My dearest Son,
As you prepare to go to the polls for the first time tomorrow, I want you to keep in mind the great power of your vote.
Back in 2016, our Presidential election pretty much went off the rails and people lost their minds over mostly insignificant things.
I say “insignificant” because the whole conversation was about the faces on the ticket and not enough about the philosophy of those of us who eventually had to vote for them.
Yes, it is important that leaders have integrity and character. But the most important thing about leaders is that they lead, right? Can Person A inspire people to do things? Will things be better, in your opinion, if Person B is in charge?
Still… if your person doesn’t seem to have a moral compass, or lies, cheats and steals, and—yet—is still in charge, what do you do?
You don’t take it personally. Voting for a person does not make you that person. Just like the people who say “We won the Super Bowl!” —no, you didn’t. The 11 people on the field did. Similarly, I’m glad Mr. Trump won; but I am aware that no Trump-day prize is going to show up in my mailbox any time soon. Although it would be nice, and would certainly qualify as a prize, if my health insurance had the nerve to put my monthly fee back up on their website. That can’t be a good sign.
While President Trump demonstrated some disgraceful personal behavior in the past and Secretary Clinton didn’t do much of anything without breaking a law, I never felt like voting for either made me a clone. I voted for the person who was going to protect the borders, build up the military and support domestic businesses. I wasn’t voting for father of the year. I was voting for your future.
And I never considered voting for Hillary just because she was a woman. I think we were way past the point, even back then, where a woman President would have been shocking. If she were gay, maybe. But women had certainly broken through the ceiling to a great degree and we just hadn’t had one likable enough to make it to the White House.
I’m really only annoyed any more when I see a sports report and it’s Wolves and Lady Wolves. Women have been in sports long enough and I’m sick of the men’s team being assumed. But I digress.
We had plenty of role models and opportunity as females without elevating a person with a uterus. I can succeed all by myself, thanks.
It is not required that your choice for President be a universal role model for you or the kind of person you aspire to be. I would prefer that you emulate a person you do know, or might actually meet and have a conversation with one day.
Fortunately, we have plenty of decent and wonderful leaders here at home whom I would be delighted for you to choose as a role model. There’s a Judge right here in your precinct whom I have never known to commission a study or convene a committee when there is real work to be done. He just sees a problem and fixes it without argument or fanfare. That is a man you might actually shake hands with and I hope you would look to him for advice. You can talk to him face to face rather than seeing what people on CNN think.
Or the Sheriff who went into law enforcement because he saw the weak being kicked around and it made him mad. He is the protective Mother Bear of the people in this county now because his own mother wasn’t able to defend herself. He saw a problem and is trying to fix it. Or the Constable who took office while raising a teenage daughter alone. And she totally liked him! I wish I had called him more when you were a teen.
You met these people and they touched your life in positive ways, even if you don’t remember.
The person sitting in the Oval Office has a whole different job to do, so if he or she is not a combination of the Dalai Lama, Albert Einstein, Susan B. Anthony and Thomas Jefferson, it’s still okay to support that person. Do you prefer the country spends its money on tanks instead of social programs? Or if you someday think we should share our money and our trade in a different way, you can vote for some progressive people. It’s your call.
That’s my biggest hope son; if you’re going to vote, decide what matters to you and vote for that result, not that person. But when you do, make sure to know why you are doing it. Read and listen and find out what you need to know so when you’ve cast that vote, you can defend it and stand up for it.
Many a time I made a statement and wanted to take it right back because no one wants to hear “because I think it’s better.” With a few facts, you can say “It’s better this way because…”
This country continues to be a great experiment and we likely wouldn’t be where we are if the balance of power had not shifted a dozen or more times in the last 250 years.
Even you can be President someday, if you want. Whether it’s the PTA or the United States, I hope you’ll ignore the bellwether yammering of what everyone thinks you should do, and you’ll choose for yourself whom you would like to emulate. No one will ever feel like they had to settle for you.
Much love, Mom.
