Will the midterms be determined at the ballot box or in the sick bed?

Less than a month to go until mid-terms.  Time to talk about immunizations! 

“What?” you say. For a variety of reasons, the main one being that it always happens: some races will be very close, less than a few hundred votes. Because of the flurry of redistricting done to U.S. House races earlier this year, it won’t be surprising to see even more close races.  

Here’s the challenge for Republicans: people who vote Democratic have more confidence in immunizations and higher rates of getting vaccines. And that separation between Democrats and Republicans is greater now than four years ago. Immunized voters have less chance of being sick or having a sick kid or loved one on Election Day.  

On the West Coast, influenza season is underway earlier than normal, including in Senate battleground state Alaska. Measles continues in New York and Pennsylvania. Covid is always lurking about. In some of the battleground U.S. House districts, a few hundred people battling flu or staying home to take care of a sick child could determine the election. One of those close House races might be here in Central Arkansas.

To my Arkansas friends known and unknown planning to vote for Republicans: I want Democrats to win, but not due to you being sick. And to my unvaccinated Democrats, let’s get to it!  My wife received the new versions of flu and Covid vaccines a week ago. She had two sore arms and achiness for a day or two, but she’s all better now. It takes about two weeks for the full benefit of the flu vaccine to kick in. There’s still time to get immunized so the direction our great country takes is determined at the ballot box, not in the sick bed.