I'm the vote every politician says they want.
I'm a woman.
I'm help run a small business.
I'm an educator.
My husband is an educator.
I'm a mother of three - two boys and a girl.
I'm from a military family.
I'm from a hunting family.
We just bought my son his first real gun at age 8.
I don't believe guns belong everywhere nor with everyone.
We are Christian.
We are fiscally conservative and responsible.
We pay off our debt.
We both work.
We aren't rich.
We aren't poor.
We send our kids to daycare, preschool, and public school.
I vote regularly.
I am a dog owner.
My in-laws have owned and ran a small business for 25 years.
My mom ran her own business now works in a school.
My dad is a lawyer.
I grew up in a rural community.
I now live in an "urban" community.
I abhor injustices that occur in society.
We regularly donate to the food bank and spend time with at-risk youth.
I believe all are equal under the laws of the country regardless of sexual preference, religious views, or skin color.
I recycle. And teach my kids to recycle.
I believe people should be taught how to use the resources they are given whether they are earned through a job or provided as part of an assistance program.
I believe the death of any child in any circumstance is wrong, abortion included, and struggle with understanding how it can occur but have incredible sympathy for the woman and couples that feel they have to make that choice.
I don't believe lobbyist should determine the results of an election but rather inform the electorate.
According to most politicians, I'm who they say they want. But I'm not who they cater to. I'm not extreme. I'm middle of the road. I'm representative of the majority of America. The polarized America now. No one is fighting for our desire to live safely and happily in this country.
I've had several campaign workers stop by the house. It usually goes like this:
Decent looking 20-something campaign worker: "Hi, I'm with so-so's campaign. Is Ryan home?"
Me: "Nope, he's not. He's coaching his daughters softball team right now."
Worker: "Oh. Okay. Well we would love to talk to him about our candidate."
Me: "Oh okay. Well I'm not sure when he'll be back."
Worker: "Okay. We'll swing back around."
(They leave. I stand dumbfounded.)
What about me? What about my opinion? Don't you want my vote?
Apparently not.
See you on election day.
Outstanding Meg! I am very antsy about the political environment. Unfortunately the anti-moderate illiberal movement is just late coming to America. UK's Brexit is a symptom, Erdogan in Turkey, Maduro in Venezuela, Duterte in Phillipines... the list goes on and we are just now arriving with Trump. And you are absolutely right, here I am in the middle right, along with the vast majority of people I know (crossing state lines). I feel so EXTREMELY disconnected from either candidate that I am looking outside the parties (as are many people on the left) for someone who is stable and reasonable. I love the irony of the headlines like "America deserves a better candidate". American exceptionalism does not exists anymore (if it ever had) to the extent that we are immune to the political extremity that has kept our international brothers and sisters down. International illiberalism has caught up with US. It is the great irony of 2016 that in his attempt to make America Great, Trump (and all other marginal figures getting a voice) have brought us out of any illusion of superiority and into parity with the rest of the world.
ReplyDelete