My little politics blog

Comment of the Day: Countering Paris and Britney

At the Stump, Mike thought Obama should have agreed to the proposed town hall meetings with the gaffe-prone McCain. In the comments jobeek2 saw town hall debates as one way to deflect the recent attack ads comparing Obama to celebrities:

In 2004, the Republicans used the summer lull of non-news to ceaselessly hammer out the trivia of character assassination, and it worked. They're trying it again now, and indeed, for days now all the media is reporting regarding Obama is Britney and Paris Hilton stuff. This is Not Good. If Obama had agreed to a series of townhall debates, those encounters would have sucked up all the attention, and we wouldnt have had the news vacuum in which rumours and slander thrive. Plus, if confronted every month in a live to-and-fro himself with Obama, McCain would either not have been able to keep up the low trivia attacks at all, or would have ended up contradicting and muddling them by taking an opposite tack in the debates. I thought Obama should have agreed to the townhall debates even if it *had* been strategically disadvantageous, just because it would have been good for political culture and discourse, for the country basically. But even on a strategic level, participation would have escaped Obama the sordid mess he's confronting now.

You neglect a very important point - Evan Bayh bores the pants off of all human beings with a pulse. Hell, he even bores the dead. My God, the man in boring. Dreadful on the stump, he makes me pine for folks like Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad (I have lived in both North Dakota and Indiana in the past).

He makes Kerry look scintillating. He creates narcolepsy whenever he opens his mouth. People vote for him because they had pleasant dreams during his speeches. He should be our secret weapon against terrorists - we could send him to the border region of Pakistan and Afghanistan with his standard speech and a bullhorn and we would be certain never to hear from any of them ever again as they drifted into naps that would have done Rip Van Winkle proud. Lions and lambs lay down together when he opens his mouth because the irresistable waves of blissful slumber slam their eyelids shut. Do you know why honeybees have been dying off in record numbers - yep, listening to so many Bayh speeches that they have starved to death as they slept record numbers of hours. The Guiness Book has taken "World's Most Boring Person" out the last few volumes because Bayh is still active in politics and it wouldn't be cricket to get anyone else's hopes up. The Ambien people keep trying to slap him with restraint of trade injunctions. (Of course, with Evan, you never really have to worry about the bizarre side-effects associatied with Ambien - with Bayh, once you are out, you are out.)

Goodness gracious, if nothing else, have pity on Gwen Ifil, what did she ever do to deserve such punishment?

Both of the previous messages in this thread [below] are based on the suppositions that (a) campaigns (Obama's, McCain's or any other national candidates) know how to reach our community and (b) they either chose not to or are too incompetent to do so. I would propose a third possibility: No one [in either campaign] has a clue how to reach out to, tap into or otherwise network among the highly social community which we represent.

For instance, I was canvassing door-to-door around Cleveland this spring -- reading a lot of lips, in fact -- until I reached the house of an elderly African American couple where the wife was looking over my shoulder as I spoke, in order to read what was on my clipboard. I promptly switched to ASL and confirmed she understood, then we and her husband shared a fantastic rapport and enthusiasm for Obama thereafter. Was there any mention of hearing status or TTY in the donation records for this family? Absolutely not! So, if the system isn't monitoring who we are, it cannot adapt and interface with us effectively. (If you think this is an Obama-specific issue, think again ... and again ... and again.)

Throughout the Obama-supporting community, there are many who are accustomed to being "dissed" (disrespected) for who they are or what they represent. It's so easy for us to then feel excluded yet entitled to better treatment by this otherwise transformative campaign. What I have learned traveling over several states and to many events, however, is that the Obama campaign is not novel or unique in its approach to addressing these sentiments of grievance and entitlement. Instead, Obama the candidate and his organization ARE exceptional in encouraging ordinary folks like you and me to go out and make the difference ourselves -- regardless of what makes us physically different from the gal or guy next door -- and not wait any longer for someone to come to us (or respond to our pleas) to provide help.

With this in mind, I'd like to encourage us -- all who are reading this message -- to consider how we as deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans can mobilize ourselves to reach out to those 36.1 Million fellow citizens with whom we share this plight and culture, how we can get ourselves collectively involved in the process, make our words read and understood by those who will represent us in the White House and elsewhere hereafter.

Make no mistake, the 2008 Presidential election WILL be won by less than 36 million votes. Thus if we want an American future owned and delivered by all Americans, we need to take our responsibility beyond emails to overloaded campaign staffers in conventional campaign positions. We need to figure out how to reach concerned citizens among the 36.1 Million; make sure they are registered to vote and informed regarding the issues, where and how to vote; and make sure as many as possible are able to vote on (or via absentee ballot before) election day, less than 100 days from today.

And if we do all that, I reflect upon Jame's initial question, "What would happen?"

Your constructive thoughts, ideas and proposals here for our actively moving forward together are most welcome....

According to the 2000 US Census, 36.1 million Americans say they have hearing problems. As for ASL users, you are correct; they number between 500,000 and 1 million.

I am Deaf; 105 db loss in the left ear; 95 db loss in the right. I went from using two hearing aids to just one. I no longer have any residual hearing in my left ear. I do not sign because I lost my hearing over an extended period of time due to noise exposure. Of course, I was not at all aware of the risks or cause while it was happening.

The National Association for the Deaf has asked ALL candidates, dating back to October 2007, to caption ALL videos and to keep tabs on those who do and don't. The NAD is supporting legislation that ALL videos on the internet be captioned. They hope to accomplish on the internet what has been accomplished on TV. A small section for video captioning is unacceptable.

Your ideas about ASL videos are fine.

I have repeatedly, since January 2008, requested lists for TTY phone banking and email contacts from the campaign. While the response is positive, no one has done anything other than to send me on a referral odyssey. Sorry, I've been there and done that WAAAAY too many times for other accommodation issues regarding the Deaf/HOH with governmental bureaucracies.

We are a very diversified group. Most of the hearing people I know are totally clueless about us, as I've been forced to learn. I function in a primarily hearing environment yet I don't really fit. People think I hear much better than I actually do. Perhaps if we could present a panorama of the myriad types of hearing loss, from mild to profound; hearing aid users to cochlear implantees; ASL users, we could get the point across that we are large, diversified and a potentially powerful political group.

When we were down to 3 candidates, Clinton, McCain and Obama- I e-mailed all three campaigns at the same time with the same access request. McCain had a seat on our Board of Trustees; a clear connection to the Deaf Community and Gallaudet yet I have yet to hear anything from them. Senator Clinton had Gallaudet students in her Senate office and volunteering for her campaign- I never got a response. The Obama people e-mailed me 45 minutes after I sent the e-mail asking about shareware or software they could use- they had also clearly googled me and knew that I have written about disability issues and Deaf issues professionally. That clinched my vote. They are making an effort, so please give them at least some credit for what they have done while continuing to push for full access. I find this ensures people are more receptive.

As I said in my last e-mail, we should be following the example of Obama and look for common ground and a way to work together. I have had contact with the Obama people and have a bit of an advantage being in Washington, DC. In general, I believe that people are good hearted but since the are not Deaf, they do not not see the barriers we see. Engaging with these people or organisations in a positive way always get me further than being confrontational/ negative from the get-go. That does not mean the you do not push for access, of course you do, but coming from a place of anger or taking to people like 'you are too stupid to get it' gets you no where- people tune you out. I think we need to stay positive, and have a dialog rather than a confrontation. Isn't this the foundation of Obama's campaign- that when we work together, we can accomplish great things. The angry, partisan politics of the past is why we are where we are politically- this includes both domestic and international politics. Senator Obama has promised to bring the new United Nations convention of the Rights of Persons with disabilities; his campaign staff and volunteers have been very open to me. There are people like Lynn (thank-you a million times) who are working to ensure access. Rather than damning them for what they have not done, we should first acknowledge what they have done. That is the point I was trying to make.

I just wanted to take a moment to thank-you and the other volunteers who are doing the captioning work on the Obama homepage. I have actually had pretty good luck in contacting the Obama people. I am in Washington, DC and that helps. Also being a Professor of Government is certainly a help as I can talk the political talk.

I was trying to convey that the progress that has been made should be acknowledged when asking for additional access. I do a lot of work on disability issues and have been involved with people that worked on the UN disability convention which Obama has promised to bring to the Senate- confrontation has it place but continuous confrontation divides when we need to unite. In the end, that is the Obama message and the reason I am supporting his campaign.

Also, when I see videos go out in emails that could just as easily have been captioned, I cringe. They miss the 10% of Americans with hearing difficulty, and the 20% of American residents who don't speak English as their first language.

We also haven't had much success coordinating with the campaign, but are supportive in any case. His message of inclusiveness would be MUCH stronger if the videos on the website were captioned. They did a little of that at the beginning, but beyond that there has been no effort as far as I can tell.

Dear Deaf Americans,

Obama def. needs our help during the final 77 days of his campaign! As others noted here, roughly 10% of America has some kind of hearing impairment -- that's a larger percentage than the difference between the top candidates in current presidential polls. As you know, that also means that millions of "hearing-liberated" voters are searching for non-oral evidence to support our reason to vote ("Why bother?") and our selection ("Why Barack? Why not John?").

Earlier this month, I met with Obama staffers in Arlington,* VA to ask whether/how deaf Americans can get involved with the campaign to get Barack elected. They responded very positively that there are countless needs which leverage our advantages: from making signs and writing blogs and op-ed pieces to helping prep materials and resources and even data entry at local campaign offices. [Perhaps most importantly,] they encouraged us to raise awareness in all circles we enter regarding why we feel Obama is the best choice for deaf Americans and ALL Americans.

You don't need some fancy TTY phone bank list to do so, either. Simply go to those you know and tell them how you feel, why you believe in his ability to bring us together as a nation, to help us to change the direction of our society for the better, and to make the next 8 years remarkably more wonderful than the past 8 have been for our nation. You can do that face-to-face in public places or community events, via TTY or Internet or even on local TV. You can also:

keep informed on the latest Obama and McCain news (e.g., via news.google.com news feeds)

help with voter registration among [Obama-leaning?] communities and precincts in your area

hand out flyers with your perspective (and perhaps a few Obama stickers too)

wear -- or even create -- Obama gear to billboard your beliefs

road trip to "swing states" and go door to door (if able and comfortable doing so, as I have done in 3 states - an overwhelmingly positive experience)
fund-raise for Obama (he's still the underdog, btw, once you include McCain+RNC war chest vs. Obama+DNC) through house parties, dance-a-thons or marathons, even garage sales and bake sales!
Republicans, Independents, Democrats -- Americans one and all -- this is OUR campaign for change! So, whatever you like to do and works for you will help our campaign too! To get involved locally or purchase paraphernalia, you can visit the barackobama.com Web site. Otherwise, flag down a few Obama-friendly friends and brainstorm something to do which would be fun and meaningful to you, and "impactful" on Obama's election too!

With only 77 days left until E-Day, 2008 is going to be the year that every Obama volunteer and presidential vote counts. It takes a global village (if you include Americans abroad) to "Barack the Vote" this year and make us once again proud to be Americans. Everyone has ideas, enthusiasm and energy to contribute to making our nation a better place by electing Obama as our next President. ("USA begins with U!")

Thanks to all of you for your ongoing contributions towards helping Deaf Americans -- and all Americans -- elect Barack Obama for President in 2008!

I wish you the very best in your efforts to obtain dual cochlear implants. I suspect I may be following in you footsteps at some point in the future, but not quite yet. In the interim, I start as a associate professor at a hearing-dominated university next week, bringing along lots of 3x5s for students to write down their questions and comments. ("Where there's a will...")

You misread my message if you thought I said or implied anything about "limiting our possibilities." In fact, I explicitly encouraged each individual to pursue things according to your own abilities and potential, however defined. My examples were purely illustrative. I am delighted to read you have provided others. Thank you!

Regarding "TTY lists" or "email lists of prospective voters," it's not simply a matter of the Campaign denying you access to lists which exist. There simply is no structure built into this presidential campaign (or any prior or current one, as far as I know) for integrating TTY or email lists of those who are not already supporters. (Federal laws require names and addresses, not TTY or email addresses for donors). Is that near-sighted? Absolutely. Will it change in the next 11 weeks before the election? I am told, "We're afraid not."

So, in the interim, you and I have already demonstrated various ways we can contribute. In addition, posting comments on blogs and news items DO get read by folks -- perhaps many more folks than respond to phone calls. Folks can also join non-Obama groups which might be interested in more information on his policies, solicit questions, then research and provide answers. As you suggest, the possibilities are limitless -- within the constraints of 11 weeks until election day, an election we must win by moving ahead with whatever we've got on hand, regardless of its current state of perfection.

Good luck!

PS Perhaps during or after this election, you will help candidates to find ways to institutionalize capturing of email and TTY information in donors and voters databases. I, for one, hope never to have to provide such information. Let me invite those whom I like communicate with me in these media -- the rest, vamos!