Trimming the Bush on Penn. Ave.

By Natalie Miller
210 west Content Editor [send email]

Yesterday, as my brother and I sat at the Sno-To-Go, we were approached by some petitioners to help get Ralph Nader on the presidential ballot. I’m always a petition signer, but I hope to God that all potential Nader voters see the importance of getting Bush out of the White House this election. As the petition guy said “I’d rather write in my dog for president than have Bush be re-elected.” It’s an uneasy alliance – we are united in our disgust of Bush, and the
Naderites are weak, but could still be a threat to the Democratic we all know needs to happen.

These past four years have undoubtedly been difficult for the country. They’ve also been difficult for me personally, in answer to the question “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” I’m not sure I can blame the president, but underemployment is a constant
concern for graduates. On the other hand, getting that $300 tax rebate check saved my ass during a very lean time.

I understand that Bush cannot be blamed for everything negative from the past four years. I don’t believe he can be blamed for 9/11 (although he probably didn’t do enough to prevent it.) But he and his administration certainly can be blamed for getting us into Iraq in the manner that we did. And now that we are there, it’s even more difficult to figure out what could have been done better. I was extremely ambivalent when we invaded. I diligently absorbed news
coverage from many sources to inform myself, but still couldn’t go one way or the other.

Now, I’m not happy with the result, but really couldn’t provide a definitive answer to this complex issue is. I’m pretty ticked that it now appears that we went into this so blindly and unprepared, relying
solely on might and American bravado. It’s similar to an arrogant, brutish man walking into an unfamiliar, seedy bar – let’s say Ah-nold in Tijuana. He might be big, but they are on their own turf, there are more of them, and they don’t like him being there. It’s going
to be a long night.

And because of these and other actions of his administration, I can say that Bush does not represent me. I don’t relate to his life or personality. Besides the fact that he has led a privileged life, he seems to cover that with “I’m just ol’ Dubya, a God-fearin’ rancher and business man,” and uses this as one of his main campaign assets.

Except he’s not a small business man in the self-made, work your way up from nothing definition. It’s the epitome of privilege to have a
father who was the President of the United States. This offers you a lot of leeway in the business enterprises you undertake, a lot of capital at your disposal and a lot of forgiveness if you screw up from
people who want to be in good with your daddy.

That Bush is seen as a real American is strange to me because he is the opposite of most people I know. I am a young, college-educated woman who works in business and is involved in the community. The people I know here in Williamsburg and at home in Cleveland are
educated, reasonable and concerned. They don’t appreciate things like “Bring It On” or or “imminent threats” that weren’t or premature statements of “mission accomplished.” They support having good
stable jobs, safety for their families and proud patriotism (as opposed to blind patriotism.) I think they are a bit overextended and baffled by current affairs.

It’s not just the rhetoric, it’s the policies. I am a liberal feminist, and as such I do not like many things that have come out of the Bush administration. The administration has made some unfriendly moves in regards to women’s policy, but its more of their lack
of attentiveness that annoys me. It’s so traditional
that there’s almost no thought given to examining it.

At the March for Women’s Lives in Washington DC, I saw that I was unaware of the amount of Bush-hatred there is out there among people who have very similar views to mine. We had lots of cheers for our march, but the overwhelming favorite was “HEY HEY HO HO, GEORGE BUSH
HAS GOT TO GO.”

You can argue that liberal feminist aren’t a majority in this country, but broken down into separate issues of health care, child care, economic opportunity and the environment, you’ll find many people who are concerned. In the book “One America, After All,” sociologist Alan Wolfe concludes that most middle class Americans are fine with letting people live their lives how they choose, whether it’s being religious staying home with the kids. This negates the hype of social alarmism by the far right where people are overly concerned with what their neighbors are doing. (Are their marriages 4,000 times more secure now that the San Francisco marriage licenses have been voided?) Most Americans are social liberals and fiscal conservatives. Bush seems to be the opposite.

What I do believe is that he is trying to push the country more to the right, in the sense of pandering to a very conservative base. The
mainstream America that I know if very willing to live and let live, yet the most argued issue in the country is gay marriage? Give me a break. I am also a religious liberal, not as common as the religious
conservative. I don’t mind including spiritual or religious themes as part of our national discussion. But don’t tell me that our “Christian nation” is in agreement on anything – religion is one of the most
divisive personal issues out there.

Democratic candidate John Kerry, on the other hand, seems to be more of what he actually is: A Boston blueblood. (When did the word Brahmin ever see so much ink?) And he is a better alternative for me -- his stances on women’s issues are much more inline with my views and needs. He is a practicing Catholic who follows his own
conscience, which is infuriating to some Protestants,because they followed their own consciences right out the door to another church. It’s a complicated thing to explain to people who aren’t Catholic how
contradictory views can be held simultaneously. “The Onion” said that Kerry has declared a one-point platform to run on: “I’m not Bush.” Will that be enough for America? It’s enough for me.

I’m fascinated by the Republican claim that they are more in tune with mainstream America. I would love to know what mainstream America they are referring to, who specifically they are targeting because they have made some strange fiscal and political decisions in this term. I always could see the good in having two different political philosophies where one errors on the side of conservatism, particularly in fiscal matters. But the out of control Iraq budget, the underestimation of the Medicare bill, the passing interest in sending NASA to Mars again and the 1 billion dollar initiative to encourage marriage? Who are these Republicans?

Kerry, at least seems to have a better sense of our national priorities. We aren’t interested in Mars…people can hardly get interested in Iraq. People understand that there are nuances of the Iraq situation, but just want a sensible plan to get out. If you want to keep marriages from falling apart, do something about jobs. There are few things more stressful on a marriage than layoffs. Except maybe health care bills, so do something about that, too. Maybe Kerry is smart to sit back and let Bush implode, but I do want to hear more details about his plans are for being president.

I have no idea why GW wants to be the president, and that worries me. The Saturday Night Live skits featuring Will Ferrell seem to ring true to me…did he really know what he was getting into? I can’t figure out if possibly he’s a dumb puppet being moved by the administration or his corporate donors, or if this is some kind of Teflon he’s adopted
as a defense mechanism (ala SNL’s Reagan skit.) I can smell the machinations behind him from the way he presents himself. I’m not
buying it, Rove.

I know that some voters have revolted against Bush – but will they turn out to vote him out? Will they vote Nader? Will their votes be counted by hand or by a touch screen? Will they see to it that Bush gets voted out or will they give him another chance? I guess we’ll see who knows America better on November 2.