City: Describe why you didn’t like Kerry.

Strauber: I don’t know
that I didn’t like him. I didn’t really care to get to know him. I already had
established that I was going to vote for someone who had the same morals and
convictions I do. And while I wasn’t sure of what Kerry’s morals and
convictions were, I was sure of Bush’s. So I wasn’t even interested in Kerry.

It
didn’t really matter to me that this state is Democratic. I’m going to stand up
for what I think no matter if it stays Democratic or not. I really don’t care.

City: What values does Bush hold that you share?

Strauber: I think the
stem-cell research thing is huge. I think he’s definitely made the right call
on that. And I just think that, in any decision he makes, he doesn’t make it on
his own. He reverts to God. This is a pretty powerful job, and to think a human
could do it on his own is wrong. So I appreciate the fact that he admits that
he calls on God to help him make those choices.

City: Obviously religion plays an important role in your life.

Strauber: Yeah, I’m a
Christian. And I’ve grown up that way. Actually, my husband is a born Jew. A
New York City Jewish boy. Don’t you love it? Not only did I move him to
Rochester, but I guess you could say I converted him. [She laughs.]

We
are a Bible-based, church-based family. We go to Browncroft Community Church,
which is the church I grew up in.

City: Do you feel estranged from liberals? Do you encounter many
of them?

Strauber: A lot of
people I hang out with are sort of sensitive to what everybody else thinks.
It’s more like: “You believe this, and it’s fine, but we don’t really need to
discuss it.” I don’t hang out with people who are confrontational that much.

City: Do you and your husband get into debates about politics?

Strauber: He’s a big
movie fan, so he saw Fahrenheit 9/11.
I didn’t see it. I could care less. But he loved it. He came home and was
saying, “There’s no way we can vote for Bush!” But it’s a movie. It’s fantasy.
That’s what movies are about. You go to them to escape the realities of the
world. You fall for that, you’re crazy. So we had a discussion.

City: What changed your husband’s mind?

Strauber: I did. [She
laughs.]

City: What do you think were the biggest
differences between the two sides in this election?

Strauber: Experience.
And Bush is a real guy. I think Kerry might be not so real. He says what he
wants people to hear. Bush, on the other hand, may not always be liked for what
he says, but he says it anyway.

City: He’s taken a lot of flak through the years for how he says
things, as well.

Strauber: I think you
can come off so polished, so perfect that it doesn’t work. When you think of
someone “being presidential,” you don’t want hokey-pokey character. But there’s
something to be said for someone who maybe doesn’t say things perfectly. It
makes you realize this is just a man doing a job. He’s not trying to come off
as “I know everything.” And he relies on a higher power. I can’t imagine doing
that job not having that source of strength.

City:In
the values discussion, how do you draw the line between poverty disparity and
abortion rights?

Strauber:I think it’s personal
responsibility. Everything has its consequences. If you make a decision and you
choose that behavior or lifestyle, that lifestyle’s going to have consequences.
And when you can avoid consequences, I think that’s really wrong, in any choice
you make. I think people need to be taught that. By not teaching people that,
and by giving them options to get out of consequences, it just kind of
perpetuates the behavior. I’m all about: If you do something wrong, you have to
pay for it. If you can get away with stuff, it doesn’t teach anybody anything.
It’s a bad societal standard.

You
can apply it to abortion; you definitely can.

City: What about poverty, though? Especially living in Rochester,
where you can see these neighborhoods where poverty is so deeply entrenched and
concentrated. Were you against some of Kerry’s proposals for eliminating tax
breaks for the very rich?

Strauber: I think Bush
will do something with that, too. I don’t know if he really outlined it. But I
don’t think he’s what people say he is, leaning towards the big-business guys.

City:Were
you concerned at all about the US’s failure to find any weapons of mass
destruction in Iraq?

Strauber: Of course. I
don’t think that’s the only reason we’re there. But, yes, that’s distressing.
But because I know that’s not the only reason we’re there, it doesn’t make it
all wrong.

City: So what’s your take on the occupation?

Strauber: I’m coming to
the conclusion that the Iraqi people don’t want what we want. There’s just such
an ingrained feeling for how they live over there, that I don’t think they
know… opportunity. I don’t think they even get that word. I don’t think they
even know or want what we think they want.

City: Do you think they’d be better off in a democracy?

Strauber: If we’re
trying to give them the freedoms we have, yes. But I don’t think they get it.
It’s just a different culture. All those tribes. They’re not unified at all.
And I think it takes more than a war to unify.

City: Where do you see the situation in Iraq heading, now that
Bush has four more years?

Strauber: I think it’s a
start. I don’t know how it’s going to end. I’m all for starting something and
finishing it. I’m not a quitter. So we can’t quit. But if we can get some sort
of legitimate, pro-people government and let them figure out the details… I
don’t think we can just go in there and say, “OK, run your country just like we
run ours.”

City: Do you think Saddam Hussein played any role in 9/11?

Strauber: I think
they’re all in cahoots with each other.

City: Are you concerned that Osama bin Laden is still at large?

Strauber: A New Yorker
friend of mine said, “You know, it’s just really unbelievable that someone
hasn’t just walked into a Macy’s or something with a bomb.” That’s not hard to
do. So something, or someone, is protecting us. I have to believe that. Because
I think these crazies have ways that could allow them to do something as simple
as walk into Macy’s on a busy shopping day and, boom!

If
these people can do something as complicated as get on a plane and all that,
they’re certainly able to do other silly things. I really think that God’s
protecting us. I really think so. And when he chooses not to, watch out.

This article appears in Nov 10-16, 2004.