You know enough to vote

You may see a lot in the next few days trying to shame people for not voting and guilt them into voting.

I suppose the mindset behind it is that while it is certainly worse to vote for harmful policies and people than to not vote, the people who didn't vote are more likely to have a conscience that can be worked upon.

I don't even disagree with that, exactly, though I do question the efficacy of shame as a motivator. It could easily just breed resentment instead. Beyond that, it ignores two important factors.

A gigantic factor is voter suppression. Georgia has some shocking examples this year, apparently bent on even teaching neighbor Florida some new voter suppression tricks. That is something that should be fought, and that people are working on. If you get an opportunity to help with that - whether it is giving people rides to polling places, helping people obtain state ID. or petitioning the government on essentially disenfranchising every person on the reservation by disallowing post office boxes for addresses - do it.

Today's post is about another significant issue. There are people who refrain from voting, not due to apathy, but from concern about their ability to make informed choices. They worry that they don't know enough, and want to leave the decision-making to more knowledgeable people.

If this is you, you are gravely overestimating the people who vote.

I admit that often the opportunities for voter education are less than ideal. I am grateful for our situation in Oregon, where we receive a voters guide and can fill out our ballots while looking at the guide before mailing it in. Even with that, time can be an issue for studying things out, it may be hard to predict the outcomes for various options, and you will never really know all of the candidates for some of the lower offices, which are still important.

It is good to know that our choices do make a difference, and to care about making good choices. With all possible compassion and sympathy, I must tell you that there are people voting from malice who have no doubts about whether their knowledge is adequate. Allow me to also reassure you that you can be informed enough.

There will definitely be things going on that you don't know about. When some of the more obscure white supremacist ties were coming out in Trump's campaign, I did not immediately recognize them, though I was reading enough that I learned about most of them before the election. It was only years after his election that I learned that when Bush used the term "compassionate conservative" that it had specific connotations for the religious right.

Although it was possible to know more, those specifics did not change my feelings about either of those two candidates. Yes, things went deeper than I knew, but there was enough in what they said blatantly and in their past history that I knew they were terrible candidates who would be terrible presidents.

There have been times when I have been more reluctant to vote strictly along party lines, but that is not an issue today. Yes, some Republicans still pay lip service to decency, but given the way they are voting, whether they like Trump or not they are going to support his policies, if for no other reason than that it works well for their policies. For some time now, that policy has been to favor corporate greed via stirring up contempt for poor people, people of color, and immigrants, plus getting the people who are less comfortable with open racism by condemning abortion, even though fewer abortions happen under Democratic administrations because of improved access to health care and options for making a life.

Really, that's what it comes down to. It shouldn't be that simplistic, but the more you look, the clearer it becomes. And it will keep becoming clearer because the more Republicans consolidate power, the less they will need to hide. The people who are voting for fascism and authoritarianism aren't worried that they don't know enough. (They should be).

And I still want them to vote. I want everyone to vote. But today is for people of conscience who are letting insecurity hold them back from what is most needed. We need you, and you are enough.
Vote Democrat.

And it can be completely reasonable to listen to others on how to vote. Consider if they are more informed, and if you trust their values.

With the races where there are more unknowns, I look at the endorsements of people whom I do recognize. I don't always follow them, but it fills out the picture.

I get if that does not feel like enough. It may also be questionable if one candidate is running as a moderate. Tomorrow I will post about Oregon's gubernatorial race, and Wednesday we will look at ballot measures.

I know that doesn't help people in other states (and countries), but there are information sources out there. Keep looking.

Be careful about trusting newspapers though. Often even the ones that you expect to be kind of liberal are really more conservative. I'm looking at you, The Oregonian.