Does that matter? The current vote is just bs procedure, but when they vote on the bill itself they just need the majority of people there to vote yes. If that's 100 yes and 50 nos at 4am because half the house went home to sleep thinking the real vote wasn't till 11am the bill still passes, right?

This isn't about Mamdani winning the nom, because I felt better & hopeful way b4 June 24. But a few weeks of exhausting GOTV work helped me remember that fighting the good fight has real value even if we expect to lose- and that I can add new tactics to my toolbox without rejecting the old ones.

A friend called me 6 weeks ago- they were volunteering to help GOTV in non english speaking communities for NYC mayoral primary and asked me to chip in. I didn't expect anyone decent had a chance, but I still believe voter education has benefit beyond who wins any one election so I helped. We won.

So, the past 6 months have sucked a lot. I thought the work I did mattered, and maybe it did matter to the individual voters & communities I served- but it didn't change this horrid election outcome. Was everything I did for 5 years pointless? Was it worse than pointless, was it counterproductive?

I can't tell you what your answer should be, but I'll tell you mine. For 5+ years (from June 2020 to now) I've been GOTV, mostly to & with immigrant communities The Democratic Party, Inc tends to ignore.

In Oct 2024 I expected this result- that we'd lose Senate and WH, but the House might be close.

Link here: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/29/n...

The chart showing the explosion in voter registration is really a startling one too:

The "literally no reason" makes it hard for me to cope, tbh.

I'm a pessimist, I know that. I expected the way the world currently does capitalism to fail under it's own weight within my lifetime (I'm mid 40s), but even I am shocked at how fast he's destroying things & the almost "end times" vibe.

But imo thats just the reality of late stage capitalism, of our globally connected economy. No single family, town, state, not even a single country- no single entity can easily & quickly separate from all that. I don't think we can shield so well life won't change- but maybe slow & soften the blow?

It legit had never occurred to me that picking up the pins and going to get the ball are part of bowling. In my brain, bowling is rolling a ball twice then sitting down for a while and eating $2 pizza. The pins and balls magically take care of themselves.

Yes, in hindsight I see how dumb that is.

My bitter self suspects they're pushing people toward that specific job program bc 1) there's a lot of undocumented folx working in those jobs, 2) the robots & tech today cannot do those jobs adequately (if at all), & 3) rich ppl, esp rich MAGAS, will riot if they can't go shopping or to out to eat.

Even if you had experience, imo a supportive job program focused on kitchen & cleaning work is sketchy AF. I did that work for years & physically can't now- standing for 8+ hour shifts, dangerously hot kitchens, lifting 50lb sacks of beans, no paid sick days so ppl work & cook while contagious. ugh.

Huh.

"If elected, Reid would become Virginia's first openly gay lieutenant governor....

[Winsome] Earl-Sears is the first Black woman to run as the Republican nominee for governor while, [Jason] Miyares, seeking re-election, is the first Hispanic man to be elected attorney general in Virginia."