Every Thursday, I go have lunch with my Grandpa. Sometimes he needs his hair cut so I take him over to the barber shop. Often, he says to me, "I just can't understand why a working man would vote for a republican."
He worked for the post office for decades and only ever took one sick day, for a surgery. He knows about working for a living. He married my grandmother, who had four kids abandoned by their father. My grandpa knows about raising a family. He's 88 years old and lived through the Great Depression and served in the Navy at Pearl Harbor during WWII. He understands sacrifice.
If you'll join me after the jump, I'd like to share some of what I've learned from my grandpa about being an American and a Democrat, and why he supports Barack Obama.
That's my grandpa. His name is Frank, but they call him "Bud," believe it or not. He's the one who told me about Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Here I thought I was the only one who knew about anything cool and hip and liberal. He used to like Lou Dobbs, but can't understand why the man is always on about the immigrants. Aren't there more important things to worry about?
His recollections tell a different story than the one we see today. Soldiers weren't always treated with dignity and respect in the South. And Republicans were the ones who would rather bank with Hitler than fight him. The one time the world was really in peril of falling to Fascism and where were they? This leads to the endless roll call of current right wing icons who skipped out on Viet Nam. Of course it's one thing if you don't believe in the fight--my grandpa hates guns--but it's another to whip people up into a war frenzy when you didn't have the guts to serve yourself, that's the point.
Over the years, I've had a lot of time to think about the things my Grandpa said about the depression and the war. Of course, he reveres FDR. No public speaker even comes close in his estimation, until Obama. He'll never forgive the head priest of his catholic school who claimed that "infantile paralysis had gone to Roosevelt's brain." Politics hasn't changed. But one thing that's clear is that the United States really came together as a country in response to the Depression and WWII. We sacrificed together. My great-uncles (Grandpa Frank was the oldest son) enlisted at sixteen. One spent three years on the USS Salt Lake City without a break. It's no coincidence that the growth of our country and the toughness of that generation came hand in hand with the strengthening of the middle class. My grandpa never went to college, but he still made enough to support six kids! How many of us can support a family with one income today?
Whether it's war, financial meltdowns, education or social safety-nets, we are stronger as a county when we work together focused on our common dreams. To me, that is the lasting lesson of the greatest generation.
At the beginning of the primaries, Joe Biden was the man for my grandpa. "These democrats today, they're so weak. We need a fighter," he said. But when it came down to Clinton and Obama, he just didn't like the way Clinton ran. "I've lost all faith in that Bill Clinton." When Obama gave his speech on race, grandpa admitted being moved to tears. It was clear then that Barack Obama represents the dreams and hopes of many generations, races and backgrounds of American people. He represents a hope, a toughness and intelligence, and a spirit of liberty that is the true legacy of our great nation.
When I think of all the ways that FDR succeeded, it's not hard to see why Obama represents that legacy: the brain trust of bipartisan advisers, chosen for their intellect rather than their partisan loyalty, the creation of the SEC and Social Security, the way he championed the cause of the working class and kneecapped his opponents with smart politics, uniting our nation to make the sacrifices necessary to secure victory in WWII and the moral and civic leadership of the free world.
The times ahead will be difficult. The road to financial health and a more peaceful world will be long. What a mess W has made of things! But I will feel way better knowing that someone smart, curious and grounded in the constitution is leading the nation. Universal health care; foreign policy that is wise and strong; humane domestic policy that strengthens our union and our infrastructure. That's what Democrats stand for. That's why I'm proud to stand with my grandpa, and with Barack Obama, for the United States of America.