Introductory remarks by Mary Catherine Bateson
GrannyVoter Kick-off Event
Washington, DC - Ellipse
September 12, 2004

As we launch the GrannyVoter initiative on National Grandparents' Day, here in the Washington Ellipse, I want to say a few words about this initiative and where it comes from. It reaches out to all of America's seniors, men and women, Democrats and Republicans, grandparents and honorary grandparents. It began with conversations we started two years ago as a group of women who had struggled to understand what it meant for our generation to be women claiming the right to be full participants in society. As we reached our sixties, we felt the need to rethink our roles once again, to explore what it meant to be older women and grandmothers, and how best to continue our participation. We found we had a message for all the members of our generation: Work and vote for the future of today's children. And we found we had a message for politicians at every level: Think of the long term.

Never in human history have there been so many experienced and healthy elders with so much energy and potential commitment. As lives not only extend but extend with higher quality, we are becoming something new in history - a new and dynamic force, seventy million strong in America and growing. What can elders do with this unique combination of energy and knowledge? Too many politicians have been blinded by stereotypes that apply mainly to the sick or those in their last years. They seem to assume that seniors are concerned only with social security and Medicare and prescription drug benefits. Political advertising literally instructs seniors to concentrate on these special interests.

Candidates in this year's election would be wise instead to watch the grandparents as we take up an active role we may play for many years: The Grannies are coming! Most of us are just getting started: the average age of becoming a first time grandmother in the U.S. today is 47. And more and more baby boomers are joining in. We took a rocking chair as our symbol, but this rocker is jet propelled. We chose the term "GrannyVoter" because "granny" suggests someone easy to dismiss and we aim to reverse that meaning. Our special interest is the future.

Older adults matter for human societies, passing on the stories that tell young people where they came from and offering visions of possible futures. They are leaders and healers and workers. They care for children when parents are unavailable and give their time to the community. Our ancestors planted trees and vines to bear fruit long after their deaths. We will find new ways to work for the future today.

The world shifts and surprises from day to day. The Twin Towers are gone and so is the Berlin Wall. Those who have lived with history have the habits of learning and adaption, but we don't want to see the costs passed on to the next generation. We worry about the long term cost of pollution or a destabilized climate that might last centuries. We mourn the disruption of institutions and international friendships based on decades of careful building. We can remind youth of the real burdens of war or injustice. We know that short term thinking is dangerous.
We vote - over 70% of those between 55 and 74 voted in the last presidential election - and as we recognize that we represent something new, we are beginning to speak out. Beginning today, we will work to change the political agenda from short term to long term thinking. We will take on a new role as advocates and trustees for the future. Realizing that we are freer than ever before to stand up for what we believe in, we can become the needed visionaries of our society.

For those who have grandchildren or other ties to young children, even if we don't see them as often as we would like, the future that calls forth our energy and commitment to defend it comes readily to mind: it is the world that the children of today will live in when we are gone. Every grandchild is an argument for a better future, a light shining into the unknown - may it shine on promises fulfilled.

This concern is just beginning to be organized and take a public shape. On September 12, 2004, National Grandparents Day, we are launching the GrannyVoter movement- men and women of the grandparent generation resolving to put their votes, their time and their energy into fostering and cherishing the world of twenty, forty, eighty years ahead for tomorrow's adults who cannot yet act for themselves.

From September 12, National Grandparents Day, to November 2, we will be urging candidates and fellow citizens to spell out their policies and their implications for the long term. We are using the tools of today--our website, www.grannyvoter.org and our email networks-to mobilize voters to go into the voting booth understanding that our greatest legacy is our vote for a better world tomorrow.

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