Deserving a Vote
Image by getty images
They deserve a vote. With that simple exhortation, President Obama cleverly married two causes that were certainly the emotional high points of his recent State of the Union address. In introducing his idea for a nonpartisan commission to “improve the voting experience in America,” he cited the hours-long wait some citizens endured last November just to cast a ballot. “We can fix this and we will,” he promised.
And when he pivoted to his proposals to reduce gun violence, he turned the voting imperative back to the House chamber, arguing that legislation to strengthen background checks and to ban assault weapons and massive ammunition magazines should be formally considered. “Gabby Giffords deserves a vote,” he said, as the applause rose. “The families of Newtown deserve a vote.” It didn’t take much more to bring most members of Congress to their feet.
Besides offering brilliant political theater, though, Obama was delivering an important message. Passage of gun safety laws and citizen engagement are linked; in fact, the first doesn’t have a prayer of happening without the second. Most Americans strongly favor his proposals, and most political analysts give them little chance of passing because of the supposed strength of the pro-gun lobby and the vagaries of congressional districting.
The only way ordinary citizens can overcome these obstacles is to summon the dedication of Desiline Victor, the 102-year-old Florida woman who waited in line for hours to vote in November’s general election. She deserved a vote. The majority who favor gun safety laws need to act like they deserve it, too.
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
