Last night my son came downstairs trying to ascertain whom I had voted for, much as he has over the last few days. @ 18, this is his first election. There is a raw excitement and passion frankly I can’t remember having since 1996 (and after my choice in the GOP primary lost that particular race, even that initial excitement didn’t last long). I have steadfastly refused to divulge my choice and so he released an onslaught of questioning and logic to figure it out. imagine if you will the poison scene from The Princess Bride - seriously, that’s exactly what this seemed like. “Mom wouldn’t have said XYZ earlier if you had voted for candidate A, but clearly you would not have chosen candidate B because....”
My eternal role as the Devil’s advocate in our house for any topic of debate / disagreement drives my wife and our kids crazy. They mock me as wish-washy for refusing to take a firm stand (at least outwardly) and this was no different. For every time he has offered up an argument against anyone, I’ve countered with a solid op-Ed that gives an alternative view. My biggest fear this election is not who wins or loses but that we use this as a way to indoctrinate our kids (or worse: fester an intolerance of those with whom they (we?) disagree). There’s a pretty good chance most of your Biden-supporting friends are not socialists and your Trump-supporting ones aren’t a bunch of red neck racists, but hard to conclude that with the barrage insults on social media ...
There was certainly a temptation to influence his vote. I had the raw power to do it. Ultimately I confess that the pressure was relentless and I caved, letting him know my vote as long as he assured me he wouldn’t use it to influence his own. I’m still second guessing the wisdom of that... but he does at least know that even in my own choice, I have absolutely no peace. Nor would I have any had I filled in any other bubble in this election. He walked away noting that he might vote for Kanye and I think probably feeling as I did in 1996 or as I suspect many might have in 1968 after RFK was killed ... having come to the realization that every choice on the ballot is human and therefore imperfect and that on Wednesday, life will go on...
