This is a week to remember. As a delegate to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, I've been asked how I feel about it going virtual. No networking with fellow Dems from all around the country. No rubbing shoulders with political VIPs. No complimentary rounds of Wisconsin cheese and brewery beers. No balloons. One delegate was quoted as saying, “It's like canceling Christmas.” To be honest, I was disappointed too.
But last night as I sat (in my pj’s) glued to the screen, I was anything but disappointed. It was opening night, and it was a game changer.
Some arresting moments that I'll never forget...
- Former Republican governor of Ohio, John Kasich, joining Democratic Socialist, Bernie Sanders, to sing the praises of Joe Biden.
- Michelle Obama's riveting speech, one for the history books.
- Heartbreaking testimony from a young woman who lost her father to Covid-19: “His only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump."
- George Floyd's two brothers calling for a moment of silence for Black victims of police brutality, and Eric Garner's mother, Gwen Carr, pleading with us to hold politicians’ feet to the fire.
And, yes, it would have been beyond incredible to have “been there” in person.
Renee Ramirez Keaney, MDTC Chair
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Trump & Voting
TAKE NOTE THEN VOTE
Trump is obstructing Americans’ right to VOTE in 2020 by:
- Attempting to defund and decimate the U.S. Postal Service when even in the best of times voting by mail requires a functional postal service.
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Appointing as Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, a Trump mega-donor with no relevant experience who has millions of dollars in assets from USPS competitors including XPO Logistics, J.B. Hunt and UPS.
- Prompting at least 6 State Attorneys General to consider legal action to preserve Postal Service operations before the election.
- Causing Speaker Nancy Pelosi to call the House of Representatives back into session this week to vote on legislation to block USPS cost-cutting measures.
- Inducing the House Oversight Committee to schedule an emergency hearing on mail delays.
- Directing Postmaster General DeJoy to order the Postal Service to remove 671 high-speed mail-sorting machines nationwide in August.
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Holding the Postal Service hostage by offering to approve billions for the USPS only if Democrats concede on White House funding priorities for small business, police departments, first responders, and teachers.
- Proposing to delay the November election by falsely claiming that mail-in voting would lead to the “the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history.”
- Claiming a difference between absentee voting, which he uses himself, and vote-by-mail, which he calls fraudulent, even though the USPS treats them the same.
- Encouraging the Republican-led Senate to block a vote on the Heroes Act which would provide financial aid/hazard pay to the Postal Service during the pandemic.
- Working to privatize the USPS notwithstanding that it is enshrined in the Constitution in Article I, Section 8, Clause 7 of the United States Constitution.
- Causing the U.S. Postal Service to warn 46 states and Washington D.C. that mail-in ballots might be delivered too late to be counted. An exercise in disenfranchisement.
- Essentially welcoming foreign interference in the Election just as he did in 2016, while Russia takes measures to undermine Biden’s candidacy and the Democratic Party.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Get a mail-in ballot even if you plan to vote in person, as conditions may change. For a State Primary ballot, your application must arrive at your local election office by August 26. For a November 3 State Election ballot, the application must arrive by October 28.
Mail your ballot or drop it off early in a local drop box.
Support your local post office by mobilizing friends & neighbors to rally outside the post office building.
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VOTING IN MASSACHUSETTS THIS YEAR?
There's even a voter hotline you can call with questions:
(833)336-8683
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