I have needed my husband
more this past week than probably any time since his death ten months ago. Of
course, I miss him every day and several times have caught myself wanting to
call him to discuss little and big events.
My need for him
recently is because of the Presidential election. He was the political one in
the family. He always paid attention to world-wide events and watched both CNN
and FOX news so he could form unbiased views. He was a registered voter with no
party affiliation. Last fall, when all this Presidential election hoopla began,
he didn't have a favorite candidate. This was well before the primaries so he had lots of choices --16 Republican
candidates and Bernie was still around to cause a stir in the other group. I
remember my husband saying that if Trump succeeded, it would tear the
Republican party apart and that Hillary had too much baggage to succeed. Time
will tell if his Trump prediction is correct although several times during the
campaign, I thought it would happen. He nailed the Hillary prediction,
though.
I’m a Democrat. I
registered with that party so I could vote in the primaries and have more of a
choice in candidates. I have voted in several presidential elections since turning 18 years old. My first Presidential vote was for Jimmy Carter in 1976.
Since then, I have
voted mainly for Democratic candidates. I align myself with those who want to
help education, the middle class and most importantly and selfishly, help the
disabled since I have a child with a disability. In my experience, one of the
first acts that Republicans take is to cut funds from the disabled and public
education. Oh, they usually put the money back eventually after those who need
it suffer a little while. To me, the Republicans, especially at the state
level, beat up the weak kids first. It’s not that the Democrats
are always great with their choices in spending or other issues, but they appear to
care about the underdog more.
After my son was born with Down syndrome, I joined of a
new-to-me group -- people who advocate for those who can’t for themselves. I
teach in a public high school, and many of the young people I teach also need
advocates since their parents may not be present, physically or mentally. In my profession, I’m
exposed to all types of people – black, white, gay, straight, Christian,
atheist, etc. I see good and bad in all. I tell my students, “I love you
all because you are children of the Lord, but there are times when I don’t like
you.” My dislike has nothing to do with their sexual identity (which changes
daily with teenagers), their religion, or their race. It has to do with
behavior and work ethic, but I will go to bat for the worst one of them if I see
that he is being wronged.
Both Democrats and
Republicans used fear in their recent campaigns – “Is this the man you want to
have the nuclear codes?” “Do you want your children hearing this language from
your President?” “She is a criminal and will sell out to the highest
bidder!” I admit that I am fearful for
the people for whom I advocate. I am afraid that the advances this country has
made in acceptance for people with differences from the norm will recede and
that the respect that women majorly deserve will lessen. I’m afraid that the
illegal immigrant who cleans and cares for a close friend will be shipped back
to Mexico and be separated from her American-born children. I have needed my
husband to talk with me about all of this and maybe to calm my fears.
Yesterday, I changed my
voter information to No Party Affiliation. To me, people assume that if I’m a
Democrat, I’m some crazy, tree-hugging liberal or if I’m a Republican, I’m a racist homophobe.
I'm fine with giving up my choices in a primary election. In this past
election, the two parties made major pushes to sway the independent voters. I
want candidates to want and need my vote, not simply expect it because I'm a member of that party. I'm so dissatisfied with both major parties that I'm happy to distance myself from them.
I think my husband
would be ok with my decision. I sure would like to talk to him about it.
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