Her Name Is Dickerson

Well, this mid-term election season is turning out to be another lukewarm exercise in democracy.  The big money is on the pols that work for big money.  Here in South Carolina, most of us don't even know who is running against Tim Scott.  In fact, I just googled "Tim Scott opponent" and the first six hits were about the primary; number seven finally mentions Joyce Dickerson, but it is a summary of the upcoming primary, and only lists Dickerson with the other Democratic primary candidates.

Tim Scott was appointed by Nikki Haley, herself a proud cheerleader for the moneyed and powerful.  Scott was sure to follow quietly in the footsteps of Jim DeMint, who presided in the Senate as the king of negative and stupid for eight years.  Apparently DeMint couldn't handle the mockery and the limited financial reward of being a bought senator, so he bailed to the Heritage Institute, belying its identity as a "think tank."  At Heritage, DeMint can hide behind his title, needs not speak to non-believers, and doesn't have to pretend not to be bought.  No doubt, Scott would like to continue to follow the path of DeMint, and I will not be surprised when he resigns to be a wealthy right-wing figurehead with government connections.

With all the money flowing to Scott, it took a great deal of courage for someone to step up to oppose him, and Joyce Dickerson appears to have that courage.  She has actually spoken out against anti-abortion legislation, stating unequivocally that the government does not have the right to step in to determine a woman's reproductive decisions.  She will fight for veterans, unlike Scott, who never fails to send out flowery emails on military holidays and then votes against every bill that would improve the life of those veterans he claims to revere.  She is not afraid to fight for immigrants or for the poor, in other words, those of us who will not make her rich but deserve a better life.

Joyce understands that big money has corrupted our system of government.  The unfortunate irony is that that big money controls our elections, so that candidates like Dickerson have to fight to be heard, and are overshadowed by the millions of dollars going into keeping Tim Scott in Congress, where he will turn that investment into bigger bucks for his true constituent, big business.

It feels hopeless.  But Joyce Dickerson has taken the challenge.  So we need to do what we can to spread the word.  We need to let people know that she is running against someone who has consistently voted against the people of South Carolina.  Her web page includes Scott's voting record, which provides undeniable proof of who he is working for.  Don't be afraid to ask friends and family if they know who is running against Scott, and then tell them a little about our -- the people's -- candidate.

Share information, her website, this blog, any other information you might have, on Facebook and Twitter, because that is the low-budget way to get out the word.  And it does work.  But it takes work.