Lively debates form political voice

My dad stirred up in a word or two some ugly political debates around our dinner table.

Holiday get-togethers, special occasions with my friends from school — no event was sacred.

I remember arguing with my family about contraceptives and sex education over Christmas dinner when I was 10.

The whole clan was riled over a suggestion that providing condoms at school would reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

I stood up and yelled across the table, “You have to give the children condoms so they won’t get AIDS.”

My Catholic relatives just stared at me, too shocked to speak.

The silence seemed to drag on for hours as I sunk lower and lower into my chair.

And there across the table sat dear old dad, beaming.

He reveled in those moments. Whether we agreed or not — and on that topic we didn’t — he always encouraged me to speak my mind.

It’s to his credit I never questioned the value of my opinion in the political process or the significance of my vote.

Reporting on elections gets more and more discouraging as so many people choose not to participate.

I didn’t have much faith that voters would turn out in any real numbers for the recent presidential caucuses.

I left my house on Saturday morning, Feb. 9, convinced that I’d find a handful of party loyalists and lots of empty chairs.

I was wrong.

Thousands of voters participated — many of them for the first time.

They began pouring into the caucus sites hours ahead of schedule.

Entire families turned out with infants and toddlers and teenagers.

Many people say it’s the weight of issues in this election that’s delivering voters to the polls — national security, the war in Iraq, the rising cost of health care and a slowing economy.

Add to those things an opportunity to make history — the chance to elect the nation’s first black or female president — and you have one hell of an exciting election.

Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, you can’t help but feel inspired by people’s engagement in the political process.

I respect anyone who takes the effort to research the issues and candidates in a given election and vote accordingly. It took me five years as a registered voter to separate my views from those of my parents.

While I regret pretty much every political decision I made between 1996 and 2001, I appreciate their role in shaping the person I am today.

I was really scared to tell my dad that I didn’t agree with his politics anymore, and he surprised me with an, “I’m so proud of you, young lady … you’ve finally started thinking for yourself.”

The old man still gets a kick out of pushing my buttons and luring me into arguments.

Political debates in my family often end with slamming doors and a string of expletives directed at anyone who disagrees with me; I wonder sometimes if my father didn’t push me to the opposite end of the spectrum just to liven up our dinner conversations.