I held my nose and voted for Hillary in 2016. I don't think I can do it again this time. Neither of these parties represent my views and the Democratic establishment has made it abundantly clear that they despise me and the rest of the left. But I live in Massachusetts, so my vote doesn't matter and it's kind of moot anyway.
I vividly remember going to a polling station in 2016 at 6:30am and feeling completely exasperated even just seeing Donald Trump's name on the ballot because I knew. And I had known for a while. This man was going to win. A lot of us (young white folks) have very similar stories to yours, but what the years since Trump announced his candidacy has shown us is that while a great many of us base our political principles on a clear moral foundation, the majority of our political institutions and the people who run them have none and are no longer pretending to have one. I don't know if we were "radicalized" in the sense that we have moved further left, we just are being shown how big the fight is and where it needs to come from. With the fog of war removed it's so much easier to stand in solidarity with the people who knew this way before we did.
Great article, Caitlin. I feel like at this stage, our odds of pushing reforms inside of a Biden presidency are much greater than a Trump term. Not ideal, and still difficult work, but our chance of moving in that direction are greater, in my view. Our job then becomes continuing to do the work to move things in the direction we want them to go. If Biden wins (OMG, let's have this one happen!), I will give myself a day or two of a sigh of relief before getting back to work.
Exactly! I am still hopeful that tXXXp will be voted out. I cannot imagine bearing the depressive feelings I've had for the past (almost) four years with him as the POTIS. It's been Hell. Thank you for writing about your feelings which I felt a real kinship with.
I held my nose and voted for Hillary in 2016. I don't think I can do it again this time. Neither of these parties represent my views and the Democratic establishment has made it abundantly clear that they despise me and the rest of the left. But I live in Massachusetts, so my vote doesn't matter and it's kind of moot anyway.
I vividly remember going to a polling station in 2016 at 6:30am and feeling completely exasperated even just seeing Donald Trump's name on the ballot because I knew. And I had known for a while. This man was going to win. A lot of us (young white folks) have very similar stories to yours, but what the years since Trump announced his candidacy has shown us is that while a great many of us base our political principles on a clear moral foundation, the majority of our political institutions and the people who run them have none and are no longer pretending to have one. I don't know if we were "radicalized" in the sense that we have moved further left, we just are being shown how big the fight is and where it needs to come from. With the fog of war removed it's so much easier to stand in solidarity with the people who knew this way before we did.
Really enjoyed reading this and it felt very relatable. I'm sure others agree.
Thank you for this, Caitlin. It captures better than I ever could all of the warring emotions, ideas, and information in my tired, tired brain.
This was awesome. I have no further comment. Just very well done.
Great article, Caitlin. I feel like at this stage, our odds of pushing reforms inside of a Biden presidency are much greater than a Trump term. Not ideal, and still difficult work, but our chance of moving in that direction are greater, in my view. Our job then becomes continuing to do the work to move things in the direction we want them to go. If Biden wins (OMG, let's have this one happen!), I will give myself a day or two of a sigh of relief before getting back to work.
Truly upsetting read. Great stuff
Exactly! I am still hopeful that tXXXp will be voted out. I cannot imagine bearing the depressive feelings I've had for the past (almost) four years with him as the POTIS. It's been Hell. Thank you for writing about your feelings which I felt a real kinship with.
So good, and so relatable. Thanks for making me feel there are others out there seeing what I'm seeing.
Excellent article.