Growing up in a conservative
household had never been an issue or even a thought in my head until my
sophomore year of high school. It was during the 2004 election when George W.
Bush ran against John Kerry that I realized I was different.
Being immigrants, both my parents held very traditional and
conservative ideals. High school in Jersey
City, New Jersey
turned out to be the wrong place for that. The students in my high school were
very opinionated, progressive, and liberal, looking down upon those who
supported the Republican Party. Needless to say, I hid behind my inability to
vote and hid my opinions from my friends and family.
Four years later, when voting became my responsibility; I
was stuck in the same situation, though this time unable to hide. Would I
vote for the Democratic candidate that promised change, or the Republican that
was “more experienced”?
But no matter who I picked, I knew that Obama would
win. He was well spoken and charismatic; he promised an end to the war, and a
return to economic balance. He reached out to appease hardworking Americans,
and sought to do away with Bush policies. The real question was: how would my
parents take it?
My father, a military man, trusted the aged McCain who was a
veteran himself. “The right person to handle this war is someone who
has been in one himself,” he’d say. To my mother, a seventy-two year old man
meant a wise leader with years of experience and conservative socio-economic
plans. I learned the anxiety of death looming around the corner must be an American
concept since no one in my family seemed to worry about McCain’s age. I agree.
Not many people I know would be worried if a relative of theirs turned
seventy-three.
The results of the election did not affect me as much as
they affected my family. On the night America made history, my home gave
a deep sigh.
Though I feel America chose a candidate who can
do the best for them, to my parents the inevitable happened. Since then, I have
come home to my parents’ different issues every night, the most recent of which
is the debate over whether or not my mother should take money out of her 401k
so she can invest it--- just on the chance that Obama lacks the ability to improve
the economy.
Yes, it seems absurd. Which is why my hope is that when he
takes office, Obama's plans reassure the most unlikely of supporters-
especially those as unlikely as my parents.
Mark DeGuzman is a Rutgers-Newark student. Posted November 2008.
