---Hi all, I know I haven't posted in forever due to gimped laptop and grueling work schedule but I finally felt so intellectually constipated that I had to get some of my thoughts onto the page. The result is this 3 or so page long rant about my experience with the last several elections. It should be no surprise to anyone that I am delighted about the outcome of this last Tuesday's polls. I just purchased a new laptop from Dell and as soon as it arrives, updates should become more regular.---
I remember participating in a mock election in elementary school the first time that Clinton ran for president. I was terribly nervous as I moved into the red, white, and blue curtained booths they had set up in our cafeteria. I stared at the choices on the page in front of me and was terrified to find that I really didn’t know anything about the people whose names I was reading. Like many Americans when is comes to politics, I was woefully uninformed. I panicked as a teacher outside the curtain urged me to hurry along and I picked a name at random. Later I was rather upset to realize that I had placed my faux-vote for the republican incumbent George Bush. I cried as I discussed this with my mother in the car on the ride home and was relieved to here that despite my failure to cast my karmic voice in his direction, Clinton did indeed win the election.
The next election that I remember, I made certain that even though I was still too young to vote, I would be better informed. I was in my freshman year of high school when the next George W. Bush would come onto my political radar and I was not fond of what I saw. My first impression of him was of a bumbling idiot, and harsh as that label may be, he did little over the subsequent years to alleviate that status. And as much as I hate to judge a person based on looks, only a person so full of negative energy could look so puckered and permanently sour. My parent’s support of the democratic ticket may have influenced me further against him, or perhaps it was my perception that though Clinton may have turned out to make poor personal decisions, I considered him to have done a great job while in office and therefore created some faith in the Democratic Party. I am registered as a democrat, and while I consider myself more of an independent, most of you who know me well enough to trouble with reading my blog must know, I am rather a passionate liberal. First and foremost on my list of overarching priorities is the need to protect our deteriorating environment, and W certainly didn’t seem at all concerned for the welfare of our planet. I argued vehemently with the other students in my political science class, but considering how staunchly republican the state of Ohio and the families of Medina tended to be, I was often outnumbered. I watched with tears in my eyes as the media aired the debacle of the 2000 election and I braced for the next four years with fear.
Being that Bush was the only presidential candidate to ever receive a failing rating from environmental organizations on his conservation policies, it is no surprise that he ignored the Kyoto treaty, backed proposals for oil drilling in sensitive areas, and supported policy after policy that undid many conservation measures previously put in place. After his cowboy-like reactions to certain foreign situations, it saddened me to think that the world was judging me by this representative. In short, I was sure that he would not, could not, be re-elected in 2004. I was finally old enough to participate in the electoral process myself and I proudly wore my Gore Lieberman pin around my college campus and asked all my friends to register to vote. This time I started Election Day off with a knot in my stomach but a smile on my face as I left the polling place for the first time, certain that I had done my civic duty and would make a difference. Certain that the American people were competent and informed and responsible enough to both realize what the country did and did not need and then to act on that realization. And again I cried myself numb when the results came.
I was disillusioned. That word so perfectly describes my state of mind concerning the American system of government for the past four years. I grew up being taught the illusion of the American way and as I stared at the results from that second election, that bubble burst and reality came rushing in. All through school I was force fed the idea of checks and balances, a Republic for and by people, that everyone had a choice and made a difference, democracy was possible. I was proud to be an American because our country had values and integrity. We were lucked up to by the rest of the world because we did things well and we were prosperous and fair. And here I was, finally labeled old enough to raise my voice with the masses and it had made no difference. Surely others must have seen the current state of things. How could they have condoned, either through inaction or (worse yet?) the active approval of another term of incompetence? Surely my peers could not really have allowed this. I was disillusioned with both my country’s government and my people.
Watching one poorly delivered speech and badly advised decision after another, I grew numb. After awhile, I could cry no more tears. I loved my country, I loved all that I knew we were meant to stand for, but I did not love what was going on around me. I am aware that it was not all Bush’s doing. One man cannot accomplish that much. But he was a figure stone, and an accomplice, of everything that I loathed about our government. Already I choose to speak of him in past tense, in hopes that so much of what has happened can be washed away by the sands of time. He may have been our president for the past 8 years but he was not my president.
Over the past year or so I have experienced a rising level of tension as the presidential campaign came underway. I was torn between wanting the landmark of have an intelligent woman in office and the charismatic intelligence of what would also be the landmark of a first African American president. Either one would be a great step forward for our country both in the terms of individual merit and in national tolerance and open-mindedness. In the end, I think that Obama was the right choice for the time, given the great polarity of feeling surrounding Hilary. When asked whether I would vote for Barack or McCain and why, I first and foremost cited my passion for the environment as the obvious driving force behind my decision. I try to vote independently for the most part, relying on knowledge of each individual candidate to sway my hand rather than simply relying on partisanship. However, if forced to make such decisions in the vacuum of a sometimes less than transparent political system, I will tend towards the democratic ticket because it does seem that a democrat is more often likely to help the little guy, more likely to protect individual rights, and more likely to take environmental concerns seriously. Add to that the fact that Obama supports equal pay for women, the right to choose, tax breaks for the middle class, and doesn’t outwardly oppose same sex marriage, and you have covered a few more issues that I feel strongly about. McCain seemed like he might at least have been a step up from the current republican, but he put the nail in his own coffin when he chose Palin as his running mate. I can only imagine that some analyst advised him that it would be smart to have a woman on his campaign to take in those the dems lost when they decided against Hilary, but I cannot for the life of my figure out why they chose her. It scared me to think of the logic of a party who ranted against the potential inexperience of putting Obama in the white house when they wanted to pair the oldest first time presidential candidate with a mere governor from Alaska who thinks that being the closest American state to Russia counts as foreign policy experience. And anyone who supports open drilling in Alaska and enjoys shooting animals from planes loses me right there (I am not against hunting by the way, but there are things such as respect and humane treatment for animals).
And when did religion become a deciding factor in politics? Let me just take a moment to rail against the idea. Our country was founded on the idea that one should be free to practice which ever religion one saw fit, without the intrusion of government. Should it not, then, go without saying that religion should conversely not intrude into our system of rule? I understand that people are concerned that a person’s morality and values influence their decision making but time and time again I have met people who are very religious but have awful morals and people who have great values but do not actively practice religion and have drawn the conclusion that a person’s religious beliefs are a poor predictor of their character. And regardless, judging a person based on their religion is nearly as blind as judging them by the color of their skin. In truth it is merely a label which poorly attempts to sum up a person’s entire value system and even cultural beliefs often falls short. And further more, I am disgusted at the tendency to automatically associate the word Muslim with the identity of terrorist. There are extremes within every religion and the entire group should not be convicted of the crimes of a few fanatical individuals. Someone said to me that Obama is a traitor to America and should be hung for his ties to the religion of Islam. The thought that anyone could be so hateful and ignorant physically hurts me and I reply that the only traitor here is the person who so rejects the culture of religious freedom that our country is founded on goes so far as to threaten death to someone simply because he is different than you. You sir, are the traitor. You sir, are the reason that I fear for the integrity of our nation and for the safety of our new president while he is in office. But back to my previous ramblings…
Needless to say, I spent last Tuesday, November 4th in a state of subdued anticipation. At several points throughout the day (which I spent measuring and tagging trees in the forest with ecology interns here at CRC) I stopped and wondered whether, all throughout the country, people were feeling the same knot in their stomachs as I. I hoped that people nationwide had taken time out of their day to play their part in history. I was proud to know that my friends and my family had all done their part, even my little sister voting in her first election ever. I hoped that my Ohio absentee ballot had made it safely to its destination. And as the polling places started to close and the results began to roll in, I sat with fellow young scientists and waited to hear what the next few years might hold. I cried, tears of joy this time, when Ohio joined the ranks of blue states on the map emblazoned on the tv screen. My vote had been heard. And then, finally, amidst a shocked silence followed by triumphant yells, it had actually happened, Obama won!
I went to bed smiling and woke up with the same grin, albeit late in the morning and with a slight hangover. I now have a reason to hope. I am not only proud to be an American but proud to call this man my president. And while it will be a few months before he actually boots the current regime from office and starts making changes, I honestly think that things will get better. Many issues are at the forefront. The economy is of course paramount as many people are struggling in these hard financial times. I, for one, may not have a job in two months. But equally important in both a short and long term scope is the health of our environment. I hope that Obama takes some time to undo a lot of the environmentally detrimental policies that has Bush approved. And while I whole heartedly support the need for oil independence, I believe that the best solution is alternative energy and not merely drilling on our own soil. A drop in the energy bucket is not worth destroying unspoiled wilderness or off-shore ecosystems. Drilling in Alaska is merely an ugly band aid that does nothing to solve the larger problem that we are consuming far more that we can ever hope to sustainably support with our current methods.
Long story short; yes we can make a difference, yes we did elect the right man, and yes we will make this country everything it is meant to be. We have the potential to stay a great nation, but like every thing worth having or doing, it will take hard work. And now, we are working in the right direction.
