Originally published as a letter to the editor to the Santa Barbara Independent
We called them “depolorables” and made reference to their god and their guns. I’ve seen the pickup trucks festooned with the flags and bumper stickers and profanity against the sitting president. I’ve tuned into Fox News and heard the ranting and the lies. Realistically there’s no hope of convincing the 20 percent; they’re lost to reason and are going to go to their graves as part of another inexplicable cult.
However, there remains such a substantial number of “persuadables” for whom organizing and working for another democratic presidential term is not a folly. We can help the president win the White House again. It’s incredible that the polls reflect such a close race. The results of elections don’t support the conclusion that the Republicans have electoral victory in sight. They keep losing, but that doesn’t mean we can be complacent. My suggestion is to try to talk to the people who aren’t politically in tune. They are rational but so far disinterested because the election is so far away.
The arguments are so simple. Trump will help oil companies keep burning down the world, he’ll buy his own Glock pistol to show his love of guns and ignore the murder of school children, he’ll put the interests of Vladimir Putin above the freedom to work at establishing and keeping a democratic government in Ukraine, he’ll put incompetent people in charge of cabinet positions and national security, people who are as craven and greedy as he is. He used top secret documents as scrap paper. His chief of staff, Mark Meadows, burned presidential documents in his office fireplace. There have been rules and regulations put in place over the years to protect us from fools and foolish behavior. But we are the ones who can protect us from fools. Convince your friends.