Election review and male voter participation

Election review and male voter participation - Part 1

by Bill Harrington

The 1994 election saw men voting together as a gender for the first time in American history. Not only did a significant percent of men vote together, their voting impact was felt all the way to Congressional leadership and to the White House. Front page articles in the New York Times and USA Today, plus an in-depth review in the Washington Post, on the male gender impact in the 1994 elections has resulted in the first ever discussion of men joining together to work for social change.

Instead of just Mothers Against Violence in America, maybe we will soon see a Fathers Against Violence in America. With 1,000,000 men (Promise Keepers) coming to the Washington, D.C. mall during the summer of 1996, the impact of male voting patters will continue to have a pronounced effect during the next Presidential election as well.

With issues like welfare reform and removal of the marriage tax liability, fathers, husbands and men in general will have a voice in the next Congressional session. The question is whether Congressional leaders will view these gender-voting men, mostly fathers, as an angry aberration, and ignore them, or will they look to the depth of voter reaction and try to listen and learn from these concerned men?

The question of whether Newt Gingrich will listen and adapt his legislative agenda on Family Value issues, including Positive Father Parenting Options in Welfare Reform, is a question to be played out over the next few months.

Martin Luther King said in 1963 that American history has shown that it is up to the oppressed to join together and work for change, that the oppressor never comes to the oppressed for crisis resolution. For years, especially the 1980's, the radical element of the women's rights coalition has castigated all husbands as wife beaters, and all fathers as child abusers. The Susan Smith debacle, played out through the tragedy of her two sons, has opened a new day of viewing single mothers as less than heroes, and perhaps will allow a new day to view most separated fathers as assets to their children emotionally and psychologically, as well as financially.

The question never asked of psychologists about Susan Smith was would she have killed both children if one or both were daughters? Why was custody of these two boys with David Smith such a frightening prospect? Was the false allegation of domestic violence against David Smith a signal that some other allegations of domestic violence alleged against other fathers may also not be justified? Maybe the whole Congressional stampede over the Violence Against Women Act as part of the Crime Bill was not fully justified. All of the above issues, and probably more, have joined together in 1994 to force a male gender voice in national politics, a balance voice that is long overdue.