So! As we all know by now, the most depressing portion of this election was realizing how many white women – 53%, or, a majority – went for the most anti-woman candidate this country has ever belched forth from its gullet. Yet this is totally in line with history to date. If you, a white woman, are appalled by this – and I sincerely hope you are – what can you do about it? I asked around, and here are some answers. 

I appreciate this article, with one important criticism: the conclusion says that we have four years to do this work, but that’s not correct. We have two. Flipping Congress in the 2018 midterm elections is a daunting prospect, but it’s still important that we try.

I wonder from where so many Americans get the idea that voting is supposed to be some expression of your deepest, most beloved values and virtues rather than a pragmatic, political move meant to shift your country as much closer to your ideal as possible. This strikes me as another example of extreme individualism. Voting isn’t about *you*. It’s about your city, state, and/or country. It doesn’t have to feel transcendently good deep down in your bones. It just has to *do* as much good as you can do, in this particular moment in time.

Watch: Jesse Williams is done with these excuses

PREACH @jessehimself

–Sady Doyle: America loves women like Hillary Clinton–as long as they’re not asking for a promotion

i think i need to reblog this at least 5 times a day

Your husband is directly responsible for both DOMA and DADT, and you’ve not only defended this, but until recently you were against marriage equality, to say NOTHING about trans rights. you don’t give a shit about trans people, you just wanna get in on the trans voter’s good side by stealing our hashtag. 

ok time for my favorite song “the queer community doesn’t know our history and we’re starting to suffer for it”

point by point, more or less:

* the issue came up in a hawaii supreme court case in 1993 that went in circles for years until hawaii passed an amendment in 1998 that banned same-sex marriage

so basically, you’re massively wrong, you’ve misunderstood the political situation in the 1990s, you’re using this to attack a candidate who is, if not perfect, certainly very good, and all while not applying the same standard to her opposition.

Watch: “In case you need more convincing there are many fundamental things Bernie and Hillary agree on”

So important!! Please vote blue!

Considering [T]Rump will be the most likely Republican nominee?

Vote Blue.  For the love of god, vote Democrat.

I just had this conversation with a friend of mine on facebook. I love Bernie Sanders and want him to be our nominee, but it’s important to remember: When they were in the senate together, Clinton and Sanders voted the same way 93% of the time. That 7% does make a difference, but not so big a difference that I’d risk a Trump presidency.

I would personally be willing to die on the hill of a Bernie Sanders run.

However, I vote my conscience, and my conscience says it would be wrong of me to ask my country to die on that hill too. If they wanted to, he would be nominee.

So I’ll be voting my conscience in the general, and my conscience says that Hillary Clinton is far better than the alternatives.

Like, if you live in a solidly blue/red state, then okay, opt out of voting. If you’re in a swing state? PLEASE do not do that thing.

No no no no. DO NOT OPT OUT OF VOTING.

Voting in down-ticket races is just as (or more!) important as voting for President. Even in a state that is primarily Democratic or Republican. Do you want your Congress-person to be a Democrat? You need to vote. What about your State Senator? The Mayor of your town? The guy running for dog-catcher? If you want to have any influence on local issues, you need to vote for those people. So even if you decide you can’t vote for the presidential nominee, show up to vote anyway. You can skip the box for president and vote for all the other races.

Voting matters. Show the fuck up.

Who controls Congress is, if anything, MORE important than who is president. And control of state legislatures matters so much -- would you rather have your state legislature raising the minimum wage or discriminating against LGBTQ people? Please don't sit this out. Vote third party or leave president blank if you must, but don't skip the down ticket races. Vote in every election, in every primary, every time. Please, please vote.

There’s a lot of young people who are going to be eligible to vote in America during this election so in light of the fact that this website is currently thrumming with political interest I’d just like to remind them that abstaining from voting is not useful or radical, it’s playing right into the hands of the people who want this country to progress backwards. I can guarantee you that there will be an ENORMOUS conservative turn out and if the younger generation doesn’t match it it will literally be a disaster

it’s well known in the US that democrats massively outnumber republicans; the reasons that republicans win election are a combination of gerrymandering and voter apathy from progressives who feel that their vote doesn’t make a difference.

it’s true that obama hasn’t fixed the united states, but if the republicans control the white house things will get worse.

Also, while the presidential election is shaping up to be massively boring (it’s like 1992 all over again I’m already bored and I wasn’t alive in 1992) some things of note

Your state/county/city might have propositions/referendums/etc on the ballot. In 2012, Washington state legalized marriage equality, in large part because of massive young voter turnout (young voters are majority Democrat).

Your representatives ARE up for reelection and your senators might be. The President is the most visible aspect of our government, but Congress is what makes laws. Also, if you’re here for third parties, this is the highest level where they’re viable.

Your vote counts in the oddest ways. When it comes to primaries and caucuses, far fewer people (and far more extreme people) vote, and you can make a difference just by showing up. Also, the first election I really paid attention to was 2004. Again, presidential campaign, not so hot, but the Washington state gubernatorial race came down to 129 votes. Most of my fics are read by more people than that.

City councils! Police departments! Local government, yo! If your primary goal is to stop police brutality, that isn’t happening at the federal level. It’s happening city by city, and the way to affect change there is to vote for local officials who share your views.

School boards and university funding can also come out of elections. While not in all areas, you may be able to vote directly for school board members (not necessarily very useful for you but will help any younger siblings you have), and some places have votes on increasing taxes in order to lower university tuition.

I’ve missed some areas but in summary: You aren’t just voting for president. No matter how lackluster the two candidates are, there are many more things on the ballot that will directly impact your daily life.

If you will be 18 on or before Election Day 2016, are a US citizen, and have not committed a felony, you are probably eligible to vote. Your responsibility for the next 17 months is to register. If you don’t think you can, contact local or federal groups such as the ACLU, and they will try to help you.

Please, please do not let the presidential candidates keep you from voting. There are so many other things happening on the same ballot that you can affect.

I want to call something out from the above comment just in case you missed it: 

In 2004, the race for Washington state governor came down to 129 votes.

Do not let anyone, ever, make you think that your vote doesn’t matter.

The above post is a little old -- the general election is currently just under 7 months away -- but you still have plenty of time to register (in most states, it’s about a month before the election). And although many states have already had their presidential primaries, very few states have held their other primaries: governor, Congress, state legislatures, etc. So if you are an American citizen who will be 18 or older by November, don’t wait! Look into registration deadlines and primary dates in your state now.

Voter registration deadlines by state.

Primary and election dates for 2016.

that would actually make a difference

Craig Mazin was Ted Cruz’s college roommate and he really really really hates him

You may have heard that literally everyone who knows Ted Cruz in person hates him. I've heard from multiple people who went to Princeton with him that this is a 100% true fact.

Aryeh Cohen-Wade had a scathing indictment of the GOP’s complicity in creating Trump and the current clown car of fail in their primary.

The whole thing is brilliant, but this: “They all know they can make a lot of $$$ by fooling frightened elderly white people–the raison d'être of Fox News.“

This is the crux of it. The GOP treats its base like marks in a long con, and Trump is the ultimate conman. He’s beaten them at their own game. He is the match that lit the trash pile they’ve been pouring gasoline on for 40 years.

This is a good analysis, but it misses a bit of historical context. The deeper roots of Trump’s candidacy go back to Richard Nixon’s “Southern Strategy”, which was a plan to lure racist whites opposed to integration into the Republican party. It took a couple of decades, but it worked -- too well. Now the GOP seems all surprised that the very racist and xenophobic attitudes that it’s been dog-whistling since the 1960s have taken over the party base, but they really ought to have seen it coming.

I am mostly pro-Hillary, and would vote Bernie for much the same reason.