I Can’t Vote So Please Will You?

Freya Williams is a member of the New York Incubator.

Yesterday I fell in love with my daughter. I mean, I was already pretty nuts about her. But as I was walking through Greenwich Village in the sunshine chatting to eight week old baby Dot in her stroller, I realized I was just giddy, completely walking on air.

I don’t know why yesterday in particular. Maybe because after two months on a one way street, we’re suddenly in a reciprocal relationship. Now, when I smile and kiss her little face, she breaks into huge gummy grins and shrieks with excitement. She stares at me so hard that sometimes it’s a bit freaky.  Not to mention she is the most gorgeous baby ever (ok so I’m biased, but independent observers have confirmed this – I regularly get stopped on the street).

So how is this relevant to voting? Because, at the risk of sounding clichéd and all ‘we are the world’, this tiny person is what would influence my vote. I’m sure having a child helps focus priorities for many women. So now, there are two big issues for me. First: the environment. My granny says, "If you haven’t got your health you haven’t got anything" and it’s the same thing with the environment: if we don’t get environmental damage under control, all other issues will soon become irrelevant. I’d like to see a candidate go out on a limb, Gore-style, with a commitment to this issue, not pussy-foot around it because focus groups said it wasn’t sufficiently motivating (so make it motivating! You think anyone cared about Iraq till the GOP made them?). I can’t believe it’s still getting Newsweek covers as the new trendy thing. Guys, it’s life and death and we all need to get on board!

Second: Iraq. Predictable. But we need to get out of there and stop meddling in things we don’t understand (or just haven’t taken the trouble to) because current US behavior towards Islamic nations leaves us too vulnerable to retaliation. I can’t deal with that level of risk for Dot. Again, I’d be
looking for an unambiguous commitment to staged withdrawal and a culturally sensitive long term plan for repairing relations between the West and Islam.  (I have others too, like I would love to see a female or African American president given the right candidate, but these are the biggies.)

There are some themes here. I would like to vote for leaders who demonstrate- through their own actions - that the way to be, and the way to rise to the top in this country, is to live with intelligence, integrity, authenticity and passion. Who state unequivocally that moral bankruptcy and ethical grey areas will not be tolerated (and again, their behavior bears this out). Who considers the impact of their actions on others in both the short and long term. So Dot and her generation grow up learning those lessons.

I say "would" because here’s the rub: Baby Dot may be an American citizen but I’m not (I’m British). So even if this candidate existed, I couldn’t
vote for them. But hopefully, you can. If you do have a vote, please use it
wisely... for Dot’s sake.

Comments

[Nancy]

You can be sure that I will be voting so that Baby Dot has the hope of a better future.