Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of paltry wealth and impeccable taste. Like that maligned lyric from, ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ by The Rolling Stones I am selling something old, which doesn’t necessarily mean bad, despite Gen Z appeals to the contrary. Joe Biden is practically the antithesis of sexy as a candidate right now, but in this country you don’t always end up with a Barack Obama on the ballot and you have to still make a responsible choice to participate in Democracy.

Stop me dead in my tracks when this changes over the next year, but right now we are on our way to having the same choices as last time in 2020 for president. It might seem unimaginable, last time we were voting by mail and fearing everyone in sight in the early waves of Covid 19, the handling of which was an embarrassment. While I give credit to Donald Trump for operation warp speed to create a vaccine, he won’t take credit for it, vaccines are too science based for him to grift on.

Let’s go back further for a moment, in 2016 I felt gross casting a vote for Hilary Clinton. I voted for Bernie in the primary and they were not even on the same planet in terms of their platforms despite both running as democrats, but I digress. The point is when you have a choice between two bad choices, I still implore you to make one this time, because the choice to vote may not be available to you again after another four years of Donald Trump.

In the blood red state of Ohio since August, we have turned out electorally to block a vote to require a 60% majority for amendments to the state constitution, and then to codify abortion access and legalize recreational marijuana. Clearly it’s not that we can’t be a rabid voting base if we want to be, and we need to put Ohio back in play, but what is obvious is that democrats represent the will and opinion of the majority and we need to put that in ink a year from now as a people.

I know that I’m getting old because I’ve now seen two massive movements on the right wing that are essentially branding exercises, how typically corporate. Like the tea party before it, and just as embarrassing and progress defying, the make America great again movement has become dangerous at this point. We are looking at a man in Donald Trump who is running in a democracy to institute a dictatorship, and his supporters couldn’t be happier.

I compel you, I beg you, please turn out next year for the election. It is not hyperbole to say democracy is on the ballot, and when one of the two available candidates is very intentionally evoking the term, ‘vermin’ to speak about his opposition and proposing deportation camps the choice is clear. The road to fascism is paved with millions of eligible voters staying home instead of voting against it. We have the right to determine our destiny by voting, and I’ll take Bazooka Joe over a fascist soon to be convicted felon and you should feel the same way for your own sake.