According to U.S. Census Bureau, there are more than 56 million people with disabilities in America.
Despite their numbers, people with disabilities are not as politically well-organized or well-funded as other interest groups, such as gun enthusiasts or abortion rights advocates. This explains why disability issues don’t get much attention on the campaign trail. Only Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Jeb Bush have specific sections on their campaign websites devoted to disability rights. These candidates mainly focus on their records supporting the Americans with Disabilities Act and similar laws. Rick Santorum folds his authorship of The Combatting Autism Act into a section called “Valuing the dignity of every human life.”
People with disabilities have many more rights and opportunities than they had even a generation ago. But they still face discrimination and higher rates of domestic abuse and unemployment than people without disabilities.
One disability rights group has found an interesting way to ensure that the issues they care about are addressed in the campaign. As highlighted today in a piece by David Perry at the Atlantic.com, a group called RespectAbility is deploying “fellows” to attend campaign events in the early primary states and ask the candidates where they stand and what they would do on disability issues.
Jennifer Lazlo Mizrahi, CEO of RespectAbility, says disability issues typically get short shrift in part because Democrats take the votes of people with disabilities for granted and Republicans are focused on reducing government spending, which often comes at the expense of disability-related programs.
Many of the fellows have disabilities and all are well-versed in the issues people with disabilities care about. They act as journalists in a sense by asking the candidates questions and writing reports that are distributed to the group’s members.
The fellows feel they are shifting the political conversation just by showing up and asking the candidates questions. As Perry points out, “In the age of super PACs and the most expensive presidential campaign in U.S. history, that’s a remarkable accomplishment.”
Read more here.
Daniel Allott is deputy commentary editor for the Washington Examiner
