There was a recent recall effort in the Richland School District. The reason the recall was initiated was that 3 of the board members were against mandatory masking of children in school and ruled to not mandate masks during COVID. Richland is a red city. So, why did the recall pass?
Well, only 36% of voters showed up to vote in this primary.
Despite all of the work done by a few people who advocated against the recall, all of their screenshots, sign waving, and footwork made people feel uncomfortable enough to actually vote. This is a deep-rooted issue in red areas. The right becomes more readily complacent to not vote in their “strongholds” and feel comfortable enough to not be politically active because it “can’t happen here,” until it does and then the right is left blindsided. In my political years, I see a stronger conservative push in deep blue areas. I promise you, this doesn’t happen on the left.
You can move all you want but the left will always be lurking in your bushes.
They have more money and activists on their side. They can and have rallied more people to vote in menial elections. It’s how they slowly crawl into political power. This recall shows this on the lower political level- the school board. They also have time and resources to chase and harvest ballots. This brings me to my next point that they fight harder than the right to win.
Somehow, it feels illegal to go and collect ballots from people who wouldn’t otherwise vote. These people usually buy into the lie or are voting on the whims of someone else (or are dead, but ya’know) and are not politically savvy enough to carry solid political opinions. The left is more adept at using these people to gain seats and votes. They can spread their message of "equity and inclusion” in their coded language to get those last-minute votes and bring them to the voter box themselves. WA is one of 11 states that allows this.
I appreciate that so many people are trying to be “non-partisan” about this. Honestly, most of our political issues are establishment vs. non-establishment. There is establishment on both sides and nothing represents this more than the recent goings on at WAGOP. However, if we fail to recognize that ideologies like “progressive pride” and “0 COVID” are partly line issues that Democrats support, despite the outcry and poor outcomes, we can never root out the problem. Classical liberalism is not an “alt-right” talking point and Dave Rubin is somehow a Nazi-fascist?
Don’t become complacent because you feel like you are in a place that will remain “red.” Get involved and vote. It can and will happen here if you allow it.
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Candyce's Corner