Influencing the future from my little island in the San Juans

THIS CAME IN MY EMAIL and they asked me to post it. Not something I usually do in this venue, but it’s absolutely not a year to be neutral.

If you want to take action that might help get out the vote in crucial swing states, please join me in writing letters for Vote Forward, which aims to mobilize potential voters in communities that have historically been marginalized in the political process—such as people of color, women, and young voters.

Without naming a candidate or party, such letters encourage voters who likely support democracy and the U.S. Constitution to turn out in strategic states and districts. It’s a proven tool that can make a significant difference in close races. I like it because it’s something I can do from my kitchen table on my remote island far from the action. (We have daily mail pickup, even here.) At the Democratic convention last month, Michelle Obama urged us all to “Do something!” This is something I can do, whereas putting a sign in my yard doesn’t have much impact.

Your choice of political party doesn’t really matter this year, it’s a choice of candidates and their clear impact on our nation’s future. Just yesterday, more than 100 Republican former national security and foreign policy officials endorsed Kamala Harris for president in a joint letter, calling Donald Trump “unfit to serve” another term in the White House. Even former vice president Dick Cheney, neocon poster boy for the G.W. Bush administration, has endorsed Harris.

From a little island nobody’s heard of, that’s my nickel’s worth of politics. Autumn is election season! Don’t sit it out this year.