by Jenine Stanley
I have decided after listening to over a year of political strategizing and posturing that I want a pony! Yes, a tiny equine specimen is what I really want from my presidential candidate this year. Why a pony you ask? Well, it might fulfill some of my transportation needs, and more than that, I’ve always wanted one.
What explains this cynical attitude toward the 2000 presidential race? By the time you read this, hopefully at least one of the debates will have passed. Each of the candidates will have made at least three more gaffs and hundreds of speeches. In those speeches, each candidate has promised various fragmented sectors of the American populous everything. I figure a pony is not too far from a real possibility as an incentive for attracting my vote.
Going into this presidential campaign, I was energized. My politics defined as pretty squarely moderate Republican, I looked forward to getting involved in a campaign. As time progressed though, I found no candidate whose values matched mine — even marginally! The grinding primary season took away any hope of anything new emerging from this race. Now, here we are, forced to choose between people whose plans and values I still do not fully understand. Absurdity seems perfectly fitting at this point, don’t you think?
Another reason I am lobbying for a pony is that I don’t fit into any of the groups I see the candidates posing for photos with. I don’t see them courting the blindness vote. Yes, I said the blindness vote, not the disability vote. Since when has Al Gore or George Bush made headlines with his position on Social Security linkage, descriptive video or plans to better fund and staff the civil rights offices at the Department of Justice or Federal Transit Administration? Both candidates might have alluded to these topics, but CNN certainly wasn’t around to cover these stories. Not being particularly tuned into the “disability media,” I missed any specialized messages that may have been targeted at the disabled segment of the population.
Now, maybe, just maybe, I have failed to see just how anomalous I really am. Is there a focus group or demographic I do fit into? I’m female. That’s good. I’m self-employed. That’s also good (unless you talk to the folks at the Social Security Administration). I am a college student. That would only be good if I were under 21 and living with my parents. As is, I’m a graduate student who is way older than 21. I am married, another good thing, but we have no children for whom to receive tax breaks. I am disabled, but currently am not receiving any federal benefits. (See self-employment, above.)
I would be a voting block of one. Hmm, I wonder if the candidates would entertain me by giving speeches just for me? Am I sounding a little too cynical? In this age of sound bites, minute-to-minute polling and public opinion which turns on a hairstyle, mispronounced word or gesture, it becomes very easy to feel like that lonely pedestrian standing at the actuated intersection with no idea what the traffic light is doing and no accessible pedestrian signal. What about me?
Why would I share my frustrations with “Braille Forum” readers? I’d wager many of you out there feel the same way I do. Nevertheless, my rallying cry is that feeling this way is no excuse not to vote. People with disabilities are grossly under-represented in voting statistics. Huge efforts have been made in some localities to provide a mechanism for accessing a private ballot. If you’re lucky enough to have this kind of access, take full advantage of it. When the private ballot is not available, make use of those absentee ballots. Listen to the debates to help you make up your minds. I’d like to see the candidates’ spin doctors try to fool a good blind listener when it comes to rhetoric.
Whoever wins in November will doubtless be hearing from ACB and its membership whether in the White House or on Capitol Hill. Don’t let the cynics get you down. Your vote is your one undeniable power as a United States citizen, the thing that transcends blindness and demographics. After all, maybe, just maybe, one of the candidates will come through with that pony.