Soapbox

Mid-term. Hawk. Saber rattling. To drag one's feet on something.

These are a few of the terms my ESOL class asked about in our discussion of an op-ed last night. The article was about whether Obama's reluctance to rush into yet another war in the Middle East indicates weakness or a strategy of calculated delay. The author drew no firm conclusions, and we decided his aim was merely to bring up the idea for consideration.

Once the article's fodder for discussion was exhausted, we turned to the upcoming election. My husband, Dave, joined us to help outline an overview of the political parties and how our election system works.

I knew I wouldn't be able to keep my personal opinions out of a conversation about political parties for long, and I wanted this to be as unbiased as possible. One of my students is a new citizen, two are visiting students, and one has been a citizen for twenty years. So their experience and attitudes about the American political system were varied. I didn't want to stand up there and spew my left-leaning propaganda all over them.

Dave was to be my logical center and safety valve.

I had already sent them a link to a website the League of Women Voters sponsors that offers non-partisan information about the issues and candidates on the ballot in all counties and states across the country. And, of course, all of them had already been exposed to political ads on TV, the Internet, lawn signage, and mountains of mailers for weeks. The point of yesterday's discussion was to clarify a distinction between the two major parties, illuminate the basics of how campaigns and elections work in this country, and underscore the importance of getting involved and voting.

I'm not entirely certain how we did.

I tried to let Dave do most of the talking when it came to illustrating the difference between Republican and Democrat positions. While he explained, I wrote key phrases on the white board in a loose, two-columned tally. Democrat side: pro-labor, government=good, social freedoms, progressive. Republicans: pro-business, government=bad, religion, conservative.

Luz Alba brought up the idea of the Religious Right.

"I don't understand why," she said, "they are so for religion, and yet they are also for the guns. Why is that?"

"Yes," I said. "That's a contradiction, right? But there are contradictions on both sides. Democrats want lots of government regulations, but also lots of personal freedom. Republicans want no government regulations of businesses, but policing of whom you can marry. See? Contradictions on both sides."

Then I shut up again and let Dave explain how the three branches of government interact.

I did get back on my soapbox a little bit at the end, when Yuwei asked about what it takes for someone to run for office.

"Can anyone run?" he asked. "How are they in a position to run for a government office?"

This brought us to Political Action Campaigns and the idea of needing to raise a lot of money for the ads needed to win an election.

"This makes me think about Arnold Schwarzenegger, and how he just change his career," Van said.

So we talked about the link between celebrity and politics, the misleading character of most political ads, and the role of corporations in politics.

"This is why I think it's so important to take your right to vote seriously," I said. "So many people feel their vote doesn't count, that they can't make a difference in all of this. So they just stay home and don't vote at all."

Here I looked pointedly at Van who is 33, has been a citizen since she was a child, and says she rarely votes.

"Your vote is the only say you have in our government. We built this country some two hundred and fifty years ago to have a government that really is made and run by the people, so that we, the people, could have a say in how we are governed. When you stay home on Election Day, you're just giving your vote to those big corporations. Do you really want them to be able to decide everything for you? This is why it's so important to vote, to take it seriously."

"Yes," Luz Alba added. "And to study it and be informed. To vote for the right things."

Yes. So I encouraged them all one more time to look into the candidates and issues, to go to vote411.org and read some non-partisan information, and then to cast an informed vote on Tuesday. Because we can't just give away what so many people have worked so hard for and died for, just because it's easier to stay home and watch TV.

I gleaned my political leanings from my dad, who was a die-hard, old-school, labor union, tax-and-spend Democrat. I was indoctrinated into the Blue Party as a child, decorating bulletin boards at the union hall, singing union songs at summer camp, plastering "buy American" bumper stickers on our many domestic vehicles. Over the years, my politics have drifted even further to the left, as I wrote literary analysis through a Marxist lens in grad school and embraced a feminist stance against the ubiquitous rape culture—and lost friends over both. I may drive a Honda now, but I could never skip an election. That would be metaphorically spitting in my dad's face.

This year, I may deviate from the blue ticket I usually follow; there's a Green party candidate for governor who looks quite promising against her two old-guard opponents. But I will always be on the left, whether on social issues, foreign policy, or the need for tax and campaign reform. For all the many things my dad and I disagreed on through my adolescence, empathy and allegiance with the working class was always common ground for us.

Mid-terms are not very sexy elections. But they are important. Judges decide who goes to jail and who doesn't, and governors set policies about income tax and property taxes—both of which have much more of a direct impact on my everyday life than the president's speeches and photo ops. No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, take the time this Tuesday to exercise your right and be a well-informed, responsible citizen.