All Politics is Local (Again...)

I hate election season. I really do. I internalize debates too completely. And when autism became a hot button topic in the local delegate race, I went off the deep end. It couldn't be helped. That autism bill meant the world to me and I hadn't completely understood on some level the difference between the committee vote and the end run vote that Bob Marshall attempted. I took it all very personally. No kidding... my child has autism. Moreover, our school services are in flux (another post for another time) and right after we got our EDCD waiver, our facilitator told us to start building case for keeping our new found services as the powers that be were looking at cutting the participation of children on this waiver. When you catch one break, three other things just crap the bed on you. It's almost a siege mentality and it has just been awful.

This election to me as the parent of an autistic child is about two things to me - an insurance mandate and education funding, in particular special education funding. Those strong in education are easy to identify as they are usually approved by the local education association. That would be the Democrats for the big three offices and the local delegate Jackson Miller. The insurance mandate is a little tricker. It is why I have not been enthusiastic with my support for Creigh Deeds. When I met him months ago during the primary run, he spouted the lobbyist line that markets will met the need. Health care reform, anyone? Yeah, right. Jody Wagner has been a strong supporter for mandates since the beginning, so she gets my vote. Bill Bolling has been vocal in his lack of support of insurance mandates, which is not pro-family or pro-life, so I couldn't vote for him in a million years.

After my Deeds encounter, I honestly wanted to vote for McDonnell, if he had any sort of positive stand on autism. I think he has probably changed his views on women (his daughters likely beat it out of him), which were too horrible to ever be put on paper, but I find it appalling that these conservatives are given the pro-family, pro-life stamp of approval just because they are against abortion. Being against abortion is a matter of political expediency. If they were for all life, they would ensure that all children brought in to this world, health or sick, developmentally typical or disabled, received proper medical treatment and care. Yes Virgina, that includes insurance mandates. I know many would consider this argument self serving, but what do people think the end game is? Do we want medical research into treating autism or detection inutereo so this children aren't born? Politicians serve so many masters that they can't be 100% intellectually truthful on anything. Then again, maybe I can't be either. I used to be a Democrat. Now I am single minded on one issue and honestly, as far as Richmond goes, no one party is better than the other.

My head is in such a wrong place. Politics, smolotics, I can't wait for Wednesday...