This morning at work, as I strode through the break room on my way to my office, I noticed a negative Romney ad on tv. I don't know which one, they all run together for me. As I passed by a table where two women sat drinking coffee, I heard one utter the most abhorrent thing. "I don't think I'm going to vote this year."
I was stunned. I am not the sort of guy to interfere in the business of others, nor would I ever consider breaking into someone else's conversation under normal circumstances, but before I could fully appreciate what was happening, I had pulled a chair opposite this woman and asked her "Why not?"
Follow me below the thinger for as accurate an account as I can give of the conversation that followed.
She looked at me, somewhat stunned. I didn't know her, she didn't know me, and here I had just injected myself into her private conversation. I'll admit, it was a bit rude. "Why wouldn't you vote?" I asked again "It's the single greatest civic right and responsibility we have in this country."
"So what? Are you going to tell me 'I don't care who you vote for, just as long as you vote'?" She replied sarcastically. "Because I'v heard that before."
"What? No. I'm going to tell you that you should vote, and that you should vote Democratic."
With a snort of a laugh, she mocked "Is that tweedledumb, or tweedledee? I get them confused."
"Did you watch the conventions last week? Both of them? Either of them?" I could see by the puzzled look on her face that she hadn't, so I went on. "Both parties were clear and confident in what they believe in. When you get home you should youtube a speech or two from each convention to see for yourself, but let me sum it up for you. The Republican's said 'You are on your own.' while the Democrats said 'We are in this together.'"
She seemed to think about that for a moment, then said "Well, I don't like Romney, he doesn't really seem like he gets me." This girl is a hotel housekeeper who I doubt brings home more than 18k a year, no shit Romney doesn't get her, but I don't say that. "But Obama hasn't done much to help us either, it's been four years, and the economy still sucks!"
"Does it? I mean, granted, it's not improving as fast as anyone would like, but the economy is growing quarter after quarter, year after year. We are adding jobs every month. Not enough, but we aren't losing jobs either. We didn't get out of the great depression in four years, and it was naive to think we'd recover from this in four years. Obama's policies are working, and all Romney has on offer is more of the failed polices that got us into this mess in the first place" She doesn't say anything, and I'm feeling confident, so I go on. "And you, especially you, as a young woman, should vote democratic. Did you know that thanks to the Affordable care act, being a woman is no longer a pre-existing condition? And that Romney wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act so that your health insurance will go back to costing more than mine simply because you are a woman?" She shakes her head, suddenly looking a bit angry. "Look it up! the Republicans think they know whats best for you, Democrats trust you to make your own decisions."
"Well.. maybe I'll think about it."
"Please do, I'm sorry I interrupted your conversation, have a good weekend!" I smile and depart, back to work. I think I got through to her, and I really hope she takes time to watch some of last week's speeches. There is nothing so dangerous to the republic as voter apathy, we have to fight that every bit as hard as right wing extremist policies. Thank you for reading.
9:09 AM PT: wow, Rec list? must be a slow day on DKOS! Ha! Thanks for reading, and for recommending!