From: irvine@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (Brent Irvine)
Subject: Re: To the Clinton supporters
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 18:21:31 GMT

In article <Bx7KE9.wu@nic.umass.edu> csulaima@titan.ucc.umass.edu (CYNTHIA R SULAIMAN) writes:
>Yes, we won!!!  Doesn't it feel great?!!  
>
>Personally I forgot how it feels to get up the day after the election and
>feel that tomorrow is going to be actually brighter than today.  Feels 
>good not to have the millstone of doom around my neck after every
>election the Republicans won.

If it hits you that hard due to some event only symbolically in your control,
I feel sorry for you.  

As a conservative that voted for Clinton, I am happy he won, and hope
that he does well.  As I did for Bush in 1988, and Reagan earlier (and
even Carter, but then memory starts blurring - too young you know...).

I guess what I am saying is to not tie your happiness to who is in the
White house - its like playing roulette with your feelings (I mean,
you vote, but so do over 100,000,000 other people so it is like
a symbolic act for individuals more than direct control).

It rained here the day after Clinton was elected, and I had a test.
So what.

>We don't want Baker, Quayle, Kemp or someone else being able to
>challenge a record of broken promises.  

Even if Clinton keeps all his promises and the economy is booming,
I would vote against him if I felt someone else could do better.

>
>How can we do this?  Well, Perot and his volunteers did show us the way.
>STAY INVOLOVED!!!

Or stay informed.  I enjoy knowing  what is going on, but the politics
of everything (makes GM board members look a lot less sycophantic! :) )
makes me ill - the deals, the "yes" men, the sucking up, the lobbying,
all that crap!

I prefer to stay informed of who did what and then cast my vote
appropriately.  Perhaps this would change if I could feels strongly
about any of the men running...  I dunno...


>
>write letters to congress persons

I have tried this on not a few occations.  I get the stock "Thanks for
your opinion, here is our stance" type form letter.  While i don't
expect to get personalized service, I would like an acknowlegdement
that my opinion/desire was taken seriously.  

>keep track of what bills are being voted on and what is being placed in
>front of our president

The best way to do this is with INSIGHT magazine - they have a section
of the bills voted on, who voted for and against what.

>show your community spirit and involvement

LOCAL community, sure.  Especially since i know quite a few people around
and could work with them.  

>
>Just because we Democrats now control two branches of government DOES
>NOT mean that there won't be log jams, grid lock and problems -- this is
>where are voice still comes in.

Listen, if there still is gridlock, i think this speaks more for the
party unity and viability of the Democrats as a party than clarion
calls for 'involvement.'

>Finally, there is such a thing as being poor winners, and I've seen some
>already on the net.

True, and poor losers.  Its a bit like the World Series except that it
really matters that the dems pull together and do something (but please
don't raise my taxes too much -- I barely scrape by as it is as a grad
student...)

>
>Yes, we should celebrate and feel good about winning, but not at the
>expense of those who lost.  Elections are very emotional -- if you voted
>four years ago do you remember how you felt the day after when Bush won?

I did not particularly feel great, probably relief that Dukakis did
not win.  

>
>If we are nasty about winning, how can we expect or even ask the
>supporters of all the other candidates to join our cause?

Because that is standard campaign rhetoric, the victory speech
"We must all now put aside our differences and work together" garbage
that every winer and loser candidate proclaims.  It makes sense but
is rarely followed.  

>How can we even talk about healing a nation, when we divide it by our 
>words?

Actions divide nations as surely do words.  Both parties through
their petty partison wars havce managed to divide the nation - by
pointing out differences and separating people into 'demographic'
groups and so on.  Words set the stage, but ACTIONS do far more -
and have managed this division.

In Congress, I do not feel that too many Democrats will even try to
consider the conservative viewpoint on bills.  Hence, to the voter,
it will be more EXCLUSIONARY "buisness as usual" politics.

>It is not just those who we elected yesterday who will help make policy
>and try to heal wonds, but it is us too.

Not really.

>"Four more years" begins TODAY

I respect your beliefs, but have become cynical enough that I cannot
see them as anything but unrealistically idealistic.

-- 
+-------------------------+----------------------------------+ ^  ^  ^
| Brent L. Irvine         |  "Love is blind ... and stupid." | {\{|}/} CLAN
| irvine@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu |                      -M.P.       |  {{|}} IRVINE
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