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Winning My Mom’s Vote Convincing My Cuban Mom to Vote for Hillary
(about 11 hours later)
Lincoln, Neb. — The Cuban-American vote in Florida is a coveted demographic. I used to be part of this vote, but a recent out-of-state move means I’ve spent this week watching the campaigns work their way there from afar. I’m playing a different role this election. I’m an unofficial get-out-the-vote advocate for a dozen or so very disenchanted Cuban-American voters, the two of most immediate concern being my parents.Lincoln, Neb. — The Cuban-American vote in Florida is a coveted demographic. I used to be part of this vote, but a recent out-of-state move means I’ve spent this week watching the campaigns work their way there from afar. I’m playing a different role this election. I’m an unofficial get-out-the-vote advocate for a dozen or so very disenchanted Cuban-American voters, the two of most immediate concern being my parents.
Many Miami-born-and-raised Cubans in our late 20s and early 30s are facing this situation: Our parents have decided to sit this election out. Months ago, all over Miami-Dade County, I saw lawns dotted with signs proclaiming “This is Rubio Country.” These signs might just as easily have read, “A Cuban-American family lives here.” Even if they weren’t exactly fans of Marco Rubio, for many Miami Cubans, the prospect of having an American president of Cuban descent was too inspiring not to embrace. (Ted Cruz didn’t seem to count.) Let Puerto Ricans have the first Latina Supreme Court justice; we Cubans would go down in history as being the first Latinos to make it to the White House.Many Miami-born-and-raised Cubans in our late 20s and early 30s are facing this situation: Our parents have decided to sit this election out. Months ago, all over Miami-Dade County, I saw lawns dotted with signs proclaiming “This is Rubio Country.” These signs might just as easily have read, “A Cuban-American family lives here.” Even if they weren’t exactly fans of Marco Rubio, for many Miami Cubans, the prospect of having an American president of Cuban descent was too inspiring not to embrace. (Ted Cruz didn’t seem to count.) Let Puerto Ricans have the first Latina Supreme Court justice; we Cubans would go down in history as being the first Latinos to make it to the White House.
Because they rarely leave Miami, my parents took the literal signs in support of Mr. Rubio as a figurative one that he would win the campaign. States started coming in for Donald J. Trump, though, and in early March my parents called me in Nebraska to ask: “How is this happening? Who are these people voting for this clown?” Then it was Florida’s turn.Because they rarely leave Miami, my parents took the literal signs in support of Mr. Rubio as a figurative one that he would win the campaign. States started coming in for Donald J. Trump, though, and in early March my parents called me in Nebraska to ask: “How is this happening? Who are these people voting for this clown?” Then it was Florida’s turn.
The map of the Republican primary results from mid-March shows Florida as a solid Trump red, punctuated by a big purple dot at its end — Miami-Dade County, self-proclaimed Rubio Country.The map of the Republican primary results from mid-March shows Florida as a solid Trump red, punctuated by a big purple dot at its end — Miami-Dade County, self-proclaimed Rubio Country.
Though for years I’d bemoaned the fact that my parents were largely one-issue voters, I embraced this once Mr. Trump locked down the nomination. I urged them to please vote for one reason: to prevent a man who started his campaign with strong anti-Latino talk and whose supporters put out a robocall saying “Don’t vote for a Cuban” from winning the presidency. This was before we knew for sure whom I’d have to beg them to vote for.Though for years I’d bemoaned the fact that my parents were largely one-issue voters, I embraced this once Mr. Trump locked down the nomination. I urged them to please vote for one reason: to prevent a man who started his campaign with strong anti-Latino talk and whose supporters put out a robocall saying “Don’t vote for a Cuban” from winning the presidency. This was before we knew for sure whom I’d have to beg them to vote for.
Brave is the daughter who tries to persuade her Cuban mother to vote for a Clinton. “I can’t vote for that man’s wife,” my mother told me over the phone after the Democratic National Convention. She then announced that she wouldn’t be voting in November at all. Many Cuban-Americans, my parents included, hate Bill Clinton for several reasons, the most relevant one in this instance being that he was president when the Elián González saga occurred.Brave is the daughter who tries to persuade her Cuban mother to vote for a Clinton. “I can’t vote for that man’s wife,” my mother told me over the phone after the Democratic National Convention. She then announced that she wouldn’t be voting in November at all. Many Cuban-Americans, my parents included, hate Bill Clinton for several reasons, the most relevant one in this instance being that he was president when the Elián González saga occurred.
In their minds, the Clinton administration is solely to blame for the decision to send Elián — a young boy whose mother drowned as she fled Cuba with him in late 1999 — back to the island to live with his father in June 2000. Many speculate that it cost Al Gore the election, which of course hinged on Florida. In March 2000, Mayor Alex Penelas described Mr. Gore’s connection to the decisions on Elián as “guilt by association” and warned that Miami’s Cuban population would hold the Clinton administration responsible should the boy be sent back. He may have been right: 81 percent of the Cubans in Florida voted for George W. Bush in 2000, a higher percentage than had gone Republican in 1996.In their minds, the Clinton administration is solely to blame for the decision to send Elián — a young boy whose mother drowned as she fled Cuba with him in late 1999 — back to the island to live with his father in June 2000. Many speculate that it cost Al Gore the election, which of course hinged on Florida. In March 2000, Mayor Alex Penelas described Mr. Gore’s connection to the decisions on Elián as “guilt by association” and warned that Miami’s Cuban population would hold the Clinton administration responsible should the boy be sent back. He may have been right: 81 percent of the Cubans in Florida voted for George W. Bush in 2000, a higher percentage than had gone Republican in 1996.
In December of that year, during my annual checkup while I was home from college, my doctor — a Cuban man then in his early 50s — showed me a framed photo of a banner he and other men had hung off a Miami expressway overpass. It read: “Thank you, Elián. We Remembered in November.”In December of that year, during my annual checkup while I was home from college, my doctor — a Cuban man then in his early 50s — showed me a framed photo of a banner he and other men had hung off a Miami expressway overpass. It read: “Thank you, Elián. We Remembered in November.”
Historically, much of the animosity toward Democrats originated with the Kennedy administration. From a young age, I was told story after story about how John F. Kennedy had botched the Bay of Pigs invasion. This blame translated into a general distrust of the Democratic Party — a feeling that was beginning to fade with voters my parents’ age, until Elián reinvigorated it. While President Obama’s restoration of relations with Cuba opened up some productive family discussions, the grudge from 2000 persists.Historically, much of the animosity toward Democrats originated with the Kennedy administration. From a young age, I was told story after story about how John F. Kennedy had botched the Bay of Pigs invasion. This blame translated into a general distrust of the Democratic Party — a feeling that was beginning to fade with voters my parents’ age, until Elián reinvigorated it. While President Obama’s restoration of relations with Cuba opened up some productive family discussions, the grudge from 2000 persists.
“I can’t believe Marco Rubio actually endorsed what’s-his-face,” my mother said on the phone recently, Mr. Trump having taken on Voldemort status for us. “I hate Marco Rubio now. He didn’t show up for things because he was too busy running for president and then he gave that up. He didn’t do his job.”“I can’t believe Marco Rubio actually endorsed what’s-his-face,” my mother said on the phone recently, Mr. Trump having taken on Voldemort status for us. “I hate Marco Rubio now. He didn’t show up for things because he was too busy running for president and then he gave that up. He didn’t do his job.”
“But you have to do your job,” I said, hoping she missed the cheesiness of that segue. She caught it, though, and made a farting sound with her mouth. She said, “Whatever.”“But you have to do your job,” I said, hoping she missed the cheesiness of that segue. She caught it, though, and made a farting sound with her mouth. She said, “Whatever.”
I asked her to think of voting for Hillary Clinton as voting for herself, for all the times in her life when a man with less experience or training ended up as her boss. I asked her to think of it as a vote for me, or for my sister — two women whose commitment to their careers had sometimes caused conflict with the men in their lives. I even asked her to think of a vote for Mrs. Clinton as a vote for her future granddaughter, my sister’s baby. I didn’t care how cheap this sounded. I had no qualms about playing the gender card with her. Hadn’t she been willing to vote for Mr. Rubio out of similar allegiances?I asked her to think of voting for Hillary Clinton as voting for herself, for all the times in her life when a man with less experience or training ended up as her boss. I asked her to think of it as a vote for me, or for my sister — two women whose commitment to their careers had sometimes caused conflict with the men in their lives. I even asked her to think of a vote for Mrs. Clinton as a vote for her future granddaughter, my sister’s baby. I didn’t care how cheap this sounded. I had no qualms about playing the gender card with her. Hadn’t she been willing to vote for Mr. Rubio out of similar allegiances?
I’ve heard from more and more Cuban friends back home that their parents aren’t voting. Our families don’t seem to recognize all the times in history, as recently as 2000, that their own votes against a candidate have been a deciding factor. All I can do between now and November is urge them not to stay home in protest and to do what they’ve always done in times like this: Make their disgust for a candidate known by voting for the person running against him.I’ve heard from more and more Cuban friends back home that their parents aren’t voting. Our families don’t seem to recognize all the times in history, as recently as 2000, that their own votes against a candidate have been a deciding factor. All I can do between now and November is urge them not to stay home in protest and to do what they’ve always done in times like this: Make their disgust for a candidate known by voting for the person running against him.