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10 Things You Can Do About The Horrible Election Results Other Than Just Vent
A majority of voting Americans woke up the morning after the election with the political equivalent of a hangover. None worse than for Tom D’Angora (middle, top row), a New York theater producer (The Marvelous Wonderettes, NEWSical, Naked Boys Singing). For the past 19 months (576 days), Tom worked on a voluntary basis for Hillary for America as the LGBT Outreach National Grassroots Coordinator, pouring his heart in the campaign with 40 to 90 hours per week, traveling to nine key states. After spending nearly a week mourning the shocking loss, he’s back devising a post-election strategy and already thinking about the mid-term elections, not to mention 2020.
Here are Tom D’Angora’s ten things you can do right now about the election results…
1.Demand the vote be audited
When all is said and done, Hillary Clinton will have won the popular vote by over two million votes, an unprededented amount. We now know that there was a historic discrepancy between the exit polls in many states and the election night results. We know there are some numbers not adding up in key states. There is no reason why a limited audit of the closest states can’t be done. It is easy and should be the standard in any close election. There are things you can do right now that won’t take more than a minute.
- Call to the Department of Justice and leave a message respectfully demanding an audit of the vote in MI, WI, FL, PA, and NC. Call 212-514-2000 and when you here the recording, you press 4 and leave a message.
- Sign and share this petition: www.change.org/p/demand-an-audit-of-the-2016-presidential-election
- Keep the hashtag #AuditTheVote trending.2.
2. Hold the presumptive president elect responsible for every single thing
Here is the bottom line. Trump is masterful at manipulating the news cycle to divert attention. We refuse to fall for it. America is a personality obsessed nation and we liberals need to make sure we are policy obsessed. Just look at the past week. After Donald Trump settled his Trump University fraud case and then acknowledged wrong doing at the Trump Foundation, two things unprecedented for a President Elect, he launched a tweet storm, attacking the Broadway show Hamilton and SNL. We took the bait. All weekend the internet, including Twitter, obsessed over Mike Pence at Hamilton and Trump vs. Alec Baldwin. Trump’s most effective tool is the manipulation of the media and changing the narrative to suit his interests. Let’s take that tool from him.
3. Call Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and demand that his party maintain the Affordable Care Act
Call (202) 225-0600. There will be a period of silence before you hear a recorded voice. The press 2; you will hear an incredibly partisan message which discusses Paul Ryans plan to gut the ACA. Next, you will have a chance to share your opinion with the press of a button.
Press 1 if you support Obamacare, 2 if you oppose it. It’s easy breezy! 20 million Americans who did not have health coverage eight years ago have it now. It would be heartbreaking–let alone terribly unfair–to have coverage denied now.
4. Demand that the presumptive president elect remove Steve Bannon as chief strategist
Call your Senator or Representative, especially if you live in a GOP leaning state. Let them know you would like to be added to the tally of names that opposes Bannon and that they should refuse to work with anyone who has a history of treating minority groups differently.
5. Help Forest Campbell win the December 10th runoff for U.S. Senate in Louisiana
We have a glimmer of hope in Forest Campell. If Forest Campell wins on December 10th, we are in a better position to handle the curve balls of the next four years. If Forest Campell wins the senate seat, we will be 49 Dem vs. 51 GOP. That is a hell of a lot better than 48 Dem, 52 GOP. This could be our Hail Mary. Campell needs money and volunteers.
Please go to www.fostercampbell2016.com to learn more and to get involved.
6. Start prepping for the mid-term elections now
2018 is our next chance to make a difference. Donate your money and time making calls or canvassing. We need to do everything we can to win back the majority in the House and Senate in 2018. There are far too few Democratic state govs. We should also be jumping into our local elections. This means everything from county clerk to school board to city council. Every one of these is important. This is not the time to sit on the sidelines.
7. Speak out against any and all kinds of hate, bigotry and discrimination
It’s normal to feel demoralized after a loss like this one. We just saw our historic candidate win the popular vote by a record- breaking margin and still not take office. We just saw a man spend 17 months saying the kind of hateful things that would get us expelled from our schools, fired from our places of employment, thrown out of any civilized establishment. Instead, this awful man was rewarded as the most job on earth. No matter the outcome of 2016, we have to always remember that Love does Trump Hate and we have to continue to scream it from the roof tops.
8. Allow yourself to mourn
I’m not exactly sure how the tens of millions of Hillary supporters in the country feel right now. I will confess, I am not alright. I can’t sleep, I am pretty much on an all carb diet and the passion and determination that has guided my whole life is lost. After Hillary called Donald Trump early on November 9th, I put my head down and slept for 48 hours straight. After those 48 hours, I still couldn’t find the strength to face the world, so I pretty much stayed in bed for a week. There were woman fighting for Hillary who were born before woman even had the right to vote. These women believed they were finally going to see a female President before they died. Instead, they got a man who does not respect women. The only thing I can say about this with absolute certainty, is that no one can tell you what Hillary’s candidacy meant to you and no one can tell you how to mourn. Turn away if someone tells you to “get over it” or calls you a “cry baby” or “sore loser.” You are allowed to mourn.
9. Request that the members of the Electoral College do something about this mess
This is a long shot and unprecedented. However, in an election year where nothing makes sense and everything is unprecedented, I say lets give it the old (electoral) college try. The Change.org petition already has more than 4.5 million signatures. Since November 9th, Donald Trump has already made unprecedented missteps. So in a year where everything is unprecedented, I suggest signing the petition and calling for an unprecedented Electoral College vote December 19th.
10. Stay Proud
As the rhetoric dies down and the fake scandals subside, we need to be proud that we supported one of the world’s most dedicated public servants. We supported the most qualified person for President in modern history. She was not a flawed candidate; she was a strong and noble candidate. She fought tirelessly for all Americans and never once let us down.
You never know what the future holds but I love this slogan: Hillary For President Because Hindsight Is 20/20.
Visit Tom @ www.facebook.com/tom.dangora.9?fref=ts & www.tomdangora.com
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