It is 3:00AM and I am lying awake, frustrated with the recent election results in Oklahoma.

You may have heard the phrase “we are not a red state so much as we are a do not vote state” - well we just proved that to be an effective assessment. Voter turnout in Oklahoma was less than 30% which means that 70% of registered voters did not take time to vote. They did not vote using a no-reason needed mail-in absentee ballot, during the three days  of early in-person voting, or showing up on election day between the hours of 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM.

These folks did not have to put on a uniform and carry a weapon to fight for a functioning democracy, they just had to get in their car (or even walk) to get to their polling place. Yet, they could not be bothered. I hear the excuse (they are not reasons) for some who said they researched the candidates and did not find one they liked.

A likeable candidate is an elusive creature, but what is not elusive is a candidate that is better than the other. We rarely have a candidate or ballot proposal that matches 100% with our priorities and desires, but we can always find one that is closer to our beliefs than the other one(s). That is who, or for what we need to vote.

You may have heard the phrase: How do you eat an elephant? You eat it one bite at a time” Well, the elephant we need to eat is the GOP Elephant, and we get rid of it one election victory at a time.

You do not need to be a registered Democrat to vote for a Democrat, heck even the person you are voting for does not need to be a Democrat. They just need to believe in the core principles that a paycheck should last longer than the next paycheck, that affordable health care creates a productive worker that can go to work to earn that paycheck, that a quality public education system trains people to be productive citizens. A paycheck that has enough left over each time to put money aside for retirement.

There will always be a better choice in every election! Do not let a search for the best get in the way of electing the better option.

If you are an uninformed voter, get informed. In the world of AI and Google this is an easy task, and you can do this in your pajamas. If you are an informed voter, share your information. If you are a “low-propensity voter,” get some propensity and vote every election, all the way down the ballot.

We need to match the commitment and sacrifice of the Greatest Generation in our fight against the fascist and NAZI’s of our time. To paraphrase Howard Beale, it is time to get mad as hell and not take it (election losses) any more.