Now that it really is going to be Hillary versus Street Thug Donald, it’s time for the Gun Violence Prevention community to sit down and figure out some best practices that can be adopted and followed through the election campaign.  And while Hills appears to have opened up a slight lead in most polls, the numbers still show that more than one out of four voters has yet to make up their minds about how to vote.

Most national elections come down to what is referred to as the ‘undecided’ vote, and while the fact that many voters are currently in that category may not appear to be unusual, four years ago the undecided vote on this same date was less than 10%.

          Speaking of the undecided, David Sedaris had what I consider to be the most brilliant piece of political satire in The New Yorker Magazine during the McCain-Obama contest in 2008: “To put them [undecided voters] in perspective,” he wrote, “I think of being on an airplane.  The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. ‘Can I interest you in the chicken?’ She asks. ‘Or would you prefer the platter of dog shit with bits of broken glass in it?’ To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.’”

Given the story that broke in USA Today about the hundreds of contractors, journeymen, employees and vendors that Street Thug has stiffed over the years, I’m beginning to wonder about the viability of a ‘crooked Hillary’ campaign, particularly since the guy who claims to be worth ten billion dollars, or maybe twelve billion, or maybe eight billion, is running a campaign that appears to be broke.  He just had a meeting with what is described as his “national finance team” consisting of two New Yorkers, one of whom owns a supermarket chain and the other who happens to own the hapless New York Jets, and they came out basically saying that Street Thug will continue to rely on all the ‘free’ advertising he gets from Fox and other media channels but, by the way, nobody’s yet kicked in any cash.

But even if Street Thug’s campaign team consists of his Twitter account, and even if choosing between him and Hillary is like waiting to be told how the chicken’s cooked, there’s always the chance that something will happen between now and November 8^th that will tilt the election in a crazy and unforeseen way.  And given what a menace Street Thug represents to the future of this country, never mind to those who would like to see some progress made on the issues of violence and guns, here is how I would respond to an ‘undecided’ voter if their ultimate decision about how to vote may bear on the issue of guns.

1. Stand Your Ground. This election has nothing to do with 2^nd-Amendment ‘rights.’  It has to do with a moral imperative known as ‘thou shall not kill.’
2. Know Your Ground. Street Thug loves to tell his audiences that guns protect people from harm.  Guns create harm, and organizations like Everytown have plenty of information regarding same.
3. Share Your Ground. Know what’s the most powerful lobby in DC?  Ain’t the NRA.  It’s the environmental movement.  After all, who’s going to argue with a tree? There’s got to be an Audubon or Sierra Club chapter near you – attend one of their meetings and spread the word.

The Gun Violence Community needs to show the NRA that what they are saying about November 8^th being the most important election of all time is really true.  And it’s true for the simple reason that there really isn’t a choice.  You can choose the chicken or you can choose you know what.