The Soccer Mom Vote

Stuck in the Middle With You

I’m under a microscope. Myself and three million of my fellow Iowans.

The political hopefuls have been here for over a year already in one degree or another.

We have been inundated with political propaganda from across the spectrum for months already.

The big theme seems to be, “what makes Iowa tick?” They, the candidates, are all scrambling to get their fingers on the pulse. We are, really, middle America.

Located: in the middle.

Population: in the middle. (30^th)

Square mileage: in the middle (26^th)

Became a State: in the middle (29^th)

We’re about as Average Joe as it gets.

So, lately, the intensity of what has been happening has been ratcheted up a notch or two and I’ve taken to not answering the phone.

Obama…he calls a lot. Mitt calls a lot too. And he sends me lots of slick postcards and even foldout informational thingies.

John Edwards used to call, now he only writes.

Hillary has never called me. But her satellite campaign office in my town is the nicest and biggest.

Obama writes and I’ve been invited to lots of his parties. Rudy emails and invites me to parties, too. John McCain called awhile back, but he hasn’t for awhile.

Thus, after hours of going thru mail from all my new best friends and pitching it immediately in the recycling bin, and after hours of no longer picking up the phone in the evening hours while I try to get four kids in bed and Obama wants to chit chat, AGAIN, maybe I can finally sit down and watch a little mindless television.

There they are again! Obama, Hillary, Mitt, Edwards, Huckabee, Richardson. All of them, telling me how I totally rock and they love me and would love for me to get my keester to the caucus.

So I get in my car and run my kids to school and lessons. Ron Paul, you wiley little rascal, here you are in my car on the radio!

In some ways, the caucus and primary systems seem horrifically antiquated. In an informational era such as this, is a silly little postcard going to sway me with its nifty little bulletpoints? And despite a lot of reshuffling, Iowa is still in the first spot (big state people, don’t yell at me, I have nothing to do with caucus placement) and it seems, at least for now, the candidates actually like campaigning here.

Why? Many of them have given a variety of reasons, but when the political process seems to be a fundraising contest if nothing else, financially, it is easier to campaign in Iowa as opposed to some other states. You can traverse the entire state in a couple days, making stops in larger towns and reach a large portion of population in a small window of time. Iowa is doable.

As for all the methods of getting themselves noticed, what works for you, what sticks in your mind?

For me?

Postcards? Nope.

Calling? Irritating.

TV commercials and radio? Not so much.

Making an effort to be here in person? It seems the most genuine but I still feel like I'm being spoonfed soundbyte-worthy material for the news outlets.

I’ve been invited to dozens of appearances in our town from candidates. I don’t have a list exactly, but there are a few who have visited all 99 of Iowa’s counties. Last stat on that I heard was that John Edwards has been to all 99 twice.

I do know people who like the mail and the calling and they go see every candidate making a whistlestop. I do know people who would sit in freezing temperatures to see Oprah and Obama. How many of them were there to see Oprah and not Obama, really, is up for grabs.

How do you decide? What gets your attention? Do you love getting the mail or will only a celebrity endorsement grab you?

At the end of the day, I’m just an average woman, of average age, in an average state…and I want a very above average President. I still don’t know if I’ll find one this time around, but in the meantime, I’ll keep recycling the postcards, avoiding the intrusive dinner time phone calls, and do my own research on another average day here in middle America.

 

Doobie? Or Not Doobie? That is the Question.

Unless one is a complete and utter student of politics, it is difficult to know where such a huge field of candidates, such as what we have in this election cycle, stands on every single issue.  Heck, some of them seem to waffle from day-to-day or even within the confines of a single debate about where they stand.

Some of the issues in the forefront have been discussed here multiple times.  But really, when it gets down to it, everyone I talk to has those 2-3 key things that help them decide on a candidate.  As a Libertarian, I listen with great interest to politicians from both major parties though, obviously, since I have chosen a third party distinction on purpose, there is no one in either party who represents my views across the board.

Those big issues get all the headlines.  They’re sexy, they sell papers and grab the top spot in the evening news.  But I like talking about smaller issues with people, too.

Like pot.

Have I grabbed you yet?

I live in an area with a higher than average incidence of cancer cases.  My best friend is a 4-year breast cancer survivor.  With community fundraisers and events, it is not unusual that I think about cancer often.  It also got me thinking about medical marijuana, or what is also referred to as “compassionate use” of marijuana.  It seems like one of those topics that comes up when 60 Minutes decides to do a story on a cancer patient who has marijuana prescribed by their doctor.

I grew up, the love child of hippies who, not to be blunt, had no qualms about the recreational usage of marijuana.  Both parents eventually outgrew that phase in life about the same time Nancy Reagan told me and other elementary students all over America to “Just Say No”.

I’m not alone in this generation, discussing the topic of the war on drugs and medical marijuana with my contemporaries, we mostly have the same perspective.  I wanted to see what you thought and if you even know where “your” candidate stands and what the laws are where you live.

I’ve done a little of the homework for you. 12 States have passed medical marijuana laws since 1996: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

Except, someone help explain this to me, in 2005 the Supreme Court passed a ruling that the Feds can arrest a state-recognized medical cannabis patient.  Huh?   (The case was Gonzales, Attorney General, et al. V. Raich, et al., read the whole thing here if you wish.

This ruling does come up in town hall meetings on the campaign trail.  Wondering where your candidate stands?  The Marijuana Policy Project site has a great link with a grading system along with quotes from the candidates themselves and the speech in which they stated their position, regarding the federal government's role in performing raids on medical marijuana patients:

• Joe Biden - B+
• Hillary Clinton - A
• Chris Dodd - A
• John Edwards - A-
• Mike Gravel - A+
• Dennis Kucinich - A+
• Barrack Obama - A
• Bill Richardson - A+
• Sam Brownback - F
• Rudy Guiliani - F
• Mike Huckabee - F
• Duncan Hunter - F
• John McCain - F
• Ron Paul - A+
• Mitt Romney - F
• Tom Tancredo - A+
• Fred Thompson - Incomplete

This issue is increasing in significance.  When states pass laws that protect patients and the federal government pushes this "loophole" into the, don't misunderstand me here, war on illegal drugs (I have kids too, I'm not talking about anything except the issue of medical marijuana, so please refrain from using alarmist arguments that I'll be waiting for your kids after school with heroin and meth), we have a problem.  It needs to be resolved.

A Time cover story from back in 2002, the New Politics of Pot, shows a trend toward "going legit".

A Time/CNN poll last week found that only 34% want pot to be totally legalized (the percentage has almost doubled since 1986). But a vast majority have become mellow about official loopholes: 80% think it's O.K. to dispense pot for medical purposes, and 72% think people caught with it for recreational use should get off with only a fine.

To wrap up, I should give you full disclosure.  My parents smoked pot back in the 70s.  I have never smoked pot.  As a theatre major, I had many opportunities but it was just not a big deal to me to do it.  I live in a state where marijuana, even "compassionate" use, is illegal.  I would fully expect myself or anyone I know using marijuana to be arrested.  I am not, routinely (though I do fess up to a bit of a lead foot), a law breaker.

And to really mess with your heads, well, only for those of you who enjoy partisan politics, I'm going to highlight two examples from candidates and their positions:

Ron Paul has consistently voted, and cosponsored, the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment which would have barred the DEA from spending any money to raid or arrest medical marijuana patients and caregivers in the states that allow the medical use of marijuana.

And who says a candidate can't be swayed by the voices of voters?

John Edwards, who in 2004 was a strong opponent to ending the federal raids, told voters at a Derry town hall meeting, "we will not be going in and raiding the use of marijuana for medical purposes in states that have legalized it. I think where democracy has worked, where voters have decided this should be legalized, I will not as president go in and run contrary to the will of the people in those states where it has been legalized."

What do you think?  Do you live in a state where it is legal?  What have you noticed?  What does your favorite candidate say about medical marijuana?

Additional sources:
Drug Policy Alliance, Marijuana Policy Project, NORML

And more, if you are really not busy today:
VoteHemp,  VIP

Keeping Your Newborn Safe

I had an entirely different post in mind until an alarming phone call with my stepmom this morning.

We, the four kiddos and myself, had just returned a week prior from visiting in New York with she and my dad for two weeks. And in our morning chat she filled me in on a tragedy from work.

She is an OB nurse in a metro area with about half a million people. There are two major hospitals in this area and so her job, obviously, is busy and she has seen pretty much everything there is to see.

Sadly, a baby girl she’d been rocking in the nursery, and gone through a routine midnight check of vitals, had gone back into the room with mom a bit later only to have the new mother come out of the room, holding the baby and screaming that she was dead.

Mom had fallen asleep with the baby in bed with her and the baby had suffocated. The dramatic circumstances of which were both horribly sad and disturbing to my stepmom, obviously, but the fact that this would make the twelfth death of this kind in the last seven months just in their area. That was the alarming part of it. Twelve! Twelve too many.

She and I discussed it at length. What exactly was the problem here?

Some of the cases she shared with me (no names or any specifics, I don’t want to get her in trouble, if that’s possible) were deaths that resulted when either the new mom or dad rolled over on baby. Obviously, a horrible and tragic accident.

But, since the number of times this happens seems relatively small compared to other things that can happen with children in the home, the incidence of it may go largely unreported.  I mean, it's not really the kind of thing families are going to want to offer for the obituary write up in their local newspaper.

However, many of these deaths will be categorized as SIDS deaths. And similarly, when baby is snuggled up to mom or dad in bed, the effect can be the same where, depending on the position of the infant, he/she subsequently begins to breathe in their own carbon dioxide.

Truly, I feel that this isn’t an issue of politics but could become something that goes widely unknown because of what might be better described as hospital red tape.  My stepmom has been so affected by this I told her I'd write about it (she's a fan) and maybe even one person will be armed with the information, that's going to be a good thing.

Already, with this recent newborn death, the supervising nurse at my stepmom’s hospital was talking about increasing staff and changing nursing protocol. Educating new parents about the possibilities regarding suffocating your newborn was going to take time. Not every hospital is going to have the time or resources to make new parents aware. As my stepmom pointed out, they already spend a great deal of time educating new parents about a plethora of other things and as you other Soccer Moms all know, there seem to be about a million pieces of information flying at you when you have that first bundle of joy.

My stepmom is the reigning lactation specialist on staff and spends a lot of time, aside from the baby duties, educating new moms about nursing. Clearly, co-sleeping with your infant has also become a concern in light of this recent increase of infant deaths due to mom or dad accidentally suffocating or rolling over on the baby.

So, not to be political as such, but informational only, I wanted to put this out there. It’s not meant to be a “diss” to families who co-sleep, I myself remember many a night of bringing baby in bed to nurse and nodding off. It’s a scenario the sleep-deprived mom or dad knows all too well.  Cosleeping with your new little tot might be something you should postpone until they are a bit older.  One source recommended avoiding cosleeping until the child is 20 months old.

One source had this tidbit: "While the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) does not specifically recommend against bed-sharing or co-sleeping, the AAP has recognized that this practice creates a risk of infant suffocation by overlying where an adult in the bed is in an unnaturally depressed state of consciousness, such as from alcohol or mind-altering drugs, or if the co-sleeping occurs on a sofa."

and also,

Additional research conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognizes the heightened risk of infant fatality if infants co-sleep or bed share with other children.  “Infants who died of SIDS were 5.4 times more likely to have shared a bed with other children . . .”

The short term bullet point being handed down by hospital staff that I wanted to share with you is this:

• Do not let your newborn sleep in bed with you, if you want them in the room, have them in a bassinet right next to your bedside if that is most comfortable.

Sources:
Bed Sharing: What Facts are Known About Co-sleeping With an Infant?
Cosleeping and Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy
Westchester County District Attorney News Release
Factors Relating to SIDS:Ireland

 

The Apolitical Afterlife

I don't know about you, but I would never want my life to become an opportunity for some politician to make a statement.

In my political philosophy, I want the government to have as little say in my life as necessary.  And that includes my life and my death.

I'm not going to be particularly "political" in this post, but perhaps urge you to take action in a couple ways.  I'll explain...

A few years back, hubby and I were going to take our first major trip away from our first two children.  Our boys were 2 and 6 months old, we were going on a business trip to California which, of course, required an airplane to get there.
I had never left them overnight.  I spent days crying as I packed, convinced our plane was going to crash leaving our small boys orphans.  I called our lawyer, and had wills done, on the spot.  What can I say, I'm whacked like that.  But, it had not occured to us before that point how we wanted things to be in the event of our death.  Of course we made the obvious decisions, such as leaving everything to our kids and who would gain custody of them, etc etc.
Then my attorney asks, "While I'm doing this, do you want me to do your Living Will?"
Wha?  I was 26 at this time, my own mortality was not something that crossed my mind much save for the intense mom guilt I was feeling at leaving my boys for the first time.

Then again, hubby and I had discussed our wishes with each other.  Hey, we watched ER all the time!  We knew all about it!  However, as we all found out with the Terri Schaivo case, expressing your wishes verbally, without legal documentation to back it up, becomes a gray area in which your relatives can rip each other apart interpreting your life, or death, as the case may be.

FYI: don't keep me alive on machines.  Pull the plug.

I would think that the Schaivo case would have driven up the numbers of those with advanced directives or living wills.
Can you imagine the fate of your life being decided by the governor of your state?  Political talking heads going on MSNBC and CNN in order to gain points with their constituents, using your LIFE as so much political fodder?  Then the Pope chimes in and we reach the pinnacle of the morality and religous implications of terminating your existence.  I'd like to think my life is worth more than a breaking news scroll across the bottom of your TV screen.  And my death is my own business as well, not that of my governor.

Obviously, the insane circus of the Schaivo case is the familiar tie-in I'm using here.  However, I have another personal example.

Last Saturday, I attended the funeral of a much beloved grandmother.  Many years ago, hers was the ultimate love story.  In 1979, her true love, her husband of decades, had passed away from cancer.  By the time of his death, cancer had spread throughout almost his entire body.  Upon his passing, she was done with this life.  She didn't want to live without him.  And in those hypothetical conversations you have with family, she expressed her desire to not be kept alive should that decision need to be made.  Do not resusitate, don't keep her on any machines, she would be only too happy to be reunited with her husband in the afterlife.
Then, ten years ago, she was in surgery to amputate a leg (complications from diabetes) and coded on the table.  And in all those conversations and all those years since the passing of her true love, she had never legally made her wishes known.  Her family, not sure whether or not she meant what she said about wanting to die, attributing her feelings maybe to depression at the loss of her beloved spouse, well, they just weren't sure and in the emotion of the moment, they didn't know exactly what to do.
You've seen this on ER.  Paddles!  Clear!  And the heart monitor comes back with the reassuring beep, beep, beep.  The surgical team gives a sigh of relief.
And my grandmother flutters open her eyes, sits up a bit and says, "What did you do that for?"  For real.
She was ready to go.  But legally, her wishes weren't as iron clad as they should have been.
And as for her eventual death where she had been confined to bed for the most part, with a caretaker, and in these last few years, had lost her eyesight, one might feel sorry for her that her quality of life was poor.  But, you'd have never heard a complaint from her, she was ready to go when it was her time, but she also enjoyed the people in her life while she was living it.

I want to live life on my terms.  We make thousands of decisions in our day to day lives.  I also want to have some say in my death.  After much analysis, death is something most people don't want to think about, or as little as possible and, well, none of us is getting out of it, are we?  Obviously, in a very storybook way I'd like to pass away in my sleep, a very old lady having lived a full life.  But, I'm planning ahead, should that not be the way the story ends.

Sources:
US Living Will Registry
American Bar Association toolkit for Advance Health Care Planning
Wall Street Journal Advance Directives listing by State

Autism Awareness

This post isn’t political as such, but just a reminder, really.  When it comes to some things, whether directly affected or not, it never hurts to educate yourself.  Be informed.  Be aware.

April is Autism Awareness Month.  Any regular readers of my personal blog will know that I have an autistic brother.  It is with great pride and amazement when I am able to share certain pieces of his story with my readers.  The posts about Joe and his accomplishments get some of the most positive and thoughtful responses of anything I blog about.  If you’re interested, you can read a bit about his story here and here.

When he was finally diagnosed with autism at nearly four years old, the doctors told us, his family, that the incidence of autism was 1 in 10,000.  Now, I’m reading reports that suggest this statistic is 1 in 150.  What is going on here?  Are the reports wrong or is autism reaching epidemic proportions?

I’ve always been vigilant about educating myself about autism.  I give a significant portion of my charity dollars to autism research.  If I have a torch to carry for anything, autism is it.  And I’d be remiss in not using a great forum like The Soccer Mom Vote to be heard.

Anyway, I don’t have anything fascinating or profound to say, just reminding you about Autism Awareness and offering multiple links so that, if you’ve got five or ten minutes, educate yourself.

Autism Research Institute - (I send my donations here)

Autism Awareness

Autism Speaks

Rethinking Recent History

In an effort to have a more succinct post this month, I offer up a simple and current topic.

The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
Is it relevant in today’s world?
Was it a temporary fix or transitional measure when it was introduced in the first place?
Would repealing it do damage to morale and cripple our military in the middle of two wars?

I’m simply going to link articles, giving you a snippet of the movements going on toward repealing this policy.

First, the efforts of Representative Marty Meehan, a Democrat from Massachusetts.  He is reintroducing the bill (it had previously died in the Republican controlled Congress) and has over 100 co-sponsers.

From the USA Today article, which you can read here:

Three Republicans have signed on, including Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida. She says her husband, Dexter, was cared for by a lesbian nurse when he was injured during combat in Vietnam. Defense Department statistics released at the request of Congress and the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a gay advocacy group, show that nearly 7% of the 726 troops discharged under the policy in 2005 were medical personnel. That's the most in one year and brings to 334 the number of health care workers, including doctors, nurses and mental health specialists, dismissed since 1994. "People in need of medical specialists couldn't care less about the sexual orientation" of those caring for them, Meehan says. "The policy is outdated and discriminatory."

An article from the Air Force News addresses specifically the position of retired Army General and former Joint Chiefs chairman John Shalikashvili.  In it is referenced his support of the measure when Clinton introduced it in 1993 but goes on to say:

“I now believe that if gay men and lesbians served openly in the United States military, they would not undermine the efficacy of the armed forces,” Shalikashvili said.

Additional sources:

CNN: Former Joint Chiefs Chairman: Time to Include Gay Troops
Washington Post Op-Ed piece
Christian Science Monitor: New Scrutiny of 'Dont Ask Dont Tell'

Of course, I have an opinion on this matter.  I'm proud of the men and women who serve to protect the freedoms I, for the most, probably take for granted.  I'm married to a combat veteran who put his life on the line so that you and I would enjoy the rights and privileges that come with being an American.

It's been a long time since our servicemen were asked to adapt to the fact that women were ready to do the fighting as well.  It's no longer a boys only club.

But, we still have armed forces that do their jobs with honor and integrity, regardless of their gender.  And yet, we ask homosexuals, who are guaranteed employment everywhere else in American, without fear of discrimination, to keep quiet about their private life or risk termination.  It just seems backwards to me.  Then again, this is my opinion.  I have never served in the military so I am seriously lacking in the knowledge of the more intricate innerworkings of the military as a whole.

Be that as it may, from everything I've read in the last few weeks, it would seem the backers of this effort are choosing a course of slow and steady.  They know the response to overturn this measure is not something that can change overnight.  I would think that allowing the time for a healthy dialogue of the pros and cons of this measure would stir enough debate and give people a chance to examine who and what is at stake here.

In a time of war, though, I imagine things look a bit differently than they did in 1993.

 

Stick Some Corn in your Engine

You know that scene at the end of Back to the Future when Doc has come back to Marty’s house in the time machine?  And he then starts digging thru the garbage can to find “fuel”?  If you’re scratching your head, click for the brief clip, but when this movie was on TV the other day, it was a lightening bolt (much like the one that struck the clock tower…ok, sorry, enough movie analogies) for what topic I’d like to address for my next Soccer Mom post.
We’re not in the future yet, so we can’t pop banana peels and beer into our vehicles to power us down the road.  But, we’re getting there… You’ll have to bear with me, I’m not a scientist, but I am a “soccer mom” with a mini-van and four busy kids, which translates into spending more running around time in my vehicle than I care to remember. 
But, just like you, I’d like to keep more money in my pocket than I put in my gas tank.
And just like you, I’d like to do what I can to protect our environment.
And just like you, I’d like to have my gasoline expenditures be the income for an American farmer instead of a foreign oil tycoon.
What I’m talking about is ethanol.  And how using more of it in the blend of gasoline you put in your car is a great thing in a lot of ways.  And since I’m all about bullet points, I’m going to put up a few facts about ethanol, I’m going to link so you can read further at your leisure, there is a lot of science and there are a lot of sources.

First, what is ethanol?

Ethanol is a clean-burning, high-octane fuel that is produced from renewable sources. At its most basic, ethanol is grain alcohol, produced from crops such as corn. Because it is domestically produced, ethanol helps reduce America's dependence upon foreign sources of energy.

What are my options for using ethanol gasoline for my own vehicle?

The most common blends are:
E10 - 10% ethanol and 90% unleaded gasoline E10 is approved for use in any make or model of vehicle sold in the U.S. Many automakers recommend its use because of its high performance, clean-burning characteristics. In 2004, about one-third of America's gasoline was blended with ethanol, most in this 10% variety.
E85 - 85% ethanol and 15% unleaded gasoline E85 is an alternative fuel for use in flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs). There are currently more than 4 million FFVs on America's roads today, and automakers are rolling out more each year. In conjunction with more flexible fuel vehicles, more E85 pumps are being installed across the country. When E85 is not availble, these FFVs can operate on straight gasoline or any ethanol blend up to 85%.

I read an article that ethanol might not be beneficial after all.  Is that true?

A recent study performed out of the University of California, Berkeley found inconsistencies and errors in those findings and refuted that information.  Their findings were:

• Producing a gallon of ethanol gas from corn requires 95 percent less petroleum than producing a gallon from fossil fuels.
• Not only does corn-based ethanol gas reduce petroleum use by 95 percent, it also reduces greenhouse gas emissions about 13 percent.
• Brazil has converted nearly all its cars and gas pumps to run on a 96 percent ethanol fuel produced from sugarcane. Brazilians have already seen the benefits of sugarcane fuel—not only is it cleaner burning, but since it is produced within the country, it is half the price of imported gasoline.

Personally, this my two cents on why I support and use ethanol blend gasoline and will continue to do so as the industry develops:

• I live in Iowa.  We are an agricultural state, and a huge producer of corn, which is also translating into ethanol plants and production of ethanol.  It is getting bigger all the time.  We set a record in 2006 for producing 30% of the entire US production.  Those are my neighbors and friends.  Those are farmers I know, and neighbor with.  And it makes me think about how family farms and the industry is dying out, and both sets of grandparents lost their farms in the Farm Crisis in the early 80s.  This may keep the American farmer alive, my friends.
• If using ethanol gasonline is better for the environment, for me, that's a no brainer.  I have to gas up anyway, I might as well use the one that has a smaller percentage of greenhouse gas emissions.

What can you do?
Many states are already falling all over themselves to introduce legislation that promotes the use of ethanol gasoline.
First, as a member of a family in the automotive industry (we have two car dealerships), please look at your local car dealer and see if they sell E85 vehicles.  Most of the major automotive companies are introducing more and more E85 options each year.  Click this link to find a listing of E85 vehicles offered.  As each year passes, automakers will be offering more and more of their products in this way. 
Additionally, there is a tax credit available for purchasing a flex fuel vehicle before 2011, click here to read about that.  Some of you may be wondering about the larger "gas guzzler" vehicles and whether manufacturers will stop making those.  As long as there is demand, they won't stop being made, but I can tell you that you can get a 2007 V-8 Chevy Silverado that uses E85.  And that's a good thing.

Second, find out if E85 is available in your area, and if it isn't click here.

I could post a lot more facts and figures about ethanol, but I'll let you read at your leisure.  For me though, until I can put banana peels and beer in there, I'm all about sticking some corn in my engine.  Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to support and Iowa farmer and do something that makes sense for the American economy, lessens dependence on foreign oil, and is good for the environment! 

Additional sources:

National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition supported by the American Lung Association

Live Green, Go Yellow

American Coalition for Ethanol