In 2016, I rarely posted on Facebook about my political positions. I was (and am) a Democrat, had (and have) serious thoughts about politics and leaders, and avoided (and avoid) attempting debate on social media. I did make one major exception though in February 2016:

Political Rant Alert…which is kind of like a spoiler alert so read as you dare. 👿

12. That’s the number of articles I had to scroll past on CNN.com before I could read something non-election related. 8. That’s the number of months until the election. 0. That’s the number of ballots I currently have in my possession.

The world is a very big place. There has to be something, anything more important than these men and women slandering one another, highlighting their own divinity, and spending literally millions of dollars so that every person on the planet knows their names. I want to cry when I imagine the good these people and their funds could do if they abandoned the campaign trails until October and actually did their jobs instead of begging for a job that another guy currently has. Who is doing the work that they were elected for while they are being interviewed for the hundredth time? What bill, policy, or social need is being ignored for a photo opp? I wish I could block all of their ranting, promising, justifying, spinning, clarifying, politicizing, and b.s.ing until there is an actual ballot in my hand. Because until then, all of it is just a waste of screen space.

I’m going back to reading about student retention so that my life can actually help other human beings rather than win the favor of a super pac.

Now in 2020, I have some of the same exact thoughts, including questions about how particular candidates could ever be considered for role of president (let alone human being I’d voluntarily be in a room with).

The initial slate of 2020 Democratic candidates was heralded over and over for being the most diverse in U.S. history regarding ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. There were some candidates that I thought would fit much better into roles other than president (for example Kamala Harris as Attorney General, or Corey Booker as Ambassador to the U.N.). My preference for president was Senator Elizabeth Warren. I admired her history in academia, her passion for the working poor, and all of the detailed plans developed any time a new question or issue was posed. Yes, she made a mistake regarding her past paperwork about ethnic background, and yes, her DNA-testing commercial was just #facepalm. I recognize that fault, and others, and still felt settled in my vote as one I would stand behind all the way to November 2020.

But the media beginning in 2019 had a different stance, and I had (and have) an amended rant for this year.

Months before he announced, Former Vice President Joe Biden was the front-runner of the field; the inevitable and electable one to take on President Donald Trump. He was at the top of the polls before he was even eligible for the polls. And despite every pundit on TV saying that polls don’t matter over a year in advance, they kept giving the results over and over again. #ShutUpUntilWeCanVote

One by one the most diverse field in presidential history dropped away. Some due to finances, some due to scandal, and some due to never having a shot to begin with (seriously Bloomberg?!?). The last viable candidates standing were two White cisgender, heterosexual, non-disabled, married men in their 70s with decades of political experience in Washington. And one of them would be selected to complete with another White cisgender, heterosexual, non-disabled, married man in his 70s.

Depending on what happens with a current investigation about Biden, I am okay with my voting plans for November 2020.

I am proud of who I got to vote for in May 2020. #NeverthelessShePersisted