Disclaimer: This post is in no way about anything to do with real world politics, so I don't want to hear it.
A great many people often misunderstand Steve Rogers, better known to you and me as Captain America. Those who do not read his series think of him as a mindless tool of the U.S. government, spewing propaganda and slogans, and punching anything "un-American" in the face. I too was guilty of this gross misconception at one point.
But now I, and anyone who reads Captain America, know this to be untrue. Cap is first and foremost an agent of the people, not the state. He embodies American values such as freedom, justice and equality, independent of whoever happens to be in power. If the government starts singing a tune he's uncomfortable with, he's not afraid to stand apart. Or against.
Captain America represents all that's good about America, which is actually quite a lot, despite what we have allowed ourselves to believe for the sake of comedy or smugness. He is what America should be -- what America could very easily be, if everyone just gave a damn.
The Death of Captain America by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting (et al) tells the story of Steve Rogers' murder and aftermath, in which his old sidekick Bucky becomes the new Cap. Something very interesting happens in this story that I wanted to address.
Part of the plot deals with a political assassination, and Bucky says something along the lines of "Steve never put one political party above the other" (forgive my misquoting -- I don't have the page handy). This stuck with me.
At first it made sense that Captain America would not advocate one party over another. That's not the kind of thing he stood for. He believed in doing whatever was best for the people, regardless of who was the one doing it. So naturally, he would not tow any party lines; would not display any signs of political allegiance. He would simply vote for whomever, in his eyes, had the best intentions.
But does he still vote at all?
Obviously, if the details of Cap's vote were ever made public it would completely undo his purpose. The public would assume he was loyal to whomever he had happened to vote for on this occasion. He'd look like the very political tool so many already take him for. It is also (less) likely that Steve was just so gosh-darn fair that he could not bring himself to pick one contender over the other.
The freedom to vote for your country's leader is one of the highest American values, and for Cap to squander it would be against everything he stands for. So did he remain neutral and spit in the face of his homeland? Or did he make his decision just like his fellow citizens, and steel himself for the consequences of discovery?
Either way, this line of thinking brought to my mind a much more alarming realisation.
Although Steve Rogers has since returned from his "death", Bucky has remained Captain America for now. This is the same James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes who was proclaimed dead in 1945, and has remained "off the grid" since his revival.
What I'm saying is: Bucky is not legally an American citizen. He is technically still dead, at least on paper. Despite covertly working with SHIELD and Tony Stark, he has so far refused to officially update his details, so far as I know. Which means that he is incapable of voting in a U.S. election.
The question of whether or not ex-Cap Steve Rogers votes is still unsolved, but there is one thing for sure: The present day Captain America does NOT vote.
Stick that in your ballot box!
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