I am in tears (my brother just called me)...

...and confessed that he did not vote at all.

I wish I could explain how HUGE this is. We were brought up to believe that voting was as much of a responsibility as supporting our children, calling the police if a neighbor is beating his wife, and not littering.

My family is large and mostly right-wing (but not in an extreme way -- they're mostly pro-choice, except for one sister-in-law, and our family has several gay friends and neighbors). I am the youngest of six and the only girl, and I've taken a good deal of ribbing (but not in a mean way, I am blessed with a very close and loving family) about my liberalism.

I have two brothers who are evangelicals, and the others go to church, but more because it's the place where they see their friends and their kids see their friends and it's something to do to feel good before going out to dinner. I hope that makes sense.

ANYWAY, I say all that to try to give you some context. Daddy drilled into us our whole lives that you register on the day you turn 18 and you ALWAYS vote.

My brother said I was the only person he could talk to about it. He said that he couldn't vote for Bush because of the fiscal irresponsibility and the bullshit war, and a lot of other things I had been pointing out to him over the course of the campaign; and he couldn't vote for Kerry because he has friends who were in Vietnam and they had expressed to him that Kerry's anti-war activities after he returned deeply hurt them, and they felt he was a traitor. (I know, I know...sigh...)


So, faced with no choice he could live with, he stayed home.


This may not seem like much of a victory, but my GOD, it is a HUGE victory. We (me and DU -- where do you think I got my information?) made a police officer in a red state, a church-goer, a God-and-country flag-waver....STAY HOME rather than vote for Bush.

I see great things in 2008 if we can keep up the good work.


Edit: typo

:kick:

Yeah! Oh, well....

We'll get them to our side, slowly but surely....

And he really distrusts bush. He's a moderate 71 year old, sometimes voted dem, sommetimes repub, but he sees the hypocrisy and secrecy of the bush administration and doesn't like it one bit. He is an AMERICAN!

and didn't endorse anyone in 2004.

And my Army vet Republican brother voted for Kerry. Freaked me out.

i say this only because it is just almost unbelievable that were in all this mess and people that fit the republican profile dont even want to vote for the guy. and i dont think as many people voted for him as is reported but thats another topic
i have to take a deep breath when i think about what voting has come to mean - and not mean - in our country. and what many people like your brother must be feeling when they cant just vote as they would always do, and that it matters to them to do, because they dont feel they can trust

i can very much appreciate the blood sweat and tears youve put into this, and certainly that your brother is a thinking seeing human who is open enough to the truth when he hears it - and how can people NOT see it?

so i thank you for all your work and the open mind and eyes of your brother. voting should be as important as your father taught each of you. its just the state of things that people either dont think it counted or they dont think at all....

thanks for sharing this and i am glad for the both of you

because ALL of my family voted for Bush because he is Gawd's man.

He voted to let someone else make the decision....He can't complain later....

it's being deeply torn. And that's a good start for someone who voted repub before. "I can't bring myself to vote for Bush" is better than "I prefer Bush", and better than "I don't care".

The seed is planted and has sprouted. Nurture it and let it grow. Don't pluck it out for being shorter than the other sprouts.

To those who spout the right wing rhetoric without reservation, "you got what you deserved" may do no harm and feels good. To those who voted Bush with a feeling of discomfort, a softer approach is needed... don't trigger their defenses, invite them in. To those who couldn't bring themselves to vote either way, a similar approach will pay off.

Target the message to the audience. Hit them at their center of gravity.

Thanks for saying it so well. :hug:

They "vote" not to make a decision. Maybe a course in non-partisan voting selection and decison making skills may help these people.

I should just quit talking to him at all, right? Why bother to try? After all, if someone doesn't get where you want them to get instantly, you shouldn't even bother to help them take small steps. :eyes:

Jesus Fucking Christ. No wonder we lose every election. :puke:

This is why I share your angst at people who can't make a decision.

Because no decision means I've delegated my decision to someone else, who may not understand the consequences like I do, and I might not like that outcome.

Therefore, deciding to vote IMHO is one of those situations where we should not feel comfortable slinking back in a hole, hoping to trust someone else to make a decision.

The next 4 years we need to teach others how to feel empowered by voting and show that voting can make a difference. Make it relative to their hopes and desires for their future.

Look up here in WA state, 42 votes separate us from a governorship....that precious few votes....

people like him can feel good about, and we're in! :D :D :D :D

The problem is that the GOP machine feels like it doesn't have to make a positive case for itself, just has to make people like your brother feel bad enough about whomever is running against them so that they won't vote for the dem. Anyone on the ticket would have been demonized in a multitude of creative ways. But what the hell; half a victory is better than none...

That said, I am very happy for you! My mom is the only Bush voter in our family and I'd love it if she would stay home!

:toast:

would have gotten my brother's vote. It was a combination of the "blah" feeling he got from listening to Kerry and the war protester history that made him not vote for Kerry. For someone whose life pursuit is not keeping up with politics (like so many of us here) that's understandable.

Another thing that we Dems did wrong was forget the power of the incumbency. There's a difference between arguing that someone should be fired and replaced by you and arguing that you should be hired for an opening. In 2008, the incumbent can't run again, which will be a HUGE help to us.

We focused so much on firing * and maybe not enough on who should be hired.

My fear is that Cheney will be resigning soon (in a year or 18 months, for health reasons, though he'll actually stay on in a shadow capacity of some sort :tinfoilhat: ) and they'll put someone who actually has some charisma in there "on deck."

I didn't use to be this cynical, I don't think.

had a friend who came of voting age in the early eighties - big reagan fan. Considered herself "fiscally conservative, but socially liberal (kinda)". When I would return home from working in DC I would point out the myth of fiscal conservatism of the repubs (back then three budgets were always presented - dem congress, senate (mostly repub, but switched dem in 1986), and repub admin. without fail the largest budget with the biggest deficits was the Reagan white house, smallest deficits - the house democrats. But she didn't want to acknowledge that... it went against the public myth that she consumed.

She had to delay going to college for a number of years.

When she finally did - after several years I noticed her response to various poli sci and soc. classes... she was growing very concerned about issues related to battered women, then other womens' causes... finally one day, I realized - and said to her - that the day she declared that she was "independent" it was all over for her, she would quickly declare democrat. The bonds tying her self image to repub had been very strong and gut level. Once broken (even by even being able to declare independent...) she would be more free to consider her own personal stands on issues and compare those to politicians stands - and frankly - she was a democrat on issues... She laughed as I told her and told me that it had already (just) happened, and that she was considering volunteering for a dem primary campaign (Harkin back in 1992).

First step is the hardest. Very good!

The bonds tying her self image to repub had been very strong and gut level.


That's EXACTLY what's up with families like mine. We can work on them from that angle. Thanks for your eloquence! :thumbsup:

(there are not many)... stayed rather silent on political issues at Thanksgiving... but two things... the aversion to the Kerry team had to do with Edwards being a trial lawyer - specific to medical malpractice (they are doctors...and have watched a few suits get outa hand - not against them, but empathy and 'there go I' is strong)... which seemed to be there quiet way of saying they were not necessarily in sway by Bush... but bigger, and more interesting, was when the issue of Walmart came up. My mother made a move to start a diatribe against (she is even a bigger distrust of some mega corporations person than I)...and I signalled her to back off - as sometimes my bro, who likes to argue for the heck of it, gets stronger against our views during those discussions. She did. But to my amazement... my sister in law started going off ... she never shopped there - and it wasn't just their practices that drove US companies to go off shore - it was a whole lot of other issues (eg how they treat their employees, etc.) I stood back in amazed silence. Some of the real news is getting out - and it really disturbs some repubs... I think the trick will be to watch the trigger points (and in this case the "Walmartization of corporate america is a great angle)... and to feed news and information on that front. Am thinking that taking their own 'gut reactions' to specific issues... and starting to pit that against their gut feelings/identification of party... might just be the way to go. Especially when, in this case, there was already a verbal comment that suggested less than enamored/snowed by bushco...

We still have a long fight in front of us - but if we keep at it...shredding along the already frayed seams of support... we will get some changes in voting behavior over the long haul. Mostly due to the actions of the Bush admin (and repub congress) itself...

It's a start...

And keep helping him out during the four years of hell, so that, if America were to hold an election again, and if we were to hold that election with more than one option for whom to vote, that he will vote for the democrat (assuming the party is still legal).

I have five brothers, four of them married. Two sister-in-laws are hopeless. Two sister-in-laws are convertible. Three brothers are convertible, one is probably convertible, one is probably a lost cause politically.

My father really respects and listens to all of his children. If I get most of my brothers on my side, he'll listen. If we get Daddy on our side, we get someone of tremendous influence in his community who is not afraid to use that influence for what he believes to be right.

So yer damn right, Rabrrrrr. I'm going to keep working on all of them.

Edit: typo

Keep up the good work. Your story illustrates that it IS possible to tell the truth and still keep peace in one's family. And even to have someone listen occasionally.

:dem:

I wish he could have had a little longer and decided to vote for Kerry, but at least it's a start.

Good on you!

I have 2 brothers who I feel sure voted for Curious George, but I have not been close enough to them in 20 years to talk about politics. Good for you and your brother, you both did the right thing without messing with your respective principles, and you both still have them.