Because I CARE . . .

I really need this election to be over. I am absolutely addicted to Twitter these days-- I have been on Twitter since August 2011 and have never been that into it. I refuse to read anything about polls because if I'm going to believe them when my guy's up, I have to believe it when their guy's up. And that's just too hard to contemplate. 

I think this election is absolutely a referendum on keeping a system predicated on white privilege and I think the root of most people's dislike of Obama is impacted by race whether they believe it or not. If Obama was a white man doing these same things, he would never have been as vilified from day one by the right. His status as POTUS goes against what they believe to be the natural order of things--upper class, middle-aged white men running everything. 

How could anyone but them want to go back to the "good old days"? They weren't very good for women or people of color. Or gays. Or really anyone different than the gold standard--upper-class white boys and men. Sure, those days are remembered fondly by a rich bully who never knew a nano-second of insecurity about anything. Not so much by the boys who didn't dodge the draft and ended up in wheelchairs upon returning from Vietnam. 

Again, I believe this election is a referendum.

A referendum on what the soul of America is. I hope we go with Barack Obama's vision of that soul and not of Mitt Romney's. Actually, I pray we do. 

 

Comments

[Laura]

Thank you! I too am a nervous wreck leading up to this election. My reproductive rights, my faith in other people: I can't even imagine what it would be like to live in a world where compassionless, poor-bashing Romney was in the white house. I'm praying too.

[Arli]

I still don't understand what twitter is exactly, but I agree with you, Jenn, nonetheless. What I can't understand is how my parents, sister and brother-in-law and his parents DON'T GET IT??? Praying right along with you!

[Jocelyn]

Agreed. Anyone who wasn't benefiting from the tradition of middle-aged white guys in power should have no trouble making a choice this election. It STUMPS me beyond measure, therefore, that I know women (my mom, for example) who will happily vote for Romney...my mother, who is *still* pissed that when she and my dad bought their first house together in 1966, and the entire down payment came from money she'd saved from working, she wasn't allowed to sign any of the papers. Only my dad's signature was allowed to confirm that her money was being handed over.

And she'd vote for Romney? W.T.F????

[Karen]

I pray we do, too, Jenn.

[Karen (formerly kcinnova)]

While I think race is a piece of the picture we are seeing, I also recall that a large amount of vilification occurred when Bill Clinton was President (esp. in regards to his adulterous ways). The rise of Fox News as a 24/7 stream of "information" has allowed a large percentage of the population to permanently apply blinders to the way they look at issues (and life in general). An organization that touted itself as "fair and balanced" has succeeded in getting many people to believe those claims.

On the other hand, there is a huge number of people who vilified our last President. I won't make statements about his leadership, but I also don't believe he is (or was) evil.
Life just isn't that simple.

Did you see Doonsbury today? I think it speaks volumes about the choices before us.

[lanes]

I'm not in denial, but right now I am going on blind faith that things will work out. I've also taken November 7th off as a personal day. I figure I will either be elated or horrified and, either way, I will not want to be at work.

[Martha Mc]

I don't want to think race comes into play but I can't help believe that it's a huge factor whether people admit it or not. Other presidents have been vilified but I don't think it's been anywhere near what Obama has endured. And I think a good part of it has to do with the likes of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, et al. whose sole purposes are to inflame the masses with hateful rhetoric, lies and propaganda (and make huge profits while doing so). And let's not forget a Congress who stated publicly that their main mission was to make sure Obama was a one-term president regardless of the damage it did to our country.

I try not to watch the polls but I do read 538 at the New York Times and follow it daily. And I'm hopeful that he's calling it as it will be. I've said for months that watching people following Romney is like watching sheep being led to a slaughter and I truly believe that's what it will be if he wins. I don't trust him and I certainly don't trust the people who have provided the majority of his financial backing.

I love your last paragraph and I too hope that we go with Barack Obama's vision.

[suburbancorrespondent,]

Not to mention that President Obama runs a pretty competent administration, if you ask me...

[gary rith]

oh yes jen, it is making me a nervous wreck too..

[kellyg]

I live in a pretty conservative area and our local paper has endorsed Romney -- mostly on a "are you better off now than you were 4 years ago" argument. The editorial board, while admitting that Obama inherited an unbelievable mess, argued that he hasn't done enough. That he hasn't tried hard enough to reach across the aisle and make deals. And yet, on the few things Obama has pushed through, they think he's taken too hard of a line and should have compromised more. So basically Obama was damned if did and damned if he didn't.

The paper editorial thinks that Romney will govern as President like he did as Governor of Massachusetts -- a little more centrist, reach across the aisle, get people to work together.

My problem is that I don't trust that. The agenda that Romney ran on to get the GOP nomination and that he picked Ryan as his running mate makes me worry should they win the election. I don't know if you have the "Take Back Our Country" signs in your area, but all of the ones I have seen also have Romney/Ryan signs. I always have to fight the urge to knock on the door and remind the sign owners that Obama won quite decisively through our voting system. It wasn't a coup. There is no "taking back" because nothing was "taken". But that sentiment also scares me because it is so divisive.

I also think that Obama should get another 4 years to see if he can make more progress. I don't believe for a second that things would be any better if McCain had been president. It was such a huge mess that it is going to take more than 4 years to "fix" it.

[The Zadge]

Amen, Sista!!! GO O MAN!!!

[Kristen]

I love that you naturally operate through a racial equity lens and I love this post.

[Brightside-Susan]

Right on. I prefer the morality of a man like President Obama. He has daughters and he wants to protect their future success and choice. He is more interested in the veterans than fueling the war machine. He values education and TRUTH.

[Trudie]

You know, I won't be directly affected by who is the POTUS during the next 4 years - but I am VERY nervous about the outcome of this election.
Romney scares me.

[Green Girl in Wisconsin]

Time's running out anyway on the GOP--did you hear the NPR report on the demographics changing in our country? The party of wealthy white men is shrinking fast--holding on to hope and voting for FOUR MORE YEARS!

[Aunt Snow]

I think, ultimately, we'll all be affected by who is the POTUS in the next four years, and that's why I'm voting for President Obama's re-election.

But I sure as hell will be glad when the polls close tomorrow.

[Gail]

I voted absentee this year. First time I've done that. I'm in Houston and fortunately there are very few contentious races here. Utah? we had a really nasty one for a House seat. I'll be glad when polls close today, too.

[Claudia from Idiot's Kitchen]

I just voted! Thanks for this post. You're right on.