My Mom is a working class woman from rural northern Minnesota that more or less raised two children on her own working full time almost exclusively for retail stores (most notably 13+ years at Target...first on West Broadway and now downtown). For at least half my life she worked two jobs. My Mother quite literally never had time to think about politics or to educate herself on candidates or the shifting political landscape. All she knew was that working full time and working two jobs she still had to rely on public assistance to help her raise her children. This has led my Mother to come to the conclusion that government simply doesn't give a [EMAIL PROTECTED] about working class people (and the Mayor's newly passed budget with a 15% property take increase for home owners does nothing to dispell that myth).
The other night I was talking to my Mom, and she burst into a tirade about George W. Bush. And although she used some choice explicatives that David won't allow me to type on this list, she had a deep and profound analysis of his administration, his policies, and how they impact her as an individual. I was shocked and began to worry that the Matrix is real and Agent Smith had taken over my Mother's body. My Mother understands that Gore "lost" in Florida by a handful of votes, and so I asked her if she would vote in this election (my Mother that just turned 47 has never voted in any election), and her response was that she simply doesn't believe it (her vote) will matter. I, of course, encouraged her to register to vote, and she told me to shaddup and reminded me that although I'm 26, I'm still her kid, and I'd better not tell her what to do. I doubt she'll ever vote.
And, frankly, I don't see why she should. I had the luxury of having voting beaten into my head all growing up, and I've also had the luxury of not having to struggle to survive and make ends meet throughout my childhood. I'm college educated, and my Mother is not. But if I were in her place, with her life experiences, I probably wouldn't vote either. Nothing in her life experience has demonstrated to her the effecaciouness of voting. Life for her is the same under Bush as it was under Clinton. And although her standard of living has steadily increased that has to do with changes in the market and more than a decade working at the same company (incidentally...after 13 and a half years at Target and having risen to the highest level in a store that isn't management level, she still doesn't quite make $30K a year) and nothing to do with who occupies the White House or the mansion on Summit Avenue. Indeed, I believe if my Mom were trying to raise two children now while working two jobs, she would most likely find herself unable to do it with the draconian changes in welfare laws since 1996.
So tell me an argument that will convince her that her vote can and will make a difference? I've run out of arguments. And academic assertions of the power of one aren't going to fly with a woman that has had to make miracles out of commodity cheese and raise kids on commodity peanut butter while working two jobs at minimum wage.
-Brandon Lacy Campos -Powderhorn Park
That's pretty slim generalizing don't you think? How about a couple more. The non-voter may be working two jobs just to keep a roof over their head and voting isn't high on the priority list..or...maybe they feel their selection of politician is so poor they can't find a candidate worth voting for.....or maybe they just think all politicians lie and will say anything just to get elected so why bother...or........it could be many many other reasons. When the average voter turn-out isn't much over 50% it's probably a pretty big field of reasons why people don't vote.
Barb Lickness Whittier - Mpls.
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