Ahead of CNN’s Biden-Trump presidential debate in Atlanta, Common Defense, the nation’s largest grassroots veterans organization, gathered for a rally at Liberty Plaza on Thursday. Just steps away from the Georgia State Capitol, veterans from states such as Texas and Arizona traveled to the battleground city to address voter intimidation, advocate for reproductive rights, and demand the protection of democracy.
Ed Anderson, the Georgia lead organizer for Common Defense, said veterans probably understand the values of democracy better than anyone else.
“In Georgia in 2019, over 200,000 people were purged from the voter rolls. Cross-reexamination of those rolls show that a lot of those people lived in counties around military bases,” Anderson said. “We’re trying to break that down even more. We feel like military voters and families of military voters are being disenfranchised. So all of our outreach is to reach not just veterans, but also military families and communities to try to educate and engage them in the voting process.”
At the rally, veterans told personal anecdotes rehashing futile searches for healthcare and fear of the current state of reproductive rights in the country in efforts to emphasize the importance of voting for the right leaders.
Dallas native and Air Force veteran Britni Cuington has a differently-abled son and shared that she’s “terrified of conceiving again” because she’s unsure if she and her unborn child would survive the pregnancy due to the lack of medical care.
“I have less rights now in June 2024 than I did in June 2013. As a Black, female Air Force veteran who proudly offered my life for this country and calls Texas home, I don’t even have the right to make critical decisions about my reproductive health,” Cuington said.
“The Maga Movement seeks to destroy solidarity and use its fear as its weapon of choice. It is up to us, everyone who is listening right now, to choose to not pick up that weapon and destroy each other. It is up to us, more importantly, the two men who will be on that stage this evening, to address the hurt in this country directly and to abolish the spread of misinformation. It’s time to speak the truth and unite the states in this America.”
Ahead of Thursday night’s presidential debate, the message was clear: they wanted commitments from both leaders to protect the integrity of the democratic nation.
“We need leaders strong enough to do the right thing, strong enough to speak truth to power, strong enough to feed the hungry, strong enough to shelter the homeless, strong enough to clothe the naked, strong enough to mentor the youth, strong enough to change the world,” said marine veteran Darren Harris. “Last but not least, strong enough to honor veterans.”