Longtime So Cal resident Charles Carr is a nationally published journalist and playwright. His award-winning Southpaw column has appeared in college textbooks published by Macmillan, St. Martin's Press, Bedford, and others. Charles writes Southpaw for his hometown newspapers, The Times-Advocate and The Roadrunner.

Parting the red sea

By that title I mean getting across the expanse before us by making a case to every voter who leans purple (the deep red folk are sure fun to visit with and say the most outrageous things, but there are few if any votes there, lefties) that this nation is in much better shape than the monster right-wing message machine would have us believe. And that machine is good. Ever notice how our far-lefties (e.g., so-called "squad" members Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, et al.) are successfully painted by the right as being the core of our party -- you and me -- while those on the far right, the nutsos like the violent Jan. 6 insurrectionists, the overt racists, and the corrupt demagogues, are painted as "fringe outsiders" -- that is if their existence is even acknowledged at all. Very, very good.

And we do have a case to make.

Most Americans know that the economy is durable and bouncing back. The stock market sure knows. It's on a tear, an all time high. And, while the average person may not be in the market, they know that if the economy was on the rocks, the money people would be jumping out of the pool, not piling in.

As for Biden's age, Americans know that when they cast their vote for president what they're actually voting for is a vast team of like-minded individuals who implement the president's values and goals. (That said, speaking for myself here, a last minute switcheroo sliding in Gavin Newsom or Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer onto the ticket would not be unwelcome, particularly in light of the nightmare prospect of another term for "dictator for a day" wannabe Donald Trump.)

Then there's choice. Both 2022 midterm outcomes and polling for upcoming races are showing historical advantages for Democrats, particularly in light of the Supreme Court's 2022 overturning of Roe vs. Wade. Don't believe it? Righties have read the same polls. It's, shall we say, illuminating watching former die-hard pro-lifers contort themselves into pretzels in an attempt to convince Americans their party's views are more liberal than they really are. But just take a look at the laws that are being enacted in states where Republicans have complete control. That's all you need to know.

Women, mad as hell and refusing to take it anymore, are running for office at every level of government in unprecedented numbers. Emily's List says, "more than 68,000 women have come to us ready to run, win, and change the world." And don't forget women make up 54% of voters. Honestly, if this country was run by women we would be in much better shape, the Lauren Boeberts and Marjorie Taylor Greenes notwithstanding.

But even with these advantages many of the coming battles are going to be tough. We'll have to do far better than just 50% plus 1 because of rigged voter ID laws, surgically-pared rolls, gerrymandered districts, and every other dirty trick you can imagine since Jim Crow -- all engineered to ensure GOP wins in even Dem favored races. According to a Sept. Pew poll, 68% of those who voted in the 2020 presidential election turned out to vote in the 2022 midterms. Former President Donald Trump's voters turned out at a higher rate in 2022 (71%) than did President Joe Biden's voters (67%). That means we must maximize every legitimate tool available to us including correctly redrawing congressional maps that have been gerrymandered to favor Republicans. Former President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder head the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (ndrc.bsd.net). "The biggest rigged system in America is gerrymandering," said Holder.

An Oct. article in The Nation notes, "[Democrats need to] gain only five seats to retake the House... increased turnout by young voters, angered and mobilized by threats to abortion rights, could continue to imperil anti-abortion Republicans... Democrats need a muscular economic agenda that makes it clear that if they win control of the White House and both houses of Congress, they will use it to deliver for the working class. That will give uncertain and infrequent voters a reason to turn out."

And for we Southpaws - lefties who actually kind of like living amongst neighbors with divergent political views - the potential for making a real difference is vastly greater than for the average Democrat. That's because we come into contact with far more minds that can be changed than, say, a voter in Napa Valley who, the only purple they're likely to run into is on the feet of a winemaker.

Starting about now, the pages start flipping real fast. We can get to the other side, Dems, but the red sea isn't going to part itself. We need to get to work in whichever way suits us best to influence the minds which will likely make the difference in 2024. It's time to jump in, lefties. All the way in.

After all (apologies in advance), what are we wading for?