You may have seen it in comments recently, but I have been working recently to convince two people very close to me to support Senator Barack Obama over Senator McCain this year. I can't say it's going terribly, but neither seems quite convinced yet.
One is my mother; the other my boyfriend.
I decided to make this diary so instead of collecting little tips in replies to my comments, people could better understand the situations and maybe help out. Who doesn't like a little problem-solving?
I've tried my hardest, but many of the issues that are most important to these two are ones I can't fully grasp. I'm 20-years-old, and the nuances of the subprime mortgage issue and the inner workings of the military are beyond me. These two people may support McCain, but neither are really Republicans—my mom is proud of being an independent and my boyfriend self-identifies a a moderate. My mom has voted for Democrats and my boyfriend once spent a summer working in Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle's office. I've put in a little of their backgrounds so hopefully you can temper some of their more infuriating political positions with the knowledge that these are good people.
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First, my mother. I had thought she would be easy, but clearly I inherited my stubborn streak from her.
Some background: My mom is an accountant, so her primary issues are fiscal. She's almost 50 and is my role-model in nearly every respect. She's dealt with a teenage pregnancy and terrible parents and everything she has accomplished has been on her own terms. She put herself through college via night school, the last half of which while raising me. When her husband's alcoholism got out of control she got a restraining order on him—the court gave her the maximum possible, although she later cancelled it. When that same husband drunkenly rolled his car two years later and he broke his back, she visited him every day for weeks and took care of all of the problems that arose, such as insurance. She is the strongest person I know, bar none.
Me and my mom in Ireland four years ago.
As I've said, my mom's issues are fiscal. She works for a welfare-to-work agency, and the corruption she sees at the company and state government levels has pushed her even farther right. She is incredibly wary of social programs and anything that will raise her taxes/cause her tax money to be wasted.
When I bring up issues like the McCains' wealth (there was an excellent true chain letter diary posted earlier today that I sent her), she simply replies that she can't blame them for being rich and using their money and wanting to stay that way.
When I brought up McCain's horrible temper and attitude, she told me that:
[She] like[s] the fact that he tells the other Senators/ AZ Mayor/ and Congressmen that they are assholes. Most of them are, and McCain isn't afraid of them. The only thing that bothers me is calling his wife that name, but at least he apologized...
Obviously, this left me pretty flabbergasted.
The most successful things I have brought up have been showing her Obama's bill focusing on transparency in government spending and the website it spawned (USAspending.gov).
Another thing: she does NOT like the possibility of universal health care, and the worry that Obama is another step towards it undoubtedly keeps her away. My mom has been battling cancer on and off for the last five years. After getting rid of it in her breasts and liver, it is currently attacking her bones. Bone cancer is pretty impossible to get rid of. Up until recently she got excellent treatment through Oncology Alliance. She spends time on cancer survivor websites where patients from other countries like Canada and England speak of the poor quality of cancer treatment they received under their universal health care, and how many of them traveled to America to get the newer drugs and better treatment. This is a serious concern of hers which I would love to see addressed by someone who knows more about health care and cancer treatment than I.
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The next to face my Vote-Obama Cannon is my boyfriend. Since he has been gone since May and will be back at the end of August, I would like good arguments to convince him that McCain is a Horrible Life Decision before then.
Background: he attends the University of Wisconsin with me. He is majoring in secondary English education and getting on my nerves. He's a Cubs fan, which should be reason enough to ditch him, but he's also a Packers fan, so I'll stay. He's a smart, sweet guy who likes country music and Shakespeare, much to my endless confusion. Having said all that, this election is straining my last shred of patience with him.
Me and Tyler last year at a Badger game
He joined the Army National Guard about a year and half ago. He spent last summer as basic training and this summer he is under a month from finishing his Advanced Individual Training. His specialty is public relations, and so most of his training is about how to write a good article and take nice pictures.
My boyfriend is the epitome of a single-issue voter, and his is the war in Iraq. Although he describes himself as a moderate, he believes all of the right-wing talking points on Iraq including but not limited to: we were right to go in; the Surge Is Working (TM), we need to stay until the job is done.
Hell, he believes the right wing talking point on Vietnam that it would have been won had we just stayed there a little longer!
Since joining the Army he has come to believe that it can do no wrong. He is one of the people I mentioned in my comment in the recent diary about women and rape in the military the believes that the statistic "women are more likely to be raped than killed by enemy combatants" is less a reflection of problems with women being degraded than the fact that women don't serve on the front lines and are less likely to be killed. For his sake, I need a good response to this, lest I dump him the next time he says it.
And if you are about to say that he should want Iraq to end before he is sent overseas, you can stop. He wants to go overseas, namely because he wants to travel outside the country. His actual unit left for Guantanamo Bay in February for a year, but he didn't go because he had not completed AIT. Lest you think that he just wants a free vacation, I should explain that his philosophy on life is that everyone has an important story to tell, and that his job in the Guard is to tell that story. He wants to do that job. I do respect that wish, but since Obama's plan is to put more troops into Afghanistan I am sure he will get his wish.
Furthermore, he has adopted the talking point that Obama is empty rhetoric who just talks about vague notions of "hope" and "change". I've tried to list bills that Obama has passed and practically his entire background, but it doesn't seem to have gotten through. Again, he's very single-issue.
Me and Tyler at the quite informal Trombone Formal
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So, Daily Kos, what should I do? If these were your relatives and friends, what would you tell them to make them listen? I hate to ask others to do my work for me, but I've tried multiple tactics with very limited results. Maybe these two are beyond my convincing, but I can't help but try. Every vote counts, right?