As this election heats up, I find myself angry. Often. So each time I post, I'm going to address one reason why I vote the way I do know. Background: I was raised Republican in a very Republican town (Cincinnati, Ohio) in an ultra-Republican neighborhood (Hyde Park). What little I "knew" was that the party represented lower taxes, was tough on "crime" and was what honest, hardworking people should aspire to be. Democrats were poor, lazy, and most likely stupid and looking for handouts.
After I moved to Minnesota, I fell hard for the ideals and positive outlooks of Bill Clinton and Paul Wellstone and I've slowly drifted ever further left. My biggest disappointments in Obama are his failure to close Guantanamo Bay and to get the Dream Act passed. I'm that liberal, for real.
Yes, I also hope some of the people who I love and who sit on the other side of the aisle might read this and question whether they really believe what the current incarnation of "Republican" represents. That's where I started - when the answers started to number "no" way more than "yes." One woman I love dearly told me she was a Republican "because she's always been one." Well, I would just ask them to consider these points, without judgment. That's all. I'm starting very simply and close to home.
MY DAUGHTERS, who will one day be women...
When my smart and engaging girls go out into the world, I would hope they would be judged on their merits and not on their sex. The Republicans this year shot down equal pay legislation. The message is that it's okay for men to make more than you do for doing the exact same job. Sorry ladies. That's how it is. You. are. not. as. good. as. they. are. And even if you are, this is how it's always been, who are we to question it?
There have been numerous comments by both Republican politicians and pundits such as Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly that Viagra should be covered by insurance plans, but birth control shouldn't have to be. The argument they make is that Viagra treats a medical problem, whereas birth control doesn't. I don't know, guys, I would call an unplanned pregnancy a hell of a problem. Especially since they have as part of the platform the intention to outlaw abortion, even in cases of rape and incest. So naughty, nasty girls who (gasp) want to have sex for fun should have to pay for it and if they can't/won't, well tough luck for them and a tough life ahead for unwanted children born of this botched thinking.
Add to this slashes in funding to organizations that provide cancer screening and other preventive healthcare and weakened versions of domestic violence laws already on the books...
I'm not going to discuss abortion in depth because EVEN WITHOUT THAT CONVERSATION, these attitudes show a real lack of respect for and understanding of women. I want my girls to know they matter, that they have a say in things, that they are equal and important.
The women in the party who are their big stars are usually very attractive, and woefully misinformed. Think Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann. They've actually got a genuine, smart, and tough woman in Condoleeza Rice, who because of her views on abortion won't even be considered for any sort of race. Eye candy with a blank slate for a mind - that's the prototype. Smart, single girls need not apply.
My daughters deserve better than this archaic thinking. Everyone's daughters do.
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