Have you noticed that there are fewer bumper stickers than in years past? In the GOP camp, perhaps all those who had BUSH/CHENEY proudly displayed on their car in 2000 and 2004 now feel some sort of guilty complicity in what eventually transpired. So who knew? Hardly anyone outside of the neo-con inner circle could have imagined how bad it would actually be.
And on the DNC side, I have offered Obama bumper stickers to friends and neighbors who I know are in his camp. Many have seemed reticent to openly proclaim their support, giving excuses such as, "My clients will be upset with me," or from a neighbor, "Not in THIS neighborhood." Or from a young relative, "My boyfriend won't like it." I actually heard one say, "My grandfather would turn in his grave." With all due respect to your fore-bearer, he lived in another time and another reality. This is your world... not his.
Okay here goes guys... could it possibly be some latent racism still lurks in your veins, much to your chagrin?
The irony is that if these very people openly expressed their convictions, I believe they could exert influence over their friends, families and associates to re-examine who they might vote for. Support begets further support. People are empowered by knowing there are others who believe the way they do. There is no voice like your own.
& Use it.
"To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men."
Abraham Lincoln
-Citizen Voices blogger Candace Suerstedt is a filmmaker and a mother of three who lives in Coronado.
