Tuesday, November 6, 2012

worth repeating

This post was originally written in May, after the Indiana primary. Not much is different, although I did notice there weren't many pro-Democratic yard signs in the old school house lawn this morning when I voted.  My grandmother, who voted here, would be surprised to see the way her county has changed.  She was a Roosevelt Democrat, as were most of her neighbors, and never knew a Republican who would stand up for the working man.  She was a farm woman; my grandfather, a union carpenter.  I guess my politics hasn't strayed far from theirs, but I'm not sure how they would feel about my social views.  I do believe that only women should make health decisions for themselves and a marriage between two people should be any two people.  And that when you wave a Confederate flag north of the Mason-Dixon line, it has little to do with loving the South.  That being said, I'll take you back to May... 

I'm a political person by nature.  I still believe Robert Kennedy would have changed our country for the better, that Mo Udall would have made a great president and that my "don't blame me, I voted for McGovern" sticker was the best accessory to ever adorn my '73 Econoline van.  I've cast my ballot for more losing candidates through the years than winners and unfortunately today was one of those days, as Indiana turned away from our voice of reason - Richard Lugar.  But even defeat can't cloud my view of the process.  You see, I vote in a one room school house in the little town of Wilmington - staffed by my neighbors, surrounded by oak & ash and across the road from a cemetery that is home to fallen soldiers from the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.  There is something 'so American' about this place and process, something so optimistic and hopeful.  It's what brings me back, year after year.