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Voices From the Community

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My Mother, the Democrat

And why she still loves Bill Clinton

By Rene Ciria-Cruz/PNS

Like it or not, the Democratic Party’s base still loves Bill Clinton, like a mother loves a basically good son who can’t help but get himself into trouble every now and then.

That’s how my 83-year-old mom, who watched the Democratic National Convention on television, regards him. Al Gore should carefully handle the party rank-and-file’s abiding loyalty to Clinton as he separates himself from the morally stained president.

Mother likes America’s ill-starred royal family, the Kennedys, too. But Clinton, the commoner, is her man. “Marunong, mabait,” she said in Tagalog, meaning he’s intelligent and he has a good heart. “He just made a mistake.” Case closed.

My mother, Augusta, became a U.S. citizen four years ago, promptly registered as a Democrat and voted absentee for her Bill. She has become quite an American. She likes watching talk shows, car chases, Survivor—she loves Judge Judy—and last week she followed the Democratic convention on CSPAN.

She has become quite a partisan. I had to correct her misimpression that the networks were giving the Democrats less coverage than they gave the Republicans in Philadelphia.

“You didn’t even watch their convention,” my sister who lives with her said.

“I couldn’t stand watching them,” she replied. Mother reads and understands English perfectly; she’s just not very articulate. So when I asked why she didn’t like the Republicans, she merely said, “They irritate me.”

It’s shorthand for many things, but mainly for the gulf she feels separates her life from theirs. Like her, Clinton grew up on the dreary side of the tracks. Even his moral lapses were no different from the everyday failings of people in our gritty neighborhood in Manila. You can say Clinton is just a smooth-talking politician, but she doesn’t care.

“I like Hillary, too,” she declared, almost defiantly. “She spoke very well.” But I told her many people, especially Republican women, hate Mrs. Clinton. “They’re just envious,” was her curt reply.

That’s shorthand for many things too. She was curious, for example, if Tipper Gore is intelligent. “Did she finish?” meaning, did Tipper have a college education.

As a young girl in the Philippines my mother was asked to choose between going to college and sewing dresses. She chose the latter, a decision I think she has deeply regretted all her life.

So she’s not envious of Hillary Clinton and she doesn’t resent her ambitions. To my mom, Hillary Clinton is an accomplished woman who connected with her, especially during her speech at the convention. Case closed.

Other Clinton admirers I met gave clearer political views. Carlos Velasquez, a warehouseman who immigrated from Honduras 13 years ago, looked at my press tag as we boarded the subway train at a station. He asked excitedly if I personally saw Clinton speak. He was envious. “I was listening at work,” he said. “It was very, very good.”

“When I came here to Los Angeles, it was hard to find jobs. Very dangerous, violent in the streets. It’s much better now. More jobs and policemen so there’s less violence. He did it. He’s a good guy. Very good for us.” Velasquez sighed that he couldn’t vote. “But my mother can,” he said jabbing his finger in the air.

Cristina Seja, a custodial worker at Staples Center, who’s originally from Mexico, can’t vote either but was excited that she will be able to apply for citizenship next year. She stopped to listen to Clinton’s speech. “I like that he is making life better for everyone. Everyone. I like that he wants a higher minimum wage,” she said.

It’s as if the outgoing Clinton is still their candidate of choice. Al Gore’s challenge is to figure out just how far he can distance himself from his predecessor without suffering from a total disconnect.

Each morning I left my mother’s apartment—just three subway stops away from the convention—fortified with her breakfast of garlic fried rice and Spam or smoked fish. I think she was very proud that I was covering the Democrats. She thinks Al Gore is intelligent. But she asked me three times if he has a good heart.