Over on Daily Kos, someone wrote a diary on people with disabilities and the how our interests fit into the Democratic Party’s agenda. It’s not a bad analysis, but I might try to write a follow-up diary if I have the time. He glosses over some of the reasons why people with disabilities aren’t more engaged in politics, including the rampant poverty that persists in the disability community. My experience in the 2004 campaign showed me that it’s difficult to engage people on political issues when they’re preoccupied with finding a PCA to get them out of bed in the morning. The author wants to know why there aren’t more politicians with disabilities. That misses the point. The real question is why aren’t there more teachers, business owners, accountants, computer programmers, attorneys, journalists, pastors, actors, mechanics, doctors, salespeople, and so on and so on with disabilities?
