Politically our country is deeply polarized. The evidence we have seen of the voting patterns of the Disability Community would seem to indicate that our voting falls along the same patterns as the country as a whole. A number of projects have worked to develop the electoral power of the Disability Community by portraying us as a potential voting bloc. In this chat we would like to explore the role of partisanship in expanding or limiting our community’s voice in the political sphere.
Useful articles
How Did Disabilities Become a Partisan Issue? By David Graham
The Non-Politics of Disability, By Jay Ruckleshaus
How Congress is hacking away at disability rights, By Sam Bagenstos
Definitions of “partisan”
How to Participate
Follow @GreggBeratan @AndrewPulrang @DisVisibility. When it’s time for the chat, search #CripTheVote on Twitter for the series of live tweets under the ‘Latest’ tab for the full conversation.
If you don’t use Twitter, you can follow along in real time here: http://twubs.com/CripTheVote
If you might be overwhelmed by the amount of tweets and only want to see the chat’s questions so you can respond to them, check @DisVisibility’s account. The questions will be Tweeted 5-6 minutes apart.
Another way to participate in the chat is to use this app that allows you to pause the chat if the Tweets are coming at you too fast: http://www.tchat.io/
Here’s an article about how to participate in a Twitter chat: https://www.adweek.com/digital/how-to-join-a-twitter-hashtag-chat/
Check out this captioned ASL explanation of how to participate in a chat by @behearddc
Questions for the Partisanship and The Disability Community Chat
Q1: What does ‘partisan’ mean to you? Do you think we’re living in a time of hyperpartisanship? #CripTheVote
Q2: Do you identify as a person whose political beliefs are partisan? If so, why?
Q3: Would you describe the disability community as partisan? Would the Disability Community be better served if it were more or less partisan? Why or why not? #CripTheVote
Q4: How has the Nation’s political polarization affected the Disability Community and our ability influence political and/or policy change? #CripTheVote
Q5: Disability policy issues have often been seen as bipartisan. Do you believe that has changed in the current climate? If so how? If you believe it still is what is it that makes our issues different? #CripTheVote
Q6: #CripTheVote has always said that we are partisan only to the Disability Community and this is why we focus on issues. Are there issues that you use to determine your vote? What are they and why? #CripTheVote
Q7: What are the dangers or advantages of single-issue voting? Does it further marginalize disabled people who experience multiple forms of oppression and discrimination? #CripTheVote
Q8: In the current polarized environment, where many issues have huge stakes & moral implications, how can the Disability Community keep some degree of bipartisanship alive on disability issues? Is it necessary? #CripTheVote
