July, 2004
There are few things I hate more than facing an empty page, it's always difficult to get a column started. I want to entice readers with an exciting intro or a funny anecdote, but most of the time, I end up with an unimaginative tagline like "Well...I just got back from a conference in Washington DC...and I am so busy...." (Well, I just got back from a conference in Washington DC and I am so busy...:)Seriously though, I have a new respect for people who travel frequently between the East and West Coasts. Changing time zones is murder! I felt like a zombie for at least a week after I got back, but it was worth it. I learned a lot at the conference and got a chance to work on my goal of setting the world record for the most falls during a single visit to the Capitol Building. Just kidding...once again it was worth the effort it took to get there.
I had the opportunity to listen to a presentation by the Tennessee Disability Coalition about voter turnout among people with disabilities. Did you know that that the voter turnout rate for people with disabilities nationally is only 20%? We are the largest American minority group with no political power. I found this presentation powerful because their arguments were very basic and very true. When was the last time you heard a politician talking to the media about a disability issue? Does Governor Schwarzenegger get on TV and talk about the In Home Supportive Services Program? No. Politicians do not court voters using our issues. There is no widespread public outcry when a proposal is made that would have a negative impact on us, because we are not considered an influential voting block.
One of the presenters for the Tennessee Disability Coalition called disability advocacy "sophisticated begging " and said that politicians do not respond to common sense or logic, they respond to votes. That may seem harsh, but it got me started thinking about all of the proposed cuts in the State Budget that will negatively impact people with disabilities. Would these cuts even have been considered if our voter turnout rate was high and politicians knew it? I don't think so. If politicians respond to demonstrations of power and we do not make our power felt at the polls, it is no wonder that they don't respond to us.
If Americans with disabilities voted at the same rate as the rest of the population there would have been four million more votes cast in the 2000 Presidential Election. We have a Governor who has consistently told the Legislature that if they don't give him what he wants, he will bypass them completely and go straight to the voters. If we don't vote, how will he hear us? Voting allows us to be proactive, instead of reactive, running around putting out fire after fire.... I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of running. I would rather stop, turn around and force politicians to listen to me.
How do we do that you ask? We conduct voter registration and do public education about voting. We host candidate forums giving each candidate specific questions that pertain to the issues that the disability is concerned with. I bet they will court our votes then. You will be hearing a lot more about voting from me in the future. We can't continue simply reacting when bad things happen. We must teach politicians to feel the power of the disability vote!