Every once in a while, a news story comes up that is galling. (Okay, more than "everyone once in a while"...these days.) And while they can be gut-churning, and while they often prompt friends to write me venting, I tend to also look at them as campaign issues that Democrats can run on in the 2022 Mid-term Election.
The latest of these, and one that I specifically think Democrats should use on the debate stage is vaccinations. After all, as divisive and "controversial" as this may seem, I don't think it's remotely as much as is the perception. After all, right now, 85% of all adults 18 years and older have had at least one vaccination. That's not a divisive issue, that's a number so large that it's probably higher than if you asked people if they liked puppies. And yet Republicans in Washington and GOP legislatures in Red States continue to push back against vaccinations and pass local legislation against mandates. So, not only do I think Democrats should make an aggressive campaign issue of something that 85% of the voting public understands, I think they should be blunt about it and confrontational on the debate stage. And say something like -- “I support that everyone should get vaccinated, and it's important to know that 85% of the American public agrees with me. And I know they do because 85% of adult Americans have had at least one vaccine. And I not only think that all politicians should do everything they can to get the remaining 15% of Americans to see the light and be vaccinated, which is the only way out of the pandemic -- now in its third year -- but I believe that any candidate who doesn’t promote getting vaccinated is a danger to society, allowing the pandemic to spread and mutate and become even more dangerous, after already killing over 800,000 Americans. "If we all listened to politicians who said vaccinations are just a 'personal choice' and suggest that vaccines aren't safe, then the pandemic would be wildly out of control, and many MILLIONS of Americans would be dead, with almost no end in sight. Getting vaccinated is not a "personal choice" -- almost everything in life is a personal choice, whether or not to jump off a building is a personal choice. Deciding not to walk across a busy highway is a personal choice. This is about social responsibility. This is an infectious disease. One that is spreading dramatically and has killed over 800,00 Americans...so far. And over 5-1/2 MILLION people around the world...so far. If a person wants to make this a 'personal choice,' then you should stay inside our home all the time, or go life in a forest away from humanity. But once you step out of your home and enter the world, and come into contact with other people who can get infected and pass the infection, you -- and we all -- take on a social responsibility. To all our fellow men and women. "Already, 85% of American adults understand this and have had at least one vaccination. Pushing vaccinations to save lives is not a sudden idea that government has come up with to take away freedom. Medicine is how we save lives, something 85% of all adult Americans understand. Requiring vaccinations is not a new idea. We require vaccinations for children to go to school. The military requires 17 vaccinations to its members defending the country. George Washington required his soldiers to get vaccinations -- and he did that while his forces were fighting to create freedom for this country! Against freedom?? Who doesn't understand that as long as the pandemic exists, the coronavirus has restricted all of society, all of lives, and freedom will only return in full when the pandemic ends?!! That's why science exists, why vaccines exist. We all know that when we get sick, we go to the doctor. When we have an infection, we get a vaccine. When we get ill and need a pill, we take it, because that's medicine, that's science, that's how we get cured. We all know that we get annual flu shots every year...after year after year -- because the flu virus mutates every year -- and we don’t think anything of it. It's normal. And as much as some of the remaining 15% try to that suggest getting vaccinated is somehow against their religious beliefs, not only is there absolutely nothing in the Bible against vaccinations (which, of course, weren't even invented yet), but in Leviticus 13 the Bible actually talks about covering the face and social distancing when there's a defiling disease. "If my opponent isn’t doing everything he can to tell everyone in his party to get vaccinated, if my opponent isn't willing to say that anyone not getting vaccinated is hurting society, is not willing to say that any official in his party not promoting vaccinations is a danger to society and, further, is not willing to make sure that all of society does get vaccinated, and isn't outspoken and active about it, to help end this pandemic and help return society to a normal we all dearly want, then he has no business representing that society in Congress." Here's the thing about any politicians having a concern about being that blunt and risking being divisive in his or her district: If a district is heavily red, the message won’t resonate, but the Democrat isn’t going to win there anyway, so there's nothing to lose. If the district is Blue, there's no downside. And if the district is purple or even leans slightly Republican, it’s highly likely, indeed probable that the vast majority of voters there have gotten vaccinated -- and did so specifically because they understand why it is so important...and moreover would likely be bothered by a candidate not advocating on behalf of what they themselves did, gotten vaccinated. And they got vaccinated because they want the pandemic to end and are probably bothered, or angered or even outraged at those who refuse to be -- and by those officials telling them it's okay, it's your "personal choice" to let the pandemic spread... And if such a campaign strategy doesn't change a single unvaccinated mind -- it still stands a good chance of getting out of office some Republican politicians who are enabling the problem to placate their overlord Trump. Which may be enough for Democrats to retain control of the House, and maybe even the Senate, as well.
2 Comments
Douglass Abramson
12/21/2021 11:13:48 pm
Hell, Washington was requiring the Smallpox vaccine for officers and enlisted men while they were freezing and starving to death in winter camp in Valley Forge; while fighting outbreaks of every other military camp disease of the 18th century. But some people want to whine about having to get three totally free shots, at their convenience; to protect themselves, their friends, their families and their communities...yet they call their political opponents unpatriotic snowflakes. These people are not only massively uneducated about American history and law, they have absolutely no concept of irony.
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Robert Elisberg
12/22/2021 01:48:23 pm
Yes, life is tough with the whole "free vaccines at your convenience" thing...
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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