There was more activity and excitement surrounding the recent presidential election than most Americans living today have experienced in a lifetime. Throughout the nineties, the media presented convincing evidence showing continued apathy among registered American voters. Today, due to the excitement already mentioned, I suspect most of the apathy has dissipated, and that everyone has an opinion. More people were more passionate about the election than ever before.
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What is going on? What happened to the people who believe in social justice? The poor of the nation want to know what the leading Democratic presidential candidates intend to do about the issues that concern them the most. But those same candidates’ campaign staffs were tongue tied when they were given the opportunity to reach out to Chicago’s low-income communities.

As of press time, the two Democratic front-runners, U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and U.S. Sen. John Edwards (D-NC), continue to talk about their thoughts on the War with Iraq and what they intend to do about national security, health care, tax breaks and jobs for the middle-class, as well as environmental issues, during their national campaigns and debates.
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I did not have a particular interest in politics until a job search in Chicago gave me a firsthand view of the way “the game” was played here. My experience may interest the readers of Residents’ Journal.

My first introduction to politics was long distance and began in 1952. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was campaigning to become the 34th President of the United States, and his commercials and jingles–“I like Ike!”–dominated the airwaves. Eisenhower served two terms as President of the United States. I watched the president and Vice President Richard M. Nixon on television during the Republican convention. It was one long hullabaloo, with drums banging, trumpets blasting and voices bellowing. I wasn’t into politics. I was just observing white people on TV giving themselves a Grand Old Party. Later, from afar, I saw the election of John F. Kennedy and his assassination. My meager interest in politics continued through President Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration and through the end of his presidency in 1968.
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