Disabling Voter Apathy

The American Association of People with Disabilities, the Epilepsy Foundation, and a consortium of other groups recently concluded their historic live presidential debate webcast.

Offering far better public policies than the current status quo, the forum participants provided thoughtful comments.

Hillary Clinton stated that she will appoint 100,000 qualified people with disabilities to paying jobs in five years. Limits on the amount of work which people can legally perform before losing their health care assistance will be removed.

The long-term benefits from increased public participation by people with disabilities will not be wasted. Bureaucrats who used the same programs which they now administer remain intimately connected to the communities being served.

Both Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel personally ‘outed’ themselves as people with disabilities during the forum. Like myself today, their early experiences — and challenges — ultimately led to their public service.

Though the forum was officially non-partisan, the personal attendance and active participation by several Democratic candidates delivers a very important wake-up call. The Republican’s only participant, Senator John McCain, couldn’t even bother to personally attend — instead opting for a call-in!

Entering that room, he and all of the other missing candidates would have quickly realized that their outdated stereotypes of what makes an 'important event' has crippled their ability to run a 21st century campaign.