Grace Babakhanian is an OffTheBus grassroots correspondent. Each week she contributes a campaign journal documenting her life out on the trail.
A few days after the final presidential debate, some thirty senior citizens who live in a Manhattan assisted living facility gather together to talk about the upcoming elections. Ranging in age from the upper sixties to the high nineties, nearly all are retired professionals who belong to a discussion group that meets regularly to consider political issues and current events. About a third of the group are male. Most of the members are former teachers, but among their ranks are a retired judge, an engineer, a physician, a lawyer, a postal worker, a psychologist, an occupational therapist and the office manager of a realty company.
The management, zealous in its protection of their residents' privacy, allows me to sit in on this meeting only if I agree not to mention the names of the participants or of the center itself. I notice that some of the group sidle into the attractively furnished lounge, aided by walkers. Others carefully maneuver their wheelchairs around armchairs and tables. But all are alert and sharp-witted, eager to deliver, what I suspect are often aired opinions, to new ears. They listen politely as I tell them I'm writing about this discussion in a journal for Huffington Post, an entity most seem never to have heard of.
We run into some logistical problems as people arrange themselves around the room. There is only one microphone which the program director, Millicent, intended for my use so that everyone - especially those with hearing problems -- can hear me. But many of the participants are soft-voiced, and Millicent volunteers to shift the microphone back and forth between the speakers and me. A woman sitting on my immediate right keeps advising me to "talk louder and not so fast." As we settle into the discussion, however, this becomes less of a problem.
Aware that the center has several computers at the disposal of its residents, I ask how many of those present ever use the Internet. Only three hands go up. Two of these, both belonging to men, have PCs in their own quarters. The rest wear blank looks, unconvinced that such forbidding looking machines can truly enhance their lives
So where do they get most of their information? From newspapers, radio and television, they tell me. Like many other Americans. "I read the New York Times, I watch CNN and PBS," says the lady in a purple sweater -- who I shall call Lorraine -- her tone implying: "Doesn't everyone?"
The retired judge (I've renamed him Jack), after keenly listening to every comment, declares, "From life. I get my information from the life I have lived, from all my varied experiences." It is he who later passionately insists that, as a child of the Great Depression, "that part of history has deeply shaped my life. I can't escape it." And Jack is much troubled that we are facing an event just as catastrophic. It's a theme he is to return to several times in the course of the discussion. Everyone agrees that the current financial crisis has greatly influenced the election. Like the rest of us, these lively people are worried about their about their savings and their pension plans.
Two weeks before the election, there is no one here who is undecided. Asked about their party affiliations, five admit to being registered Republicans, three declare they are Independents, and the rest are Democrats. For the duration of the one and a half hours we are together, I cannot get the Republicans to express their opinions. I find this troubling, and make some preachy remarks about how democracy cannot flourish if we don't all get to air our views, regardless of how unpopular they may be in our immediate community. But I finally have to accept that the Democrats in the room are either more eloquent than their Republican neighbors or, what is more likely, that people get tired of feeling they belong to a minority, and learn to keep their opinions to themselves.
These well-educated people are interested in most of the issues that have come up in the debates -- the economy, the war, education, health care -- but they do believe that some, such as Social Security, are more critical for them, and are not discussed enough. Clara, one of the ex-teachers complains about the taxes on many of the safeguards built into the system. "It was Reagan who started taxing Social Security and Unemployment Insurance," she reminds us, "and it's an unfair practice."
Joan talks about her son, a medical doctor who has always voted Republican until now. "He's been very angry at the lawyers." she says. "They're always encouraging law suits and boosting the cost of medical insurance." I get the impression that this time, however, and mainly because of the economy, Joan's son will be voting for the Democratic candidate.
When the subject of race is introduced, Jack, the former judge and college professor, says that if we elect a black president, it will boost our standing in the world. "Obama is a remarkable man who happens to be black," he says. Jack compares the Democratic candidate to FDR "who was the right man for those troubled times after the Crash, and I think Obama has the same qualities to cope with these times."
An unidentified man across the room shouts, "But we don't want to elect someone just because he's black." Yet another unidentified man believes Obama has been accepted "because he is half black, half white. People don't see him as a typical black man."
This triggers a heated discussion about relations between the races. Norma describes the experience of black and white students in the lunchroom in the Rockland County high school where she taught. "The blacks always stick together, not wanting to mix with whites." Mildred, another ex-teacher, disagrees. "I went to school with blacks and Italians in Rockaway and there were never any problems." Hannah chimes in, saying that back in the 40s when she attended Washington Irving High School here in Manhattan, "black and white students mixed, and I remember making good friends with some of the blacks. Race was never an explosive issue there." Now stories fly back and forth, each relating contradictory personal experiences.
"Racism is an American problem" Lorraine insists, recalling that many years ago, she had visitors from Mexico "who were shocked at how blacks were treated in this country." Another woman talks about how American society has evolved, saying that young people today don't struggle so much with these issues. "Look at how many white youngsters have come out volunteering for Obama."
Eleanore, also a former teacher, says she first heard Obama speak.at the Democratic convention in '04. "I was very impressed. I remember thinking 'this man is smart. He learns by listening.'"
When I bring up the much talked about Bradley effect, the theory that many people lie when they tell pollsters they intend to vote for a black candidate, several in the group say it's possible that could be true as well in this election. But most don't think so.
There is much talk and laughter about Joe the Plumber, but Jonah, one of the youngest members of the group, is troubled that when Joe questioned Obama about taxes, he was told "we'd like to spread the wealth around." That's now being interpreted as socialism, he says. It's an issue that in the last days of the campaign is being hotly debated on the talk shows, and used by some in the McCain camp to label Obama as an enemy of democracy, even a Marxist.
I ask if the debates have played a role in their voting decisions. Ed seems to speak for most of his companions when he says, emphatically, "they were a complete waste of time, of money and energy." Everyone complains about the "divisiveness and negativity" in both campaigns. "They nauseate me," says Lorraine, wrinkling her face.
Has anyone in the group ever considered voting for a third party candidate? One woman says she likes Ralph Nader, "who has always represented the poor. But I see him as a possible spoiler." A few women admit to having been disappointed that Hillary was not the nominee. Hannah feels that "Obama made a terrible decision in not picking her as a running mate. Together they would have made a great ticket."
Another woman later confides that she was furious when Hillary lost. "I was one of the people who threatened either to vote for McCain or stay home," she says. "But of course I changed my mind. This election is too important for me to hold a grudge."
They all agree that Palin was a terrible choice to be McCain's running mate. Joan remembers when McCain returned from his imprisonment in Viet Nam and how she, like so many other Americans, admired him. Now when she sees him in the debates, he has a "frozen look" on his face, and she can't understand how he could have chose, Palin.
Some of the grandparents speak fondly of their grandchildren who, they say proudly, are on the right side of so many issues. "Do you find you are learning from them?" I ask one woman. "Not at all," she says, a little haughtily. "It's they who are learning from me."
If there is one issue that sets this group apart from other, mostly pro-Obama supporters, it's probably their intense reaction to the economic crisis. Jack's remarks about the Great Depression strike a sympathetic chord in all who grew up in its wake. Having lived through it once, they are afraid of watching history repeat itself.
I see that our time is up, and I notice that in a corner of the room, just behind me, a man is soundly asleep. I am pretty sure he was awake when we began our discussion. Not for the first time I am awed by how New Yorkers, who are always surrounded by noise, can fall asleep in the least conducive conditions. Can this man, I wonder, be one of the few outnumbered Republicans in the group?
As the convivial residents file out of the lounge, one slender and spry lady waylays me. "I'm 98," she says, obviously accustomed to looks of disbelief such as the one on my face. "And I still remember graduating from college in 1929, just as the Stock Market crashed. I was a math major, and the only employment I could find was, not teaching in a school as I'd hoped for, but at Macy's as a cashier. They thought my math would be helpful." She knows that she was one of the lucky ones.
I share with her the memory of my father losing his job and how our family had to go on Home Relief, the welfare program in those days. These recollections seem so much sharper when I hear stories from other survivors of that era. Like them, I worry that my children will have their own economic disaster to outlive -- and remember.
I say goodbye to everyone, promising to return for more discussion after the election.
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