SlowpokeBlog

In an interesting article in today's Washington Post about gas prices affecting ordinary Americans, Shawn Poquette, a 20 year-old father of two, discusses his support for Bush:

One of the traits he admires in Bush, he says, is that Bush seems a self-made man, independent rather than reliant, and that's how Poquette sees himself, too: someone who wants nothing to do with public assistance of any sort, even though his family's income, while above poverty level by several thousand dollars, is the income of the working poor.

Bush, the very paragon of privilege, is seen as a self-made man. Such is the level of cognizance of many Americans who will be choosing the world's most powerful human being come November.

What this reminds me of is myself, at age ten, when I went to a Reagan rally in Millersville, Pennsylvania during the 1984 race (my father was given tickets when a lost campaign staffer stopped to ask him for directions). I knew little about politics then, but I did know that Reagan seemed like a kindly, benevolent grandfather, and for that reason I liked him. I remember passing protesting Mondale supporters on my way to the rally. "How could they support that boring fuddy-duddy?" I wondered.

Once inside Pucillo Gymnasium, which was decked out with a giant banner reading "Pennsylvania Dutch Country is Dutch Reagan Country!", I got caught up in the euphoria of the cheering crowd. I confess, with some slight embarrassment, that I was one of those people chanting "Four more years!" Please bear in mind that I was in the fifth grade.

By 1988, I had blossomed into a thinking person with Democratic leanings, but my experience as a clueless ten year-old Reaganite allows me to understand the emotion-driven fervor of many Bush supporters.