Democracy Won in 2012 and That's Thanks to You

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Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 01:36 pm

The people of America showed what we’re made of yesterday. Despite the dark money, lies and persistent efforts to silence our voices, Americans across the country made themselves heard. Some people waited 9 hours to vote.

As our President said last night, “We’ve got to fix that.”

There is work to do to make voting more accessible, easier and with much shorter lines.

For now, let’s savor what happens when we use our voices.

Last night was without question a victory for our President. Despite four years of birtherism and blatant racism, Barack Obama rose above it all. We had his back last night, and he’ll have ours for another four years. We have a leader who recognizes the value of every voice in America. We have a President who knows how to get things done. If we didn’t know it before we faced a natural disaster, we saw it in real time and in living color last week.

As the President showed us during the last four years, now that the campaign is over, the real work will occur over the next four years. Americans need jobs, and one can only hope that Republicans will see the message that jobs must be the first priority. The crowd that obsessed over making government small enough to fit our vaginas above all else was sent a message last night – get lost.

The President will have help from women who made history yesterday. Senator Elizabeth Warren, made history as she was the first woman to be elected to the Senate in Massachusetts. Tammy Baldwin will do Wisconsin proud as the first openly gay candidate to win a seat.

Let’s remember that Bernie Sanders is back as a powerful and persistent voice who believes in all of America.

Tammy Duckworth, a true patriot, sent Joe Walsh packing. There are so many reasons this was why voting matters. We have a real patriot vs. someone who thinks it’s patriotic to heckle the president during a State of the Union Address. We have a truly honorable representative in the House over someone who would sacrifice a woman’s life in the name of protecting “the unborn” but isn’t man enough to pay child support to his children.

Let’s celebrate the triumphant return of Alan Grayson.

All this and more happened because Americans across the country spent hours in lines, after surviving the Republican obstacle course and voted.

We stood up for our President, but we also stood up for our voices – voices that people died to have heard. We stood up for embracing all Americans and those who aspire to be Americans. We stood up for the idea that listening to the many beautifuly diverse voices that make the Real America of today, enriches all of us.

We said no to homophobia, racism, cowboy diplomacy and redistributing wealth from the bottom up. We embraced the idea that opportunity should be available to all – not merely a reality for the 1% and a shiny object for the rest of us.

We said yes to an America in which everyone has a place but no one “knows their place.” We said yes to an America in which every citizen’s voice is equal. Despite the megaphones that dark money bought, we made ourselves heard.

That’s what voting did.

We proved how much we value our voice in the vote. We need to update the voting system. Among other things, people shouldn’t have to wait 9 hours to cast their ballots. It’s heartening that people did, for it does say how much we value our vote.

Our right to vote shouldn’t be dependent on the likes of Jon Husted and others who pulled stunt after stunt in the name of manipulating the election by silencing Americans. Perhaps it is time to consider other methods of choosing Secretaries of State.

The reality is while we do have a President who has our backs and we have many new faces who will help move our country forward; Allan West and Michelle Bachmann will be there to represent the alternate reality.

We will probably see another battle over the debt ceiling. I hope we’ll be spared a repeat of Paul Ryan’s temper tantrums that contributed to costing us our credit rating.

We will see some hard moments, but ultimately we will continue to move forward.

Democracy won in 2012 and that’s thanks to you.

Image from ABC