For the first time in your life, there is a presidential election. And despite Hurricane Sandy's best efforts, it's still on for next Tuesday. Your daddy and I aren't super-political. If anything, he's more politically-inclined than I am, and I ran for and served in office! Yes, fine, it was Vice-President of the law school, but it was elected. But I mean that we're not knocking on doors asking people to vote, and we don't have any signs in our yard. Probably because we don't want either sign in our yard.
I remember the first time I voted, Britton. I was so excited, so ready to cast a ballot for the first time, a mere two weeks after turning 18. I voted for Bill Clinton (this was before the whole Lewinsky thing, so quit judging). But what I remember the best is what a big deal the whole thing was.
In my old age, I've mellowed. Britton, I used to be such a black-and-white judgmental socially-liberal bleeding heart. Heck, I was a public defender! And I had no money. But as I've gotten older, and lost out on tax breaks and write-offs and seen more and more of my hard-earned paycheck (acquired through my paying-on-it-for-25-years student loan debt), the more bitter I've become. I can no longer vote solely on my heart when I now have to factor in my wallet.
And your daddy and I don't fit in nice little boxes either. We're not "Democrats" and we're not "Republicans." We're somewhere in between, hovering in a place that wants less government. Believes in a right to bear arms. And agrees that I can use those firearms to protect my family and my castle. Thinks amending our Constitution to define "marriage" is a failure to fully appreciate the document which it is. And, to that end, thinks men should be able to marry men and women should be able to marry women, and that these couples should be able to adopt children. And know that social programs aren't working and are merely creating an entire generation that sees charity as entitlement and laziness as a career option. And knows that pro-choice doesn't mean pro-abortion, that no woman wants to make that decision no matter how many men act as if it's a coin flip, and thinks if you're so pro-life then don't get one. And wants domestic natural gas to finally receive its place in the spotlight where it belongs, not only for the longevity of our careers but for the end of our reliance on foreign oil.
Britton, no candidate encompasses all of that. Not even most. I will go into that voting booth on Tuesday morning and make the wrong decision, no matter which way I vote. So, I am sorry that your first election is this one. But I'm not sorry that I'm voting, either way I end up voting.
Love,
Mommy
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