EDITORIAL: A nationwide civics lesson (11/26/00)

EDITORIAL

A nationwide civics lesson

This year's presidential election - undecided nearly three weeks after the fact - is the closest race in terms of the popular vote since 1960, when John F. Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon by about 100,000 votes, and in terms of electoral votes the closest since 1876, when Republican Rutherford B. Hayes beat Democrat Samuel J. Tilden by a single electoral vote. Our newspaper pages and our airwaves have been inundated with information about the still-too-close-to-call 2000 race and possible outcomes.

Though this election is not yet over, it is not too soon to begin thinking about the next one and the Ukrainian American community's role in it.

Clearly, the 2000 election demonstrated the importance of each and every voter. It also showed how much power a bloc of voters can potentially wield. Just consider the number of states where the votes for the two major party candidates were awfully close. And then take a look at some of the so-called "battleground states": Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Florida, etc. Couldn't the Ukrainians, or other Central and East Europeans, have had an impact on the 2000 elections? You bet!

But were we prepared? Were we involved? Was our vote courted by the major parties? Regrettably, the answer to all of the above has to be: no.

Let's be frank: How active are Ukrainian Democrats and Ukrainian Republicans during the years when there aren't major elections? And even when there are major elections, as was the case this year, why do they surface only at the last moment - right before Election Day? Just take a look at this paper. When did the advertisements for Gore and Bush appear? In the last two possible issues before Election Day: October 22 and October 29. (Illinois Ukrainians for Bush/Cheney placed an ad on October 22; Bush Cheney 2000 Inc. placed another the following week. Ukrainian-Americans for Gore-Lieberman and the League of Ukrainian Voters took out ads in the October 29 issue, as did the Democratic National Committee.)

But was there a real grassroots movement of Ukrainians for Gore or Ukrainians for Bush? We certainly did not see any evidence of it. Our October 15 editorial noted that fact and suggested that, though there were no "big" Ukrainian issues, there really were issues of concern to Ukrainian Americans that should have been addressed by the candidates. The inattention to us as a community notwithstanding, we urged our readers to get out and vote. (It should be pointed out that this newspaper is an official publication of the Ukrainian National Association, which, as a fraternal and tax-exempt organization, is not permitted to endorse any political candidate.)

Another telling fact about the 2000 elections is that the ethnic vote appears to have been discounted by both campaigns. Let us cite two weighty pieces of evidence.

The Ukrainian National Information Service in June prepared a questionnaire that was sent to the two major party candidates. The intent of the questionnaire was twofold: to raise the consciousness of the two presidential campaigns about issues that concern the Ukrainian American community and, in turn, to inform our community about the candidates' positions. The questionnaire covered U.S. foreign assistance to Ukraine; programs of the U.S. Agency for International Development; Russian foreign policy towards Ukraine; security guarantees for Ukraine; the consequences of Chornobyl; U.S. immigration policy; and the possibility of permanent normal trade relations with Ukraine. As there was no response by October, UNIS again contacted both campaigns in an attempt to secure their responses. There were none.

Similarly, the Central and East European Coalition, which comprises 19 national organizations representing more than 22 million Americans, had sent a questionnaire - on key issues of concern to that constituency, such as the defense budget, NATO enlargement, aid to Central/Eastern Europe, Russian imperialism, immigration and reform of the Immigration and Naturalization Service - to the Bush and the Gore campaigns back in April. A reminder was sent, but, you guessed it, no response.

What could Americans of Central and East European descent deduce from the above? That they do not matter? If that was their conclusion, then it is plausible that they also decided it did not matter whether they went out to vote. Thus, both campaigns no doubt lost significant votes.

And, so, as Election 2000 continues, we offer the above information for consideration to our community members and our sometime party activists, as well as to the leaders of U.S. political parties. We, too, are American voters.

| Home Page |