Time to Think Strategically

We've never seen a presidential election cycle like this one. Those of us with experience and interest in the lives of persons with disabilities have a unique opportunity if we think strategically about how to approach presidential campaigns of our choice. The problem right now is that "disability issues" are seen as minority, niche issues. Most candidates do not see the value of talking about or including references to people with disabilities in their statements at this point. We need to change that. To do so they must recognize where candidates are and start there.

For example, the Democrats -- Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders talk about income inequality and the need to raise the minimum wage (O'Malley too). They talk about a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, how to provide greater access to higher education, and preserving and extending healthcare coverage to those who need it. We need to give them examples about how the policies they are talking about would benefit or hurt people with disabilities. We need to connect our issues to these broader themes. If we give them examples of how their policies would benefit people with disabilities they will use our examples in their stump speeches, debate answers, and in town hall exchanges.

The 12(?) Republican candidates talk about tax reform, boarder tightening, family supports, entitlement reform, job creation, threats from terrorists, over regulation that strangles the economy, and government not working for the people. Here too we must take on these broader issues and connect them to the lives of people with disabilities. For any policy they pose on these issues, how would it affect people with disabilities? We need to tell them. We have the opportunity to ask for a carveout, exemption, or clarification. If they agree with the idea, they will talk about it to show how much greater or smarter they are compared to their opponents or how different they are from them.

No one is going to elevate us to the "mainstream" unless we do it first. We are very adept about talking about our specialness. In this political cycle we must engage the campaigns in a smart way by talking to them FIRST about the issues that are in the forefront and how they affect us. By doing so they will see us as a vital voter block and not a niche group. Once we see candidates using examples concerning people with disabilities when talking about the benefits of policies they propose, then we can begin to introduce them to issues that are more disability specific.

I recommend that we all checkout www.therespectabilityreport.org. There we will learn what all presidential candidates are talking about. Then sit down and discuss how we would approach them and what we would share about how the candidates' policies would affect people with disabilities.

Remember we are part of the mainstream of America!

Thank you.
Common Grounder

Iowans with Disabilities, Friends, and Families: Engagement Time Is Here!

Engagement time is here. I know you know that. I can’t believe we still have so many candidates– 16.  My source was RespectAbility USA and its presidential campaign blog – therespectabilityreport.org. RespectAbility teams are on the ground in Iowa and New Hampshire interacting with all campaigns.

Of course, being a political junkie, I found out a few things myself too. For example, there was a news clip, I believe on CNN, where Jeb Bush commented on how meeting and being educated by a parent with a child with a significant disability helped him understand and improve Florida state services to people with developmental disabilities. That story is also part of his bio. It’s available on his website – https://jeb2016.com/?lang=en. And lo and behold, five days (11/7/16) later on the Tonight Show with Stephen Colbert, John Kasich included people with a developmental disabilities in a list of people government should assist. We are starting to see sign language interpreters at big events associated with the Clinton and Sanders campaigns. I am doing research on whether campaigns are captioning their videos.

What do these random points imply? Candidates are going to invest time and energy in groups who help separate them from the pack. We represent 56 million – that’s a pretty big group. We also have many friends and families. However, candidates will not “discover” us unless we engage them and share our concerns and priorities. In fact, if we were to hold a candidates’ debate on disability issues right now we would probably be seeing 12 or more “deer-in-the-headlights” expressions. So please take the time to go to town halls, other events to which candidates come, and to the caucuses (2/1/2016).  The Desmoines Register keeps a calendar on candidates' schedules – http://data.desmoinesregister.com/iowa-caucus/candidate-tracker/index.php.

Those of you who live in Iowa are very important to the rest of us. What you do to elevate issues that are important to people disabilities will affect the status of these issues in other states. Below is contact information for the senior person in Iowa for each candidate. Please connect with the campaigns in which you have a strong interest. Ask them questions and tell them what is on your mind. Weigh in on the economy, tax reform, the cost of college, raising the minimum wage, and immigration, entitlement reform and how their proposals would work or not work for people with disabilities. In reality we are not a niche group. We are mainstream America! Those of you in Iowa need to let the candidates know this.   The contact information is below, please use it.

Candidates	Iowa State Director	E-mail address	Twitter
Bush (R)	Annie Kelly	akelly@jeb2016.com	@annie_kelly
Carson (R)	Ryan Rhodes	ryan.rhodes@carsonhq.com	@RyanRhodes
Christie (R)	Phil Valenziano		@PhilValenziano
Clinton (D)	Matt Paul	mpaul@hillaryclinton.com	@MattPaulIA
Cruz (R)	Bryan English	benglish@tedcruz.org	@be_iowa
Fiorina (R)	Chris Rants	crants@carlyfiorina.com	@c_rants
Graham (R)	Tracie Gibler	tgibler@grahamhq.com	@traciegibler
Huckabee (R)	Sarah Huckabee Sanders		@SarahHuckabee
Jindal (R)	Matt Horihan		@matthorihan
Kasich (R)	Cory Crowley
O’Malley (D)	Jake Oeth	joeth@martinomalley.com	@jakeoeth
Patacki (R)	No information found.
Paul (R)	Steve Grubbs	steve@victoryenterprises.com	@sgrubbs
Rubio (R)	Jack Whitver	jack@jackwhitver.com	@jackwhitver
Sanders (D)	Robert Becker	becker@berniesanders.com	@rbecker51
Santorum (R)	Walt Rogers	walt@waltrogers.org	@waltrogersforia
Trump (R)	Chuck Laudner	claudner@donaldtrump.com

Thank you.

Common Grounder

Campaign 2016: Are You In?

Attention to issues affecting people with disabilities is slowly seeping into debates and on some websites. However, the soundbite world we live in doesn't allow for much elaboration. As we ponder how to make attention to our issues more comprehensive and systematic there are four things we need to keep in mind.

First, we have to keep the pressure on campaigns by contacting and sharing suggestions with them continuously. If we delay our communications to a later time with the 20 plus campaigns out there, we will not become a first-tiered niche to which candidates respond. We need to test ideas now and see if they have traction, in essence, to see if they show up in speeches and questions asked at debates. As the candidate field narrows and if our issues stay in the mix of what is emphasized, we will know we have become a higher-tiered niche.

Second, we must ramp up our efforts up. Hillary Clinton has added a website page on disability rights (https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/disability-rights/)? A PAC supporting Bernie Sanders has a page on disability issues (http://feelthebern.org/bernie-sanders-on-people-with-disabilities/). The topics of mental health, medical use of marijuana, vaccinations and autism surfaced in the last debate (http://therespectabilityreport.org/ ). At a minimum we need to let candidates know how we feel about what was said on these topics, and what we think their positions should be on these topics. These topics could also be a link to other important topics that we could raise.

Third, in communications we need to reflect outcomes that we expect on websites, in speeches, and answers to debate questions. Any communications with campaigns should include what we want them to talk about on their websites, at campaign stops, and in debates. There are many things on which people with disabilities are united and other things on which they have varied opinions (http://www.dailydot.com/politics/disability-voters-2016-election/). Candidates need to learn about these differences and develop responses to them that makes sense and attract voters with disabilities and their families.

Fourth, with the volatility in the polls it is important for candidates who want to be in for the long-haul to take the disability vote seriously and understand its complexity. If 3 million people with disabilities, who registered to vote, but did not vote in 2012, had voted, they could have changed the outcome.

The candidates are not going to increase their attention to issues important to us unless we start interacting with them now. I am optimistic. TheRespectAbilityReport.org is sponsoring/coordinating web-based town halls with candidates. Please check out its website and stay tuned. RespectAbility will be giving us a platform, ALL OUR OWN, to reach presidential candidates (http://therespectabilityreport.org/2015/09/17/disability-groups-to-host-presidential-town-hall-meetings/). Be part of these upcoming events and contact campaigns directly. We can influence the future if we adopt an engagement policy immediately. Are you in?

Thank you.

Common Grounder

The Power of Positive Thinking

A friend shared a video with me that blew me away. The name of it was "The Power of Visualization". Here's the Link -- http://www.visualizedaily.com/

If what this gentleman describes is true, then there is great power in positive thinking. And evidently, if many of us visualize the same thing the effect is even greater. Where we do this visualizing in terms of distance appears not to matter. It's the fact that we do it that matters, and the more the merrier.

The way the world is right now we need a lot of positive thinking and collective positive visualization, for sure. There is ISIS, the pending congressional vote on the Iran deal, the slaughter of presidential candidates by their competitors on the airwaves, and the plight of the refugees from Syria and other conflict torn countries. I can't get that picture of the little boy on the beach, dead, out of my mind.

Everyone talking about these matters easily describes the negative effects. No one is aggressively advocating for strong bold solutions that reflect the resolve and commitment of the good guys to stop the bad guys, to apply civility in national political campaigns, and to show concrete compassion for refugees. 

So as strange as it seems I suggest that we all start doing some positive visualization every day alone and together, maybe we can turn things around.

Thank you.

Common Grounder

Water Cooler Politics: New Community Page on Facebook

Many of you followed the Facebook page on the CRPD that two colleagues and I established in Aug. 2013. Today, Isabel Hodge and I created a Facebook community page on the presidential campaign -- www.facebook.com/watercoolerpolitics. We look forward to sharing facts, positions, and commentary with old Facebook friends and new ones. Please check us out and like us. We want campaigns to pay attention to issues that are important to people with disabilities. Our Facebook page is a way to put campaigns on notice and engage us.

Thank you.
Common Grounder

Questions Presidential Candidates Should Answer

There are 56 million Americans with disabilities. They have brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, friends, classmates, and colleagues. Seventy percent of those who are of working age are unemployed. The graduation rate for students with disabilities is substantially lower than that for the general population. Persons with disabilities have limited access to accessible healthcare. They have limited access to accessible housing. They have a limited access to accessible transportation, which affects their ability to get a job and keep it. And if they need personal assistance, they must be eligible for federal assistance, and not have a fortune in the bank, to get it.

Here are questions every presidential candidate should answer.

1. Do you have a disability advisor and a disability policy team advising your campaign?

2. What is your personal experience with persons with disabilities? And either way, how do you view people with disabilities?

3. Have you had any experience removing structural barriers for persons with disabilities in terms of their accessing, participating in, or contributing to their communities?

4. In your meetings with the public have you sought comments and advice from persons with disabilities?

5. Are your public speaking venues accessible to person with disabilities? Do you advertise this accessibility in advance of a speaking engagement?

6. Have you trained campaign staff to appropriately assist and interact with persons with disabilities?

7. Is information from your campaign available in multiple formats and accessible through your website by persons with the full range of disabilities?

8.  What do you think is important to persons with disabilities?

9.  How do you feel about the structural barriers facing persons with disabilities? Do you have policies ready to go that would address these barriers?

10. In what executive branch departments would you appoint a disability advisor? To whom would this person report? Would this person have staff and a budget?

11. What is your position on U.S ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities?

How does this list of questions compare with your list? If you don't have one, consider making one alone or with your family and friends. We all should start engaging with candidates now to ensure that our interests become part of theirs.

Thank you.

Common Grounder

Donald Trump Has Done Us a Favor

Donald Trump has said a lot of things. People have said a lot of things about him. He has said many things characterized as outrageous. There have been analysis and reanalysis of his motivations and effects on the current presidential election cycle. He blows other candidates away in terms of where he stands in the election polls. He has yet to provide us with the policy proposals on the things he talks about. His electability has been questioned. His adverse effect on the Republican Party has been talked to death and described in dire terms.

I'm fascinated with the presence of Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential contest. Whatever else he has done, he has done us several favors. First, he has caused most candidates to take positions on topics that, under normal circumstances, they would probably not have addressed until much later in a presidential campaign cycle. Second, he has caused candidates to clarify positions on topics that, under normal circumstances, they probably would not have clarified until much later in a presidential campaign cycle. Third, he has forced candidates to take on topics that, under normal circumstances, they would have preferred to defer, ignore or avoid. Fourth, he has triggered candidates spending  more energy earlier than usual distinguishing themselves from each other and, in some cases, from the "Washington, D.C. establishment" and the people that fund them. Fifth, Trump has everyone turned on, tuned-in, and attending earlier than usual to what candidates are saying and stand for. All of these things are good and would not have happened this early if Donald Trump had not entered the 2016 presidential race.

The questions are: How do we get Donald Trump to mention people with disabilities? How do we get Donald Trump to talk about ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities?

Thank you.

Common Grounder