Rural Routes/Margot Ford McMillen

What Are the Pols Going to Do for My Town?

As we lope toward the mid-term elections, I hear a lot about how the Dems are going to flip the US Congress. All we have to do, they say, is get voters to the polls.

As proof that we can change history, the pundits mention the 49% of population that want impeachment and that only 40% of us approve of the job being done by POTUS. The pundits say POTUS lives in a bubble, continuing to believe and repeating the false hope that he’s the greatest. They say that his tweets are off-base and destructive to the Republican party and the nation. Tearing into Sessions, John Kerry, James Comey or the New York Times isn’t going to solve anything. So, the talking heads project, the R’s are going to lose!

But, hey, what’s that going to mean for MY neighborhood? Will the D candidates commit to protecting MY air and water? Will they protect our voting rights? Will they work to stop human trafficking? Will they protect immigrants that end up here? Will they work toward Medicare for All? Will there be jobs to keep the kids here? And, in the hottest election cycle on record, what are their plans to combat climate change?

Because, bottom line, all I really care about is how the candidates will take care of me and my family and neighbors. I don’t care about hurricane victims, except in a theoretical way, because I don’t live in a hurricane zone. And I don’t expect my coastal relatives to care about tornadoes. I don’t care much about urban crime, either, except in the big cities where my kids live. But meth and opioids here in the heartland … let’s have some solutions! So, who will do the best job for me and my neighbors?

Fortunately, around here, candidate forums are coming up and we can ask these questions. My advice: When you get to a candidate forum, put the national issues on the back burner and focus on the local. Focus on the things that YOU care about, not the latest stories on the national news. There are good questions to ask about our deteriorating neighborhoods while the national media stews over the shenanigans inside the Beltway.

So, get to the candidate forums and debates in your county and ask the hard questions. Ask if the candidates are ready to raise more money for education. Ask if they’re willing to require polluters — even the big employers in your town — to clean up their messes. Ask if they’re ready to challenge utilities to use more renewables and get off the coal train.

If it happens that you have a good incumbent choice, ask that person why they haven’t done more to advance the things you care about or whether they’ve actually challenged the power structure about the things that your community needs. If you call or e-mail their office, do you get an answer? If you ask an aide how the Congress person is going to vote on an issue, do you get a reply?

And, be sure you have follow-up questions for their answers. Take statistics with you — how many below-poverty families in your community? How many opioid deaths? How much pollution are you experiencing and how many diseases are caused because of it?

Because, let’s face it, your issues aren’t the same as the issues in New York or L.A. where the news comes from. The diseases and addictions among your neighbors aren’t the same as the addictions and diseases in my neighborhood. And the politicians, who may be so absorbed by out-of-town news that they never spend a minute thinking about home, need to hear from you.

For proof that things are changing, the pundits point to the wonderful number of women—young women—running for office. Yes, that’s important, but you and I know that women can be co-opted by big money from, say, the NRA, Smithfield Foods, Monsanto, Big Oil, just as men can. Take, for example, Kellyanne Conway and Sarah Sanders. So, if you find a female candidate that you like, support her.

That means, by the way, supporting her with money. And supporting her directly. I have talked to a few of the female candidates in my area and found that, despite at least one email a day, probably more, asking for money for the party, the dollars aren’t flowing into local campaign coffers. Many of the folks running are low-wage workers themselves; one woman told me she had been working three jobs and had to drop one to campaign. Things are tight at her house for sure, but she’s working hard to set an example for the kids and the community. Even if she loses, she’ll try again.

So there’s plenty to do between now and November. Questions to ask and then, with satisfactory answers, candidates to support. Democracy requires more than getting your friends to the polls.

You better get busy!

Margot Ford McMillen farms near Fulton, Mo., and co-hosts “Farm and Fiddle” on sustainable ag issues on KOPN 89.5 FM in Columbia, Mo. Her latest book is The Golden Lane: How Missouri Women Gained the Vote and Changed History. Email: margotmcmillen@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, October 1, 2018

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