I, like many of you, watched the final Trump/Biden presidential debate on Thursday night, October 22, 2020. It was anti-climactic for me, because I voted earlier in the day. Perhaps, I should say, it reassured me that my vote was necessary and was cast correctly.

I voted a straight democratic ticket for several major reasons. First, I support the woman, her partner and her doctor deciding what is right or necessary to their reproductive life, without interference from the government. I also voted Biden/Harris because I cannot excuse the cruelty and incompetence of an administration that separated children from their parents at the Southern Border (and, seems to have permanently lost the parents of over 540 children). I voted a democratic ticket because over 200,00 US residents have died of a virus that Trump did not warn us about, initially, and that he helped spread at his super spreader rallies.
I voted Biden/Harris because Trump’s administration is, even now, fighting in the courts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act —meaning that many more US residents will be without healthcare and will be unable to go to the doctor if they contract COVID19. Many will, then, likely die, and families will lose income vital to survival. I voted for Biden/Harris because I expect them to restore the rule of law. I voted for Biden/Harris because I expect them to listen to the voices of people calling for police accountability when a police officer violates his oath of office or, in any way, breaks the law. I voted for Biden/Harris because they are imperfect people who can admit their faults and, thereafter, change directions. I voted a straight democratic ticket because the Republicans currently in office have proven that they do not respect the separation of powers. I voted a straight democratic ticket because I want to give Biden/Harris a support system that will work to help them bring peace, unity and security to our country. I voted a straight democratic ticket because we need a unified government to undo some of the harm done by the Trump administration, with the willful cooperation of US representatives and senators who abdicated their roles of oversight. I voted a straight democratic ticket because Republicans, apparently, see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil beyond that done to the “unborn” (hypothetical person).

I voted Biden/Harris because my quality of life, indeed, my very life, as well as the lives of over 540 parent-less children on the Southern Border who are living and breathing, and the lives of an untold number of future COVID19 infected people, and the lives of servicemen who are making great sacrifices on our behalf (even though Putin has placed a bounty on their heads that Trump seems okay with), and Black Lives —which, indeed, matter—depended on my vote.

I implore everyone to vote because many lives depend on it.