I finally decided to put my time where my mouth was.
This past Sunday was Women’s Equality Day, which commemorated the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote in 1920. Such a historic occasion demanded I do something tangible.
In a mass email from Obama for America, a “Buffy Wicks” invited me to phone-bank in support of the president at their office in Durham. I obliged, primarily since her name is Buffy Wicks but also because I felt guilty that I had never actually canvassed or phone-banked before.
Feeling combative, I asked for a list of undecided Duke students.
“If I vote … I’ll vote for President Obama,” remarked an undergraduate woman over the phone.
“Why the IF, may I ask?” I responded.
“Well I’m just on the fence about whether I’m going to vote.”
She had no idea what she got herself into by not making up an excuse about having an exam to study for. I gave her my spiel for women voters.
I brought up the Affordable Care Act, which eliminates co-pays for preventive services like mammograms and contraception. When that was met with silence, I reminded her that President Obama signed Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which helps workers file claims against age and/or gender wage discrimination. To create a villain narrative, I mentioned that Romney has pledged to “get rid of” Planned Parenthood and that Paul Ryan cosponsored a bill that would have redefined the definition of rape. But this student wasn’t convinced. She just meekly said she had to go.
Another Duke student engaged me in a philosophical discussion about the inherent corruption in politics. He argued that Obama and Romney’s “fundamental stances” are the same and therefore he didn’t feel like voting because “interactions between people make the real difference.” I thought it would be helpful to tout the Disclose Act, proposed by Democrats but blocked by Republicans, which aims to increase transparency in the political process and decrease the influence of shadowy special interest money. I was SOL; this kid wasn’t convinced either.
Numerous Duke students were just as indifferent. By the end of the night I was discouraged. What was wrong with these people? Why did they not care? Do they even go here?
I’m not the most eloquent when it comes to explaining why the “student vote” counts. I’d much rather demonize the GOP’s stances on women’s health care, reproductive rights and choice, in overly partisan language that can verge on inappropriate for these pages.
Perhaps it’s more valuable to impart one self-righteous request: If you truly feel apathetic when it comes to this election, do some soul searching as to what you DO care about.
Education policy? Look at the candidates’ respective positions when it comes to Pell Grants. Health reform? Decide whether you’re grateful that you can stay on your parents’ plan until you’re 26. LGBTQ rights? You’re hopefully already aware that President Obama repealed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and supports marriage equality. Financial regulations? Check out the Credit CARD Act, which protects students from credit card company exploitation. Foreign policy? Contemplate whether Obama has been anything but a pragmatist.
Sure, I’ve drunk the Kool-Aid, but I’m not ready to be apathetic at the age of almost 21. I want the people who have the power and the money to know that I see what they’re doing to this country. I can’t put tens of millions of dollars behind a candidate (Sheldon Adelson) or start my own Super PAC with friends (just kidding, we did). But what I can do is turn out. And wax romantic about why. Pick just one issue you care about in a historic or academic or cultural or religious or sociological or economic prism and transform it into a political voting issue. It’s not like being at the supermarket overwhelmed by the 57 varieties of ketchup; you, like, have two options.
And if you really care about nothing at all, then I hope you at least care about yourself. If that’s the case, then maybe you’ll find the wise words of Hillel the Elder inspiring: “If I am not for myself, who will be? And when I am for myself, what am ‘I’? And if not now, when?”
Samantha Lachman is a Trinity senior. Her column runs every other Thursday. You can follow her on Twitter @SamLachman.
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