Who’s the underdog now?
Last night I did something I rarely do these days: I turned on MSNBC. The chyron declared that Kamala Harris is still the underdog in this race. So I immediately turned it back off. Kamala keeps referring to herself as the underdog, so my issue isn’t with what was being said on MSNBC. Whether you think Kamala is the frontrunner or the underdog, the larger issue is that staring at your screen in fear doesn’t do anything to improve her odds. While we all intuitively know this, it helps if we periodically remind ourselves of it.
While some folks were merely staring at TV yesterday and hearing about Kamala’s prospects, a lot of other people were out there actively trying to improve Kamala’s prospects. Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas (check out his new song For Cryin’ Out Loud) posted a video endorsing Kamala Harris yesterday, which will undoubtedly help drive youth voter turnout. More than just an endorsement, they made a point of promoting the iwillvote.com website. At the other end of the age spectrum, 86 year old legend Jane Fonda was out knocking on doors for Kamala Harris. She says it’s the first time she’s ever done so for a presidential candidate.
The point is not that these folks are celebrities. The point is that they’re using what influence they have in order to generate what votes they can for Kamala. You can do the same, on your own scale. You all have friends or family or neighbors you know who tend to lean your direction politically but might not be inclined to bother voting. You can influence these people simply by texting them the link to iwillvote.com – and you want to do it now, while it’s still early enough for them to register before the upcoming deadlines.
You can also knock on doors or phone bank. Nancy Pelosi just announced that she’s hosting a virtual phone banking session for Democratic House candidate Will Rollins this Saturday. You can participate in that from your own living room, no matter what state you live in.
So let’s do this. And by do this, I mean do this. If you care about the outcome of an election, it’s not enough to watch it play out. It’s not even enough to vote. You have to go out and get more votes for your side. You owe it to your country, and just as importantly, you owe it to yourself. So let’s indeed get out there and do this.
