Street Talkers: Election ’08
Age: 26
Residence: Sugar Hill, Harlem
Occupation: Journalist
Your Vote: In the Democratic primaries, I’d pick Hillary Clinton. Now I’ll wait for all the black people out there to say that I’m choosing my womanhood over my blackness! It’s not about that. I wanted to prefer Obama, but I was completely seeing it as a black-man, white-woman race, and it can’t be that way. Clinton answers questions with her intellect. Obama tells inspirational stories.
Do gay issues affect your choice? Well, I can’t say that gay issues are my only issues, but of course they play a part. I’m conscious of them, but I’m also a young person with spiraling debt, a black person in America, and a woman. My middle-class parents approaching retirement. I have to grapple with all of those identities and issues when I think about who I want to run this country.
Thirteen months from now YOU will choose a new president. So, if you know more about YouTube’s Obama Girl than you do about Barack’s policies, if you’re hot for Hillary yet don’t know her take on gay marriage, if you’re McLovin’ McCain or a Kucinich chick just ’cause you think he’s “nice,” you better start doing your research. Recently, we asked 10 of our NYC-based readers this question: If the election wree held tomorrow, who would get your vote?
Name: Lisa
Age: 41
Residence: Spanish Harlem
Occupation: Artist/Graphic designer
Your Vote: I am currently not sure who I will vote for. I lived in Florida during the whole Gore/Bush voting episode and was one of those people who left the voting booth unsure who I had really voted for, and since have lost motivation to follow the current candidates. While I know it is important, they do not have my full attention; as time gets closer I will be more apt to pay attention to the particulars that will affect my decision, however I am leaning towards the Democratic ticket.
Do gay issues affect your choice? Gay issues are very important to me, but not a determining factor. I believe there are many more significant issues that need to be addressed first, which aid the welfare of the people as a whole in our country. I need to be confident that who I choose will not only be able to maintain their word but execute it.
