I have been absolutely
and completely tortured by my choices for this presidential election.
2008 was beyond difficult
as Maria and I split our votes. It felt kinda awful. It was the first time we
chose different candidates since we canvassed the East Village in 1992 for
Governor Moonbeam.
And here we are, almost
eight years later, and we may split our primary votes again. Believe me, we
both know what’s at stake; and our hearts and minds couldn’t be more invested.
So, I asked Aleda, our
14-year-old daughter, “Who would you vote for if you could?”
“That’s almost impossible
for me to answer.”
“Why?”
“I love Bernie. He’s from
Vermont and I believe in him, but I worry that he wouldn’t get anything done
because everyone in Washington would be against him.”
“You would vote for
Hillary then?”
“No, because her
intensity doesn’t seem real.” [I shit you not. She said this.] “And I worry
that she’s the kind of person to put us in another war.”
“So, if I gave you
$1,000,000.00 to choose, who would it be?”
“Then it would be
random.” [Pause.] “No, wait, it would be Bernie. He cares more about the
future.”
My daughter is the Modern
Young Woman and making choices like a Modern Young Woman not unlike the 80% of
18 to 30 year olds who support Bernie. The history of women in the world is
not, thankfully and disappointingly, hers. [Did we err as parents?]
Bernie is my truth and
Hillary is a woman and I have lived my life trusting women more than men,
almost always.
Tonight, 23 days from New
York’s primary, and I’m no closer to making a decision than I was on April 28,
2015 when Bernie announced his candidacy.
I may side with the young
who are siding with the old man… and then again, I may not.
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