Congresswoman Angie Antonelli, the main character of my new book, Love Is Enough, asked to post a series of daily posts on this blog leading up to Election Day in the US on Tuesday, November 4.   And, really, how could I refuse her?

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Thanks so much, Cindy.  I’m Congresswoman Angie Antonelli.  Please call me Angie.  Everybody does!  I’m doing the best I can over the next few days to get the word out about the importance of this election.  I know it can feel insignificant because we’re not electing a president, but there’s a lot at stake if we’re going to preserve some of the successes we’ve achieved and prevent some really horrible new things from happening.

Over the next couple of days leading up to November 4th, I’m going to talk about two critical issues that are at stake and tell you about a few of the candidates who deserve your support.  As you know, I come from a family that believes strongly in public service and I’ve always known that politics would be my own path to achieving change.  And while my re-election to a fourth term in Congress seems relatively safe (you can read about the really difficult time I had being re-elected to a second term in 2010 in Love Is Enough), the same is not true for a number of my colleagues and for some of the new candidates we desperately need to vote into office.

So watch this space.  I’m going to talk about voting rights and the new strategy of the right wing to deny women and gays equality.  You’ll learn more about why you need to get yourself, your friends and families to the polls on Tuesday.

I’m doing my part.  I’ve been traveling around the country—visiting Colorado, Texas, Maine, and even my own state of Massachusetts—getting the word out about how important it is to elect people who will protect our wins and not set us back.

It hasn’t been easy trying to get anything done in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.  But at least with a Democratic Senate, while we haven’t been able to move a lot forward, my colleagues in the other chamber have been a bulwark against insane measures like repeal of the Affordable Care Act and more tax breaks for big corporations.  But if we are to believe a lot of the polls out there, all that could change.  The Senate is in danger of turning over, which means we’d have Republicans in charge of the entire Congress and only President Obama’s veto pen to defend equality and economic justice for working families, including the many small businesses I fight for every day.

So join with me in this important effort.  Tell your friends and families to vote and make sure you get out there yourself on Tuesday.  And when you turn your clocks back this weekend, remember, you want to make sure our country doesn’t turn the clock back on your rights.

To learn more about Angie Antonelli and the ups and downs of her love life, read Love Is Enough, available here and here.

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