To revisit and revise an expression associated with President Clinton: "It’s the future, stupid."
I was born in 1982, two years after a presidential election that has come to be known as the "Reagan Revolution."
My childhood was lived in the shadow of Reagan and Bush. In 1988, when I was in Kindergarten, my class had a mock election. My classmates and I were given two large pictures, one of George Bush and the other of Michael Dukakis. My teacher must have tried, as best she could, to describe to us 6 year-olds what these two men stood for in a way that would make sense to us. After hearing what my teacher said, I decided to put Michael Dukakis’ face in the big blue "ballot box" at the front of the room. That afternoon, when my Mom picked me up at the bus stop, I showed her the picture of George Bush that I had kept and said: "I voted for the other person." She said, "That’s great! Your Dad and I are about to do the same. "
The three of us were disappointed that year.
(Take the jump; there's more)
Read More