I have gotten more and more fed up with being bombarded by a hundred emails a day from Democratic candidates for political office, begging me for five bucks. I mean, if it were my own local people, it might be one thing, but I get begging emails from every last candidate in the country who is running as a Democrat, and I have finally HAD IT.
So I just decided to unsubscribe from all of their lists...hoping that they would all give me an opportunity to tell them WHY I was unsubscribing. Most did, but some did not. So this diary is for the rest of them...the ones who did not allow me to enter a reason, because I want you all to know WHY I unsubscribed from your email lists.
See more below the orange squiggle...
The last candidate for public office I supported with a financial contribution was Tammy Baldwin, of Wisconsin. She EARNED my financial support. Not only because of what she did back when she was a House member, with regards to ENDA (making it trans-inclusive over the objections of Barney Frank) but because she continues to take positions that resonate with me.
(No, Barney, I have not, and never will forget...how you wanted to throw transgender people like me under the bus, in the name of gaining rights for gays and lesbians)
This is what I wrote back to those who gave me the opportunity to write back a reason for unsubscribing. I do not know if it will help, but I am hoping that, today, by unsubscribing from their lists and telling them WHY....I will have better served the Progressive cause....than by either
A - giving them money and grumbling under my breath about it
or
B - just deleting the emails, not giving them money, and not telling them WHY. (Which is what I HAVE been doing up until now this election cycle)
So, today, I told them why. I hope it will eventually lead to the kind of change I am ACTUALLY hoping for.
Open Letter To All Democratic Candidates For Political Office:
I recently unsubscribed from your email list, and I want you all to know WHY.
First of all, if I gave five bucks to every politician who begged me for it, I wouldn't have money to put food on the table, not that I expect any of you wealthy politicians to care. Y'all got more money than I ever will, and yet you come begging me for more money...and THEN...when I ask you all to actually ACT LIKE DEMOCRATS....and not corporatist Republican-lites...you won't do it.
When I ask you to support and enact policy that will benefit me and my fellow Americans, and not giant, multi-national corporations and wealthy campaign contributors, you won't do it. You all run scared from progressive positions, and you dodge the "liberal" label as if it were something to be ashamed of. I am PROUD to be a liberal.
When Democrats start ACTING like Democrats, and not corporatists, I will support them with my money and my vote. For now, you all have my vote only...and that only because you're MARGINALLY better than Republicans.
I will not go third-party, I will continue to vote for Democrats, because third-party voting is a sure way, in my mind, to let the more evil Party win the election. I won't contribute to that. But if you ARE one of those corporatist, so-called Democrats I am talking about, then I hope and pray with every fiber of my being that you will get primaried next time out, because, if you do, I will support your challenger.
Start acting like Democrats and not Republican-lite...quit running scared AWAY from progressive positions, quit trying to dodge the "liberal" label like the plague...and then ask for my financial support, okay?
I voted TWICE for "hope and change."
I have YET to see the change I was hoping for!
-Angela Bridgman
Wendell, NC
P.S. Fellow KO's - If you know of a candidate who is WORTHY of financial support, please reply to this and indicate WHY that candidate is not a DINO, and why they ought to get financial support. No, "because they are in a tough race against a more-evil Republican" is NOT a valid reason in my eyes.