Election 2012

It's risky to talk about politics.  But, the election is over for 2012.

Although I usually keep them to myself, I have had plenty of thoughts about this latest election cycle.

I am an Independent - I have not seen the point to register with a political party because I certainly don't believe that any of our political parties holds every ideal that I do nor do I feel an inclination to register just to be able to vote in a primary.

In Muslim circles, every time elections come around there is always a little controversy over whether one should vote or not - some folks think of a vote as a statement of allegiance or total alignment or approval of a candidate's agenda.  I do understand these concerns.  But I personally feel it is better to give your input than not.  A vote does not have to mean 100% approval, and the collective votes of Muslims or any 'interest group' can influence the trends in public policy and focus of candidates.  This year, the IMAM-US council of Shia religious scholars did send out a message encouraging people to vote and yet also tactfully avoided telling people how to vote.  I thought that was perfect and it was much appreciated by me.  I know it is pretty common for preachers/religious leaders to use their sermons and edicts to encourage their flocks to vote certain ways.  It makes sense that one's vote is influenced by one's convictions and beliefs, but I do take issue with religious leaders preaching the vote because they tend to do so around one or two issues only rather than an entire big picture of a candidate's policies, etc.  For example, the Catholic leaders seem to urge voters to base their decisions only on issues of abortion and contraception.  Further, I think religious leaders may often act like pundits, using generally irrational scare tactics such as 'this candidate is pro-terrorism' or 'this candidate will ban all guns'.  If there is anything I had to pick that I dislike least about our political cycles it might be the sky-is-falling doomsday scenarios that get painted if you don't vote for so-and-so that are again, generally unfounded and irrational.  Really most of the candidates are more alike than they are different.

I did vote for a few Republican candidates in this election cycle. I live in a highly Republican county and for many seats there was not even a Democratic candidate.  But I did also vote for some third-party candidates for some of those seats as well, based on my research of those candidates. I would be more inclined to vote for a truly moderate or centrist Republican for President but the current GOP is still too Tea-Party right for me. Honestly I think today's Democratic party is more like Reagan's GOP than today's GOP is. The irrationality of many of the things that came out of GOP mouths this year was a big put-off to me - i.e. "legitimate rape", "a woman's body can shut that thing down", "Obama is a Muslim", "Obama wasn't born in the United States", and a whole lot more.  As for Mitt Romney himself as a candidate, I found myself never able to trust him or know what he really stood for, primarily because of his huge flip-flops this time around from previous positions.  I just felt really unsure of what he himself really believed and/or would do as President - it seemed like he was saying whatever he thought his supporters wanted to hear, sometimes putting his foot in his mouth in the process (e.g. the 47%). 

As for Obama, no, I certainly don't agree with him on everything.  What two people agree 100% on anything?  Using  ISideWith.com and some other resources, I found that depending on the detail of my answers I 'aligned' most closely with either Jill Stein or President Obama, and that Romney was far down the list.  When it comes to my own personal decisions, I can relate to some of the Romney/GOP stances - for example, I do think abortion is morally reprehensible and irresponsible in most cases.  However, I just prefer choice to be left to individuals with reasonable regulation on abortion and many other issues, and I think the GOP went way too far when they basically crossed the line into anti-contraception territory this cycle.  When  ads started proclaiming the GOP's "War on Women" around the contraception and Lilly Ledbetter fair pay issues, emotionally I was right there with them.  This election cycle I felt like more of a feminist than I ever have, because I could see a potential future of things I took for granted as an American woman being at risk.  In my state, marijuana legalization was on the ballot and I did vote for it.  Again, I have the personally conservative view that I would probably never touch it, but when it comes to public policy, I just see way too much of our criminal system tied up with relatively petty marijuana offenses and see potential benefit to legalization and regulation.  And no, I did not think God's Wrath would descend upon us over gay marriage, either - I don't see God as a one-issue God - He is omnipotent and all-encompassing and knows our true hearts.  We have plenty on our records to incur His Wrath, and yet we have faith and hope in His Mercy for those things.  What people cite in the Bible about homosexuality is predicated a few verses prior with stuff that we ignore - picking and choosing according to our own sensibilities (which are on the whole gradually yet consistently changing, btw).  God knows His stance, and He will sort us out, we don't need to bother to do so via our American political system (imho). I think the 'live and let live' nature of Colorado is pretty strong in my DNA.  I'd rather see freedom and opportunity than judgment and exclusion from our political processes.  As for Obama's foreign policy, I don't love it.  Drones, tensions with Iran, overly friendly with Israel, etc.  But he did get us out of Iraq. The GOP is notoriously hawkish and Romney was very ill-received by the various heads of state overseas, so even though Obama doesn't have a stellar record here, Romney appeared to be significantly worse - more akin to a return to George W. Bush.

I didn't vote for Jill Stein or some other third-party candidate primarily because I live in a swing state. However, I think our country would be better off if we weren't so locked into a two-party system. I knew that Jill Stein would not feasibly be elected and that my vote for either Romney or Obama had as much chance of actually mattering in the final outcome as anyone's.  So does that mean I voted for the 'lesser of two evils"?  Actually I don't feel that way. In this strongly Republican county, I may not have been too eager to put out Obama yard signs or bumper stickers.  I get kind of annoyed seeing other people's political bumper stickers all the time, but I also felt it was a legitimate concern that if I were to be too openly 'not Republican' that a backlash such as vandalism would be possible.  But to be honest, I really like Obama as a person even though I don't like every single policy and decision he's made or espoused.

Since I've been a voting adult, I respected Clinton's intelligence, but really was not impressed with pretty much any other candidate aside from his wife.  But with Obama, I actually felt inspired.  I saw a man who had ideals, visions, and dreams that have seemed largely missing in the political landscapes of my generation. My parents had Kennedy and MLK Jr, even Malcolm X - but inspirational leaders seem largely missing in my time - instead we have 24-hour news screaming heads.  I also saw in him a man of the people.  He knows the middle class experience and shows real empathy.  I believe that his dream is a dream about a better future for all of us, and not just a dream of self-glory.  And I also sense his dogged determination to keep fighting for that dream. I don't see that in every politician.  That feeling of inspiration had a lot to do with my vote.

Last year, I got to go to the White House as a rank-and-file member of NEA to 'push' for job creation in my industry. Yes, it was mainly a political show for Obama to demonstrate his efforts in job creation.  But the simple fact that his White House was regularly frequented by common people was a big difference from the previous administration that mattered to me.  I heard Obama speak in person and got to meet VP Joe Biden directly. After the meeting, we were leaving to go to dinner and Joe Biden was also leaving and stopped to talk to us and pose for a picture with us and so on. Those personal connections humanize candidates and help you believe in their general good will/good intentions.  It is a neat memory for me to say I got to go to the White House and meet the President and VP.

With a divided country, I don't necessarily expect the next 4 years to be drastically different than the last 4.  I do hope we'll continue to make economic progress that is personally meaningful to me and all my loved ones, family, friends - all of us.  I hope we'll make positive moves for environment and energy.  I hope we'll make positive moves in foreign/military policy - peaceful moves.  I hope we'll invest in the infrastructure of our country.  I hope we'll do what it takes so that the Baby Boomers aren't essentially the only generation to have a relatively secure retirement.  I hope we'll do what it takes so that every sick person in our country gets the necessary care without going bankrupt. I hope we will rise toward our best selves rather than sink to our lowest.

 I appreciated in Obama's 'victory' speech his saying, "I’ve never been more hopeful about our future. I have never been more hopeful about America. And I ask you to sustain that hope. I’m not talking about blind optimism, the kind of hope that just ignores the enormity of the tasks ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. I’m not talking about the wishful idealism that allows us to just sit on the sidelines or shirk from a fight. I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting."   

Hope comes with responsibility. Obama is one man and whatever we hope for will not come to be or fail to come to be solely at his responsibility, but ultimately the responsibility rests with all of us collectively. Generally we all hope for the same things, although we do not always agree on how to get there or on all the details.  So perhaps one of our more urgent political hopes is that our divided leaders and divided country will find and focus on the things that unify us, and learn to work better together.  We do it in times of crisis like Hurricane Sandy, but we need to do it better in the every day business of our lives.  The language and agendas of 'us and them' need to be retired and replaced with 'we'. Conspiracy theories that belie our personal responsibilities, contradict the realities of basic human goodness in most of us, and divide us, serve to impede potential progress rather than move us "Forward".  For example, if the Illuminati are out there manipulating world affairs, that really makes no difference in what our personal responsibilities are - we have the same duties regardless, but the theories are used as excuses to absolve us.  Romney's concession speech was gracious. He said he believes in America.  And I do, too.  I know capitalism and democracy are faulted systems.  But I believe in that 'dream' of America as a place where people can pursue their full potentials as human beings and thinking we can continue to progress in pursuit of that dream is not just foolishness.  He also said, "Ann and I join with you to earnestly pray for him (Obama) and for this great nation."   That was probably my favorite part of his speech.  Rather than just reject America or give up on America, or this world in general, we should pray for/hope for/work toward our dreams.

Oh and as a math/statistics teacher, I just have to say - Nate Silver and other pollsters showed that doing good math gives good results, and quickly.  People who complained Ohio was called too soon just might not have been aware of all the math going on behind the scenes - there was very little doubt of the outcome even before the day of the election, truth be told.  Yay for education/math/science!