Inside the beltway, outside politics
Date: Tuesday, November 02 @ 04:14:43
PST
Topic: INTERACT (Commentary and Personal
Essay)
With memories of the
closest election in history still fresh on our minds, millions
of typically apathetic voters hope to make a difference in
this year’s election. The only problem is finding a candidate
who will change our lives for the better.
Written by Marna
Bunger / Los Angeles
Published Tuesday, November 2,
2004
I’m
feeling very attractive lately. Two rich guys want me, and I
have something they need — an undecided vote.
Most
people have a position when it comes to politics. They
formulate their political opinions starting with their
parents’ party views and then shape their own beliefs as they
grow and develop their own identity. But I don’t have a
position, and I honestly don’t know why.
My father was
a World War II and Korean War veteran. My mother was a Cold
War information-gatherer-turn-stay-at-home-mom. Given those
two facts, you’d assume the
obvious:
Republicans.
But I’m not sure if
that’s the case. Politics were never discussed in our house.
We lived in Virginia, inside the Beltway. Naval Reserve pay
and defense contracting put food on our table, but my parents
never discussed the defense budget, rising health care costs,
Social Security, or anything remotely political as you would
expect growing up in Washington, D.C.
My father loved
Archie Bunker, hated hippies, and thought women should stay
out of the military service academies. The only time I
suspected he might be a Republican was when we saw Richard
Nixon get on the Sequoia after we enjoyed a trip to the wharf
to get crabs. Dad smiled when the president waved to
us.
Mom grew up on a farm in North Carolina and left at
18 to go to Washington to become a civil servant. Her last
post with the U.S. Air Attaché in Bonn, Germany in the late
1950s required her to be friendly with the locals and bring
information back to her superiors. In the 1970s, she watched
the Equal Rights Amendment movement, and she believed in the
right to choose. The only political opinion she ever expressed
was “I’d vote for Jesse Jackson.” But now she listens to Rush
Limbaugh.
I was a sophomore in college when I attained
the right to vote. I worked at the Pentagon, writing press
releases during college breaks, and volunteered as a reading
instructor for the mentally challenged. Throughout the years,
I continued to volunteer in my community instead of voting —
that way, I could actually see the difference my actions
made.
I finally registered to vote when I was 26. I was
engaged and almost out of graduate school, and I felt like it
was time to care about national politics. My brother was 24
years old, serving on a submarine in Charleston, South
Carolina. We decided our votes didn’t matter in the general
scheme of how the country was run. We did the unthinkable: We
voted for Perot in 1992.
Not much has changed for me in
the subsequent 12 years. I’ve been laid off twice and was just
days from getting laid off three other times. I’ve cashed out
two 401(k)s and one IRA while under- or unemployed. I’ve moved
to four states to get a job. Dad’s dead after years of
mediocre care from military doctors. Mom’s on a government
pensioner’s fixed income living in the same house. My brother
is now a civilian dodging downsizings within his company, and
he joined the Naval Reserve primarily to ensure he’d have
health care and a small pension. We’re all doing OK, but not
great.
One thing has changed recently. I registered to
vote again. My political apathy turned to action when I
checked the “other” political party box on the voter
registration form and added “undecided.” I find comfort in the
fact that millions of Americans are as undecided as me and
fearful of another Florida voting debacle.
The 2004
candidates appear to have distinct opinions about major
topics. Kerry supports a woman’s right to choose. Bush opposes
abortion and passed legislation banning U.S. funding to any
international health care agency providing reproductive
services. Kerry is against school vouchers. Bush is ready to
hand them out so parents can send their kids to schools that
perform well. Kerry believes in gay civil unions. Bush wants
to amend the Constitution to ban gay marriage.
I see
truth and fiction in each of their arguments. For example,
Bush supported No Child Left Behind, but didn’t fully fund it
while in office. The threat of vouchers may force a school,
with the right resources, to develop programs to help
children. Neither candidate can fully define what terrorism is
and how to stop it. This only heightens my indecision. I must
select the best man for the job. But given the choices before
me, my decision may come down to choosing the most promising
of the non-promising.
I believe if I grew up less
apolitical, I still wouldn’t know what to do in this election.
I’m coming back from a 12-year voting hiatus. Is there a
presidential hopeful who will reassure me that I made the
right decision to vote in the wake of this current indecision?
Only time will tell.
STORY
INDEX
CONTRIBUTOR >
The writer
Marna
Bunger, INTHEFRAY.COM
Contributor
COMMENTARY>
“Election 2004 not likely to be as close as
2000” by Richard Benedetto
URL: http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnist/benedetto/2004-10-08-benedetto_x.htm
“Scaring
voters to the polls” by Helen Thomas
URL: http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1008-32.htm
“Why
don’t Americans care?” by Mark Morford
URL: http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1006-31.htm
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