On Tuesday, we in Kentucky will be electing our President for the next four years. Many have bemoaned our choices, and really, neither is appealing to me (or the average American). Would you like a corporate, misogynist, racist pig, or a corrupt wall-street, imperialist politician?
Really, these choices aren't that good, but let me tell you a secret: They don't matter as much as you think.
You think by voting in the presidency, you will change America, and frankly that’s bull. The President’s powers are extremely limited by the checks and balances of American-style democracy. Voting for Obama didn't end racism any more than voting for Hilary will end sexism, and top-down style revolution just doesn't work. Your governors, your senators, your city officials and your school board are where you can really make your vote have power.
The logic of this is simple. First, state and local governments have powers that the Federal government doesn't and can't (constitutionally) infringe upon. Second, your vote is less diluted in local and state elections than it is in national elections.
State officials have powers the Federal branch does not have. They make important decisions about policing (think police brutality-state institution), employment regulations (minimum wage, labor rights, discrimination in employment), and school systems and curriculum (let's talk sex education, and the failure of abstinence only sex-ed!), as well as much else. While the federal government has increased power in some of the issues above over the past few years, these issues still remain largely at the discretion of state parties.
Next, it should be noted that in national elections, your vote is diluted by millions of others (based on the past few years, we might expect around 120 million to vote), as well as the electoral college system in the U.S.. In local elections, while your vote can still be diluted or affected by such political mechanisms like the electoral college, this is much less likely.
Yet most people don't even know the name of their governor, much less the platform of members in on their local school board. (Hint,
I get it, national politics is flashier, more accessible, so much more seems to be at stake, but the truth is the Presidential race is a huge distraction from issues that matter.
We are so caught up with fighting over the Presidency, that we don't notice when people are elected whose policies are directly adverse to our interests, because we couldn’t be bothered to do our damn homework!
Let's look at Berea as an example. At stake in this election are eight seats on the city council. As of now, I have definitively decided to vote for these six candidates:
Reid Connely, Edd Easton-Hogg, Jack Marshall, John Payne, Marsha Wayland, and Billy Wooten.
I am voting for these candidates because they have come out in support of passing the Fairness Ordinance.
For those outside of Berea, the Fairness Ordinance was a proposed law that would make it illegal to discriminate against LGBTQ individuals. This is a law that would be very hard to pass on the national scene (“State’s rights” and all that hullabaloo), but is very probably and possible (and totally constitutional) on the local level if the right people are elected to pass it. Last year, this law was struck down in a vote of 5-3 after tons of opposition by people who just didn’t “see the need” for such a bill. (*cough* codeforhomophobia *coughcough*)
Additionally, many of these members have expressed support for other policies that I am in favor of. For instance, Billy Wooten want to address Berea’s drug problem with a treatment centered approach as opposed to stigmatization of drug users, which I strongly support. How communities deal with drugs is another issue which is very hard to pass and enforce on a national scale.
These are all issues that I care deeply about as a voter, and which I have a chance to change.
Therefore, if you really care about your vote, stay local dammit!
Doctor's Note:
Voting in local elections may help mitigate some effects of a corrupt political system, but should be paired with informed decisions about national and state elections, healthy and regular doses of civil society (protests, yay!), progressive legal rulings, common sense, and empathy for our fellow human beings. Failure rate varies.
For those of you in Kentucky, Kentuckian's for the Commonwealth is a great resource about candidates running in your district, although there are plenty of other sources.
Polls are open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on November 8th.
Happy voting!
