...at least my kids...seem so much more politically aware than I was at their ages. They've been talking about the election for weeks. Local candidates have visited their school. They've made posters that hang in their school hallways. Mia is studying the electoral college in her enrichment math program. And today, Mia and Will are both voting in mock elections. I don't remember any of this from my childhood. The only thing political that I remember from my formative years is this:
"Grandma, what's the difference between a Democrat and a Republican?"
"It doesn't matter. You're a Republican." End of conversation.
Oh, she's rollin' in her grave today!
So this morning, I reminded the kids to vote sensibly today.
MAX: "Who are you voting for, Mom?"
ME: "Barack Obama."
MAX: "Who did Dad vote for?"
ME: "Barack Obama."
MAX: "I thought he voted for Pollina." (Our independent candidate for governor.)
This is funny, of course, because Max is five, and he knows the names of our candidates -- even if he's a little confused on who's running for what.
Maybe it's Vermont that makes politics so accessible. "Vote for [Me]" signs are everywhere. We often see candidates -- even gubernatorial ones -- waving to cars on street corners. Heck, the hotel where Howard Dean announced his run for the presidency a few years ago is just down the street. We love our politics here.
So Will and I sung the Schoolhouse Rock "Preamble" song this morning. And the kids asked me whom I was voting for. I told them, in my best Martin Luther King, that I was voting for Hope, Change, and the People. It's truly an exciting day, and I hope with all my heart that I feel the same tomorrow.
I'm going to I'll listen to a lot of Bruce Springsteen today...
(307 words)
Cooper Ogden, 12, wore four Obama buttons on his backpack today, wore his Obama t-shirt, and an Obama button on THAT. In one of his classes, they voted for president. Result: Obama 27, McCain, 3. Even in formerly red Walnut Creek, California, we're helping with the Obama landslide.
ReplyDelete