A Mommy Story

Hi there. I’d like to talk to you a little about this election. I’m a mom of two, living in Ohio, with a family income under $50K a year. You could say I’m pretty close to the average American. I want to give you a few of my ideas about how to reach out to the American public, or if not them, at least me.

First off, please drop the mudslinging. I’m sick of it. I have to listen to my daughter argue with me enough, and I don’t need to see my presidential candidates bickering like three year olds, too. I don’t care who called who what – just tell me what you stand for and believe in, and let me do the comparison.

Second, please stop trying to demonstrate that you’re one of us. Seeing you have a beer in a local bar, go bowling (when you’re clearly not a fan of bowling), and try to act like you would hang out with me if you lived in my neighborhood doesn’t impress me. I don’t want to vote for the person I’m most likely to have a beer with, or the person I think is the best looking. This isn’t American Idol – this is for the most important job in this country. I don’t care if you’re good looking or can knock back shots of whiskey with the best of them. I want you to show me you’re smarter than me, and smarter than most of the people in this country. I want to know you can handle yourself with class amongst foreign dignitaries and not that you can use urban slang to appeal to me.

I’d like to hope that voters are a little wiser this time around. We saw what happened last time when voters picked the guy they would most like to have a beer with. Personality doesn’t equal competence. Show me you’re brilliant, you can think quick on your feet, and you’re ready to work hard for all Americans, and not just your rich friends.

There have been so many issues brought up this election, but I can tell you which ones are most important to me. I want to know how you will help pull this country out of a recession. How will you protect my family’s health care benefits so that we can continue to receive affordable health care, and how will you make sure every person in this country has that same access? How will you deal with the rising costs of gas and food – costs that are going up so quickly that this middle-class family is working additional jobs to afford it all? How will you take on big businesses that choose to put their own profits over the health and safety of our children? How will you enact change to protect our environment? And how will you make sure that my daughters will have access to an excellent education in safe, well-maintained schools?

Yes, Iraq has been the #1 issue in this campaign, but the truth is that for someone like me, Iraq is a small issue. I want the soldiers home as much as anyone else, but if we don’t fix things at home, what will these men and women have to come home to? Unemployment. Gas and food they can’t afford. Health care that is so expensive people must weigh if going to the doctor for a health problem is worth the cost. Rising violence from the desperate situations many are forced into. Foreclosure. Schools that are overcrowded and short on good teachers. What kind of a welcome home is that?

While the media is bogging you down with controversies over if you wear a flag pin or not, my oldest daughter is being denied insurance coverage for her autism, because they feel it is an “incurable and untreatable” condition. While you argue over whether tax cuts should be for those making under $75K or under $200K, I spend $50 to fill my car’s gas tank each week, a necessary expense because I live in a city with poor public transportation and alternative fuels aren’t given a chance thanks to the oil lobbyists who want to maintain their record profits.

Despite all of that, I have it pretty good compared to many in this country. We still have food, we still have some luxuries, and we still have our house. As long as my husband isn’t laid off – a real risk we’ve faced three times in the past year – our bills are still paid each month and the needs of our family are met. But there are so many who can’t even provide the most basic needs for their families. Food banks are running out of food because of the growing number of people – even middle-class – who must now turn to them for help. Should my husband be laid off, I could be one of those people, too, depending on charity and the kindness of others to feed our family.

I’m not scared of terrorists – I’m scared of my own country. I see a government who cares more for large corporations than it does for individuals, and who would rather spend thousands of dollars investigating steroid use in baseball than think up a way to give all Americans basic health coverage. Lots of people around me are losing the battle to be successful. They’re not looking to be rich – just have all of their needs and some of their wants met. They work hard, but they’re losing hope that things will ever get better. I’m watching the middle class deteriorate and the poor reach new levels of poverty that anyone sitting in their designer suit in Congress should feel is obscene.

So please, be that person who is smarter than the average American. Show us that you understand that a country cannot be great unless it is meeting the needs of all of its people. Prove to us that better days will come because of your ideas and actions. I don’t just want hope, I want a solid plan, and I want to know that your first priority – before turning your gaze outside of our borders – is to make sure everything inside those borders is the best it can possibly be.

Sincerely,
An average mom