My niece will vote for the first time in her life on November 5. First times are only times. First times are unforgettable. She is excited. Ready. Willing. She wants to vote! Undoubtedly, she will feel proud when she does. She will most likely watch the results on election night on tik tok. She will have become an adult in her own right having earned a new right. I wonder if the historical significance of this upcoming U.S. election is possible for a first-time voter to grasp? We hear so often about what is at stake in this election. We get that it matters that we vote; crucial, in fact. Engaging new voters is a hope for the future of our Democracy. They matter. The sooner one gets that idea lodged into the psyche, the better. We only get so many Presidential elections in a lifetime.
This November will be my fourteenth Presidential election. Each vote, with the exception of two, was cast for a white man. There was no other choice. This time will be a first for me, as well as for my niece, because the top of the ticket will have the name of an African American Woman! How many generations has it taken to get here? We all know the answer.
All those White Men running toward the White House have given up little turf for others outside their elitist club. They held onto that baton as long as possible. It has been a closed relay race, in the way some states have a closed primary, like the state where I live. When I first arrived in Florida, I couldn't believe it, or understand it. Firsts can be shocking and surprising: I have received no ballots for any primary election when the party for which I registered does not have a candidate listed. My vote does NOT count, because my vote is not counted. Florida has consistently voted along one party line statewide since 1999! Twenty-five years! That's a lot of missed voting days for anyone like me. Today that changed.
On my seventy-first birthday, I voted as if for the first time for a new State Senator to replace yet another of the "Dead White Men whose importance and talents may have been exaggerated because he belonged to a historically dominant gender and ethnic group."*
Shall we talk about who the "elitist" truly is in this Presidential election? I think we all know the answer.
This is amazing!! I love how you mentioned me in it. I very much want to vote in this election in particular because of the current state of politics. If my vote can help in any way to keep democracy afloat then I want to be a part of that! I also think that this is a special election to vote in because we have the first African American candidate and the second women candidate. I'm excited to vote and I really want Kamala Harris to win