American Politics in the 21st Century
By Robert Denson III

It was almost as if I were intended to be a part of the political process. One of my earliest memories of television news is the report of ABSCAM. I vaguely remember the end of the Watergate hearings and I remember seeing a disgraced ex-president Nixon giving the farewell salute/wave as he boarded the helicopter to an unknown future. When I was 5 1/2, I met Jimmy Carter on his peanut farm in Plains, Georgia. We have relatives in Americus, Georgia and one of my uncles knew him personally. At the time, Mr. Carter was just running for President. I remember shaking his hand and him saying to me "You grow up to be a strong man now, OK?" He went on to win the presidency (of course) in 1976.

I remember the Iranian Hostage situation and I remember the 1980 elections. Of course, I hated that Ronald Reagan won because "I knew" Jimmy Carter personally (yeah right) and I had been raised to be a "Yellow Dog Democrat". My dad was secretary of his chapter of the United Mine Workers labor union. Needless to say, he didn't like republicans and Nixon hadn’t helped his opinion. During the Reagan presidency, my ignorance of the parties caused me a serious reprimand.

I remember watching the news when the Air Traffic Controllers went on strike. As my family sat around the television and watched Edwin Newman (the 80’s version of Tom Brokaw), I remember President Reagan giving a speech; telling the air traffic controllers (in so many words), "You have 48 hours to come back to work or you are all fired and I'll hire new people." I said, "You go Ronnie! You don't let them people tell you what to do! They should do their job or get fired!" Needless to say, my daddy had 'words' with me.

By the time Ronnie (my term of endearment) left office, I was going into college and I loved Ronald Reagan (in the closet of course). I got drafted into the Alabama Democratic Conference (a black caucus) because my father was president of the local chapter--getting people to vote and making sure they got to the polls. This was the first election I could participate in and, of course, I voted for Mike Dukakis (even though I thought he had caterpillars growing over his eyes). I voted for Mike Dukakis not because I believed in what he stood for, but because I was expected to do. Needless to say, Dukakis lost.

My first college class was "American National Government". I was the only black person in that classroom. The professor had taken a liking to me and he set out to make an example of my opinion. He would hear my classmates’ views (because I would never raise my hand) and then he would ask me, directly, in front of the class "What do you think about that Mr. Denson?" I still have the college newspaper article in which he spoke about how he used me as an educational tool to the class because I was able to present a stance in which none had been exposed.

I wasn't a big fan of Bush 41, but I respected him when Operation Desert Shield turned into Desert Storm. He pulled no punches and in 19 days a victory was declared. I think George Bush was a good man—though he was once head of the CIA, he seemed as if he did not display much charisma in the political arena. Then, onto the scene, stepped William Jefferson Clinton.

I loved Bill Clinton because Bill Clinton loved the American people. I was actually old enough to understand the issues and what he was trying to say. Bill Clinton was the first successful presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter in which my family supported. As I said before, Bill Clinton loved the American People and you could tell it (and you still can). Throw your sticks at him, be mean to him, but the American People loved him and his legacy wouldn't be denied, no matter what it did. Bill Clinton was and is the epitome of politics. His political charisma equaled that of George Corley Wallace (which you might not know unless you are from Alabama).

By the time the 2000 election came around, I was well versed in Politics. I had my degree in Political Science and felt like I could run a campaign. George W. Bush stepped into the spotlight--bringing money, his daddy's name, hid daddy's staff and claiming Ronald Reagan's legacy. 

Al Gore, who was no doubt the heir apparent to Bill Clinton, seemed to sit back on his haunches and let Bush steam roll his campaign. I became disgusted at Al Gore because he obviously took my vote for granted. He hardly campaigned and he distanced himself from the man that made Al Gore's name even known, William Jefferson Clinton. (I met Al Gore in 1988 when he was campaigning for the democratic nomination and he spoke to the ADC--which I was a part of with my father). I did not like Al Gore's tactics and because of my upbringing, I couldn't bring myself to vote for a Republican. In 2000, I did something that I thought I would absolutely NEVER EVER do and am ashamed of to this day..................I didn't vote.

Since that point, politics has been at the forefront of American minds. The debacle of the election caused people to do what they should have been doing for years...participate! They just waited too late to speak up and Al Gore went back to Tennessee to "mend his fences".

The thing I absolutely love about this coming election is that PEOPLE ARE PAYING ATTENTION. Not to the point that is necessary or required, but they are at least looking. They are realizing that politicians do the things they do to the American people because they have hijacked the political system. How can they hijack the political system? Because they know that the American voter is lazy. They curse the crooked politician but don’t take the time to remind them of their campaign promises and the voters take the mentality that "they (the politicians) are going to do what they want to do anyway so why should I get involved?" This is precisely the reason they are able to hijack our system.

I don't care what party a person is affiliated--what I do care about is that they PARTICIPATE! Bring YOUR issues to the forefront. Get a collaboration of people and MAKE YOUR VOICE BE HEARD. The government will listen once they realize that we are keeping the accountable for their actions. I implore the American voter to make sure that the person that has been chosen to represent them actually REPRESENTS THEM. You hired them for the job, if they don't perform --FIRE THEM.