Dora's Corner: Rock the Vote: Voting Goes Awry…More Like Vote Missed the Rock.

Well, the National Mid-Term election returns were a bit unsettling this past Tuesday (Nov 6, 2014); however, here in the great state of Texas, things were not so disturbing only because politics and voting remained status quo.  In other words, the “good ole boy network” won in a (landslide victory) by securing a statewide triumph for all republican candidates.  Yes, the “good ole boy network" was at its best slinging mud and spewing untruths about Democratic candidates in order to demagogue their way towards ensuring that every single Republican/Tea Party candidate was victorious over any Democratic candidate.  Sadly, any Democratic candidate who dared try to run against his or her cronie-conservative counterpart was found on the losing side of these mid-terms, and that includes the one and only Wendy Davis who ran in the gubernatorial race.  I canvassed for her, did the grassroots collaborating for her, and did the door-to-door politicking for Davis, but it was all done to no avail.  Nonetheless, I would do the same thing even if I had a crystal ball advance warning that Davis was going to lose.  Regardless of how many percentage points that Davis lost by (and I had the pre-warning via a crystal ball), I would have still supported Davis and canvassed for her.  I subscribe to the “paradox of participation” because I firmly believe that all qualified persons (VAP/VEP) should have a moral obligation embedded within themselves to vote.  Voting should not only be viewed as one’s civil obligation, but it should be something one wants to do regardless of what the turn-out might be.  For example, here in Texas, Democratic or Third-Party candidates seldom have a chance to win versus the Conservative-crew, but it does not mean that the Democratic Party (or Third-Party i.e. “La RAZA”) does not pursue to elect its own candidate to represent their respective Party, their ideals, and their platform.  To conclude, despite any political party not having a chance to have their candidate elected does not mean that a member of that political party should not vote.  One always needs to vote; strong Democrats were always going to vote for Wendy Davis regardless of the polls or rumor mill that had her losing to Abbott by a substantial margin.  Rock the vote means exactly what it states, one must shake up the very structure of voting in order to impact the turn-out and the way politicians make choices for us their constituents.  Bottom line, if one does not vote…one does not get the right to bitch.