad Mexico Costa Banderas Chapter needs to buy advertising in local media to reach those who may not yet know they can vote from abroad. To do this, we need to raise some funds.
The Presidential and Vice Presidential debates provide us a great opportunity to organize fundraising events.
What could be more fun than sharing an evening with like-minded voters, where we can cheer on our candidate and hiss at the opposition’s worn-out ideas?
We are looking for venues where we can host these events.
Large private homes, or public venues where a large-screen TV is available. The space should hold up to 50 people, be under roof (air conditioned a big plus!) and allow for serving light food and beverages.
The debate schedule is as follows:
Presidential Debates
Jim Lehrer, Sept. 26, at Ole Miss.
Tom Brokaw, Oct. 7, in Nashville
Bob Schieffer, Oct. 15, at Hofstra
Vice Presidential Debate
Gwen Ifill, Oct. 2, at Wash. U in St. Louis
Each debate will begin at 9 pm EDT, and last 90 minutes. If you have a space, or know of someone who has a space that could host a fundraising event on any of these dates, please contact:
Paul Crist, Media Chair
Democrats Abroad Mexico, Costa Banderas Chapter
Cell: 322-294-1820; Office: (322) 222-4793
Email: paulcrist(at)hotel-mercurio.com
This is the most important election of our lifetimes, and we all need to play a part in ensuring that Barack Obama and the Democrats win BIG on November 4th!
TOGETHER, YES WE WILL!
For more information about the Costa Banderas Chapter of Democrats Abroad, click HERE. For local assistance, contact Susan Wichterman at 044-322-303-5181 or mexicoms(at)hotmail.com or Paul Crist at 322-222-4793 or editor(at)mexicodemocrats.org. |
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