- submitted by K. Dukess on 11/04/2008
Political Intelligence, Straight from the Playground
By Karen Dukess
History could be made Tuesday, with the election of the first African-American president, but I'm going to have to be careful with whom I gloat and celebrate. Political lawn signs are few and far between in my town, and it's not safe to assume that the miniscule blonde in the Hummer is a Republican while the bearded dude in the Prius is a Democrat.
My kids are in elementary school, where you can pretty much count on children echoing the political views of their parents. For weeks now, I've been getting tidbits of information straight from the playground, where kiddy chit-chat makes it pretty clear which parents will be high-tailing it to Canada if McCain wins and which will be wearing Palin 2012 buttons on Wednesday if he doesn't.
Most of this political intelligence has been predictable. I figured that the bossy-boots Mom who once referred, during a baby shower no less, to Hillary as a "lesbo" would be casting her vote for McCain. I knew which investment banker Dads had morphed into conservatives as their tax brackets rose. But there were a few that threw me, like the hunky artist Step-Dad who apparently is not only an Abstract Expressionist but also a free-market Republican.
Getting this kind of news from my kids has made me realize how little I know about the political views of some of my neighbors and local acquaintances. We may chat at school pick-up, sometimes even sharing intimate details of what's going on with our children's psyches and, lately at least, our 401Ks. But politics? Kind of a no-go zone in polite PTA society.
With close friends, the politics is out in the open. But there are plenty of people in my daily life who are political enigmas. Like the school principal. Or my kids' teachers. At school, they talk about current events, but when it comes to this mother of all current events, I'm quite sure the teachers stay mum about their personal political opinions.
This lack of clarity can lead to erroneous conclusions. In fact, now that I think of it, some of the conversations I've had lately about the election have assumed a common ground that might not exist.
After spinning class this morning, I stood in the parking lot with two women talking about how nervous we were about the election, how much we can't wait until it's over and are hoping beyond hope that "he'll win." Could they have been talking about McCain?
It's been an interesting final weeks in this campaign. I have been shocked to discover, thanks to my children, that some of my liberal-seeming neighbors, with whom I have so much in common and so many shared values, would be mortified to be labeled with the L-word. But at this final hour of this historic election, I can take solace in one thing -- at least I don't live among the undecided.
Karen Dukess is the editorial director of Burbia....read more rants
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