By Margot Tenenbaum
Some background for you non-Calfornians: Margot lives in California's 49th congressional district. In our state, we have "jungle primaries," in which the top two vote-getters square off in the general election, even if those two happen to belong to the same political party. Margot tells why she supports Democrat Doug Applegate, the brave soul who almost took down long-time Republican Congressman Darrell Issa in 2016's general election. Doug's strong showing was the trigger which eventually led Issa to retire. Now, he's running in a field of 16 candidates--Republicans, Democrats, and a couple of minor parties. Margot's piece gives a sense of the person Doug is.
Some background for you non-Calfornians: Margot lives in California's 49th congressional district. In our state, we have "jungle primaries," in which the top two vote-getters square off in the general election, even if those two happen to belong to the same political party. Margot tells why she supports Democrat Doug Applegate, the brave soul who almost took down long-time Republican Congressman Darrell Issa in 2016's general election. Doug's strong showing was the trigger which eventually led Issa to retire. Now, he's running in a field of 16 candidates--Republicans, Democrats, and a couple of minor parties. Margot's piece gives a sense of the person Doug is.
Doug Applegate: Something--Someone to Vote For
Two years ago today I knocked on my first door. Two years ago today I told my social anxiety and my hopelessness to go f**k itself, because for the first time in my life, I had something to vote FOR instead of against. Seven days later, after 16 years as a registered voter, I cast a ballot in my first ever presidential primary for Senator Bernie Sanders.
Today I cast my first ever ballot in a midterm primary. Never in a MILLION YEARS would I have thought, two years ago, that I would be casting that ballot for someone who I am somehow lucky enough to call a dear friend, a mentor, and the person who managed to keep that fire lit after it was all but stamped out by the 2016 presidential election.
Never in a million years would I have thought I would be casting a congressional vote for someone who has -more times than I’d like to admit- talked ME down off a ledge of political nihilism, who called to see if my kitten had come home the day before he left for Germany for his daughter’s graduation trip, who showed up at the San Clemente Farmer’s Market after someone yelled at me and made me cry and asked, “why didn’t you call me?!?”
Two Januarys ago, I rolled up in my combat boots and orange hair, shoved my SB562 literature and a copy of Fix It: Healthcare at the Tipping point at him, and told him, “we need to connect YOU with THIS.”
He looked at me and said, “just tell me when and where.”
Thank you, Douglas L. Applegate, for showing me what democracy looks like.
Today I cast my first ever ballot in a midterm primary. Never in a MILLION YEARS would I have thought, two years ago, that I would be casting that ballot for someone who I am somehow lucky enough to call a dear friend, a mentor, and the person who managed to keep that fire lit after it was all but stamped out by the 2016 presidential election.
Never in a million years would I have thought I would be casting a congressional vote for someone who has -more times than I’d like to admit- talked ME down off a ledge of political nihilism, who called to see if my kitten had come home the day before he left for Germany for his daughter’s graduation trip, who showed up at the San Clemente Farmer’s Market after someone yelled at me and made me cry and asked, “why didn’t you call me?!?”
Two Januarys ago, I rolled up in my combat boots and orange hair, shoved my SB562 literature and a copy of Fix It: Healthcare at the Tipping point at him, and told him, “we need to connect YOU with THIS.”
He looked at me and said, “just tell me when and where.”
Thank you, Douglas L. Applegate, for showing me what democracy looks like.
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