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Finally, after years of zombie-like political entropy, Americans appear engaged in the democratic process: voter registration is hitting record highs (though Fox claims that voter registration really isn't up), and early voting suggests we're out in record numbers. A recent Pew Poll showed a "surge in youth turnout" in the democratic primaries, and that the data over the last few years has suggests "that young voters are trending Democratic." And in a very informal survey in my community college English courses, I found that 3/4 or more of each class said they'd registered to vote in this election. Many of these 18-20 year olds watched the presidential debates, and had something to say about them. In fact, the presidential debates drew massive audiences of over 50 million people – for each debate (Although to be fair, our national pastime did beat out the debate in ratings). Everywhere you go, the election is on the tip of our tongues, it's on countless bumper stickers, lawn signs, the radio, and the TV.Remember when we used to gripe about political apathy, about how people cared more about what Paris Hilton wore (or didn't) than the election?
Now, Paris Hilton herself is talking politics. The View has become the new Hardball, Saturday Night Live is a serious political force. Obama draws larger crowds than if John Lennon came back from the grave, and we complain that we can't get away from the damned thing!
And for this, I thank you, George W. Bush.
In a scant 8 years, Bush has showed us that our president does matter, that our daily lives are actually affected by our votes. Bush has screwed up so frequently and so profoundly that it seems on purpose, as John Stewart and John Oliver joked in a recent episode of the Daily Show. Stewart, and all of us wonder, "what's left for them to decomplish?" Where else can Bush run the Ship of State aground? And Oliver replies, in satire that hits a little too close to home: "Do you still have a home? Did your children have breakfast this morning? ... Was it something they found in the street?"
Thank you, W, for reminding us that our leaders play a direct role in our lives. Thank you for waking us from our walking slumber. Thank you, W, for reminding us about the true meaning of democracy.
My only fear is that we forget the Bush Legacy.
I'm afraid that as soon as the hype is over, as soon as the bumper stickers start to fade, and the TV news starts focusing on cats stuck in trees or Paris Hilton adopting Kenyan orphans, that slowly, Bush will just seem like a bad memory, a joke, a fading fiction.
That guy was actually our president? Nah. That was just a skit on SNL, with Will Ferrell, right?
And just when we've forgotten, just when we pasted over that Obama bumper sticker with some funny quip, then we'll have to learn all over again, and I'll have to write this article again in 2016 (hopefully).
Except the title might be: "Thank You, Sarah Palin," Love, Democracy.
