Thursday, June 2, 2016

A Democrat Again -- Reluctantly

Before typing up this post, I tried, without success, to get Google to pull up a link to an article that appeared in the Denver Post last Sunday (May 29, 2016) entitled, "Malaise hits both parties as voters look to Nov. 8."   It's on page 2A of the front section, so if you still have your hard copy lying around, take a look at it.  For those who lack this paper, I'll do a brief recap.

It's quite an interesting piece, based on a May 12-15 poll of 1,060 adults, describing the anticipatory moods of the respondents as ranging from "Frustrated" (70%) to "Proud" (13%), with "Interested," "Helpless," "Angry," "Hopeful," "Bored" and "Excited" falling in between.

Honestly, I can say that I feel most of the above each day, depending upon whatever media to which I've been exposed that day.  There's another word I used more often -- "concerned."  The article went on to say many voters are anticipating voting against a candidate rather than for someone.

When I moved to Colorado in May of 2015, I made going to the local DMV a priority -- to get my Colorado driver license, duly register my car and get the new plates and, while I was taking care of important business, registering to vote.  I'd given this matter considerable forethought, and told the clerk I wanted to go on record as "Unaffiliated."  The clerk reminded me that, in making this choice, I would be waiving my right to participate in the primary election.  Presently, only Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan and Minnesota afford unaffiliated voters this right.  I told the clerk I was fine with this.  And I was--until the Great American Political Three-Ring Circus went into full juggernaut mode.

From the start, I tuned into CNN for the debates.  For comic relief, I have enjoyed the barbed humor on late night talk shows, Stephen Colbert's series in particular.  Bumper stickers and article headlines such as "I'm Catholic & I Vote" or "I'm a Senior & I Vote" are encouraging to me.  This whole process is human drama to its highest--or lowest--degree.

Last week, I received a form letter from the Colorado Secretary of State, reminding me of the consequence of my earlier choice, and that I had a limited time to rethink my decision.  As a result, I did some quiet grumbling and rejoined the Democratic party.

In the 1972 emotionally-charged Nixon vs. McGovern election, I was ineligible to cast a ballot, since I didn't turn 18 until a month after it was all over.  During a trip home from college at the Thanksgiving break, I registered as a Republican.  My choice, at that time, was influenced by my entire family being vehement Republicans; to make any other choice would have been seen as unthinkable and un-American.  Within five years, my differentiation was reflected in my switch to the Democratic side. Ten years after that, I re-registered--as a Green Party member.

My brief Unaffiliated status came about as I got older and began chafing at accepting ready-made labels.  Politics, for me, had become more about underlying issues, rather than slogans or candidates attempting to represent huge demographics.  In my freshman college year, I relished calling myself "a RADICAL," because of the Vietnam War and the influence of my peer group.  My twenties saw me mellowing into "a liberal."  By the time I got into my fifties, I had trouble identifying with any  pre-packaged agenda, and realized that I could consider concepts like democratic and republican (deliberately lower-case here), while being open-minded and truer to myself.

Referring back to the Denver Post article, I'd like to suggest that a measure of "malaise" might be productive.  The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines malaise as a "slight or general feeling of not being healthy or happy," which seems to routinely happen when the post-election euphoria wears off.  Whoever "wins," let's focus on what needs to be accomplished and how we will support the president-elect's efforts to get the job done.  That will be a tribute to our human endeavor and our country.



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