I grew up in a Democratic family. My grandparents, my parents, aunts, uncles, etc. have almost always voted Democratic, many of us have been union members (as I am now), and some of us contributors even. My dad's sister, my aunt, though, has been the one exception, and it boils down to one issue: her born-again beliefs on abortion.
We've discussed this multiple times. This is her big issue, and it drives me crazy, because she is pro-environment, against the Iraq War, against the Bush/McCain tax plans, everything we are, but she is so rigid on this issue, so much so she backed Huckabee at the start of the year. Witness a recent conversation between us (after the jump...)
Aunt: You know, I really want to vote for Obama, but there's just one thing that's holding me back, and it's that he's pro-choice.
Me: I understand you don't agree with him on this, but this is not a time we can afford to be a single-issue voter.
Aunt: Well, when innocent people are dying in these numbers every year, it's THE issue that matters most.
Me: What about the war? We're both against this war. Or our economic meltdown? Or protecting our environment? Or the fact that the Republicans don't support those lives after birth with good schools, child care, health care, etc?
Aunt: Well, we've only lost about 5,000 soldiers in this war, and if you're killing the life before it starts, then isn't that worse?
Me: Only if you don't count the hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis killed, or the fact that under that stance, it's alright for all these children to be born and then not properly cared for.
Aunt: Well, I want to support him, because he has good plans for that, but he has to come out against abortion.
Me: Here, I'll bookmark his page on this. He wants to spend money on better preventative education and measures so the number of abortions can be reduced. I feel that he wants the same goal as you, but he wants to do it in a way that doesn't put some people in a corner, because sometimes, an abortion is necessary. I don't think anyone LIKES an abortion, but it's not our right to force those beliefs on others when there is such widespread disagreement.
[conversation ends as young cousin wakes up]
I really don't know what to do. I mean, it's one vote, but it's a vote that matters to me, and every vote does count, and she's so active in things that I feel if I can bring her over, she could bring others with her that share her beliefs, so it's important to me to get her there. I just don't know how I can convince her that there is so much more important to our national life right now.
I'm sorry if this is a little meta in our general joyous atmosphere right now, but I don't want to leave anyone out there hanging that I felt was persuadable in what will be a close race. Thanks for helping.