It’s tough to be an optimist in a global pandemic, especially one that has cost 500,000+ American lives, sent millions into poverty, and driven countless women from the workforce in just one year. But we’re getting there. More vaccines mean we’re inching ever closer to normalcy, schools are reopening, and additional stimulus payments are finally refilling overstretched bank accounts. Experts seem torn on whether we’re fully on the upswing or headed for a “fourth wave,” but when you’re this far down, there’s only one direction to go, right?
Symptom Check: A Guerrilla Politic Women’s History Month Health Briefing
By D’Anne Witkowski (not a doctor, not even a lady doctor)
It has been a very, very long year. And although we’re still in the midst of a pandemic that has killed over 500,000 people in the U.S. (not to mention the number of dead the world over), there is a light at the end of this very long and narrow and poorly ventilated tunnel. President Biden announced that the estimate for getting the COVID-19 vaccine to all American adults is May! Well, stick a needle in my arm and call me a Spring shower!
It’s Time for a Reelection Campaign—for the Government
It’s tempting to try to scrub away every fake-orange pixel that lodged in our brains over the past four years. To erase every smug grin, ill-fitting suit, and pompous symbol of the Trump administration’s chaos and cruelty from our minds, and fill the space with images of puppies, rainbows, and normal, baby-kissing politicians. But. (Deep, calming breath). There’s something Trump “gets” that we don’t: no one knows what you’ve accomplished unless you tell them. From having people photograph him signing blank pieces of paper to delaying vital aid payments so he could slap his signature on the checks, Trump took every opportunity to show how we were winning “bigly” with him in office. He got where he is because he’s a master of self-promotion, and we got where we are politically in part because half the country thinks that the government does nothing but give their tax dollars to lazy people...and we’ve done a terrible job of correcting them. So how can Democrats champion “using government for good” when a huge chunk of Americans don’t believe in the government? The same way we try to get people elected—with strategic, intuitive marketing.