My Father Probably Would Have Voted for Bush

North Miami Beach, Florida 2-3 Aug. 3, 2000 Aaron H. Schectman

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Essays on issues, ideas and reflections on the times. Published now and
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MY FATHER PROBABLY WOULD HAVE VOTED FOR BUSH

I have tried many times to figure out how my father's thought processes
worked. This was quite difficult because he was a taciturn man and we didn'
t talk. I have to go by what I saw and observed in the snatches of time
growing kids have when connecting to a parent like mine.

My father came to this country at the age of 9 and went to Omaha Nebraska
to live with a branch of his family that arrived earlier. He came back east
with a decidedly mid-western American accent. I know he spoke Yiddish and
Russian but he rarely used these languages except when he wanted a private
conversation with my mother they spoke Yiddish.

I was astounded to learn my father belonged to the Republican Party after
he and my mother sold their grocery store, vacationed in Florida and then
retired to Long Branch, New Jersey where, coincidentally, years later I
became a professor at Monmouth College (later, Monmouth University). My
father liked to visit neighbors and chat with them. He smoked cigars and
read the newspaper and commented on the affairs of the day. I have no other
clues about what he thought or believed in.

However, being a college graduate and veteran of World War II, and using
hindsight, I figured out why he joined the Republicans. My father was a
businessman - a decidedly small businessman but this didn't matter. He had
made it in America. He was disturbed by workingmen demanding more than
their bosses were willing to give them. My mother was my father's worker.
She put in long hours and slaved harder than a wage earner, but she shared
in his enterprise. I think she leaned to the Democrats.

My father probably would have voted for Bush. He never could understand
why I championed unions, minority rights and things like the ERA amendment.
He was "old country European" but also "self-made" American. Yes, he
probably would have voted for Bush.
Carol's Evaluation: 9.5 out of 10.