Terrific Tuesday - Election History - George Bush, Al Gore and the Teenie Bopper

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Terrific Tuesday - it is terrific raise politically aware children.

Each Terrific Tuesday throughout the month of November will be dedicated to discussions of elections past and present. Our first Terrific Tuesday of  November urged everyone, no matter who their candidate of choice, to go vote, last week was about discussing election results respectfully. Next week, the last Terrific Tuesday of November will be about John Kerry's presidential campaign. This Terrific Tuesday is about the Bush/Gore rase of 2000 and my Teenie Bopper when she was a Baby Bopper.

photo credit: @mjb via photopin cc                                                                                                        Terrific Tuesday, election, political, aware, children, respect

In November of  2000, my teenie bopper was a precocious 4 year old who was seeing talk about the Bush/Gore race all over the news as a result of her father's political addiction. She decided Al Gore should win because he cared more about keeping water clean than did George Bush. It was cute to see her walking the streets of  Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania with her Gore Leiberman campaign button and the campaign poster she kept in her bedroom window. When the election results were announced then litigated and then finalized, the baby bopper was not happy. She said then and says now that George Bush stole the election and was not a legitimate president. This was her at four, so I should not have been surprised at her teenage years, but that is another story.

Since that election she follows carefully and attentively politticians and election results and examines the relevant issues from her perspective each election. Please do not tell her you do not vote she will lose all respect for you. The point of this article is not to share any particular agenda. After all, if you are reading this, you know I am one of those far left wing liberals. The point of this article is to say tha tin politics, like with so many things in life, our children watch what we do, form an opnion and then coy what they see. We are always told not to talk about sex, religion or politics in polite company. Howver, imagine a world where our children grow up politically aware and attentive. Imagine how life would be if politics were a subject like sports and our children grew up learning to pay attention and root for their own side without resorting to cheap name calling and mean spiritedness when disagreements arise.

I have a friend who is two of the most horrible things on earth, a Cowboys fan and a Republican. She and I tease each other about sports and politics on a a regular basis, but we don't take it personally and we respect each other's opinions.  In fact, when she runs for election again, I am going to be one of her campaing volunteers. That is the kind of example I want my children to see: you can disagree over politics but still remain friends.  So the question for you this Terrific Tuesday is,  what type of political children are you raising?