Mattingly family displays its different election choices in the front yardBefore Michael Mattingly left for Oregon State University this year, he planted Bush-Cheney and “Yes on 36” signs in his parents’ yard on Irving Street. That was fine with his dad, John Mattingly, and younger brother, Andrew Mattingly, who vote Republican.

But his mom wanted her own signs.

LEANNE JOSEPHSON – The Daily Astorian

The Mattinglys’ ‘A House Divided’ sign stands out in front of their home.”I wanted to be an equal-opportunity voter and let my kids see that there are both sides and make them think,” Debbie Mattingly said.

Michael Mattingly tried to dissuade her from finding signs, but Debbie Mattingly tracked down the Democratic headquarters in downtown Astoria and came back with Wu, Kerry-Edwards and “No on 36” signs for the other side of the yard.

“I didn’t believe she’d do that,” said Michael Mattingly, whose cell-phone message is a Bush campaign commercial. “I don’t think it’s necessary to put that much color in the front yard.”

But Debbie Mattingly, who is outnumbered by Republicans three-to-one, said she wanted her voice heard too.

So up went Wu. Up went “No on 36.” And up went Kerry-Edwards.

And to first-time voter Andrew Mattingly’s embarrassment, up went a cardboard sign: “A House Divided.”

“It’s so dorky,” he said, as he sat at the kitchen table before football practice.

“Do you know how many times people have stopped me and said ‘Way to go!’?” Debbie Mattingly responded.

DividedIn an election political pundits have called the most polarized in decades, the division is playing out not only across the American electorate, but in the microcosm of the Mattinglys’ Astoria home and yard – where signs for Republicans and Democrats are displayed on the front lawn in proud opposition.

“It’s not like we’re fighting and not going to talk to each other,” Debbie Mattingly said. “You put your stuff on the table and I put my stuff on the table. The thing is one, to be informed, and two, to have a choice. Everybody has a right to make their statement.”

But like voters across the country whose emotions are raw and patience taxed by political attack ads, the Mattinglys too have fallen into heated debates.

“I’m the minority, so sometimes my voice has to be heard a little bit louder,” Debbie Mattingly said.

Michael Mattingly, who is studying political science, said sometimes it just isn’t worth arguing with his mom.

“It just ends up with her telling me the same old stuff and me telling her the same old stuff,” he said.

Though the Mattinglys part ways on Iraq and gay marriage, they agree the election has been interesting.

Debbie Mattingly said she and her husband hardly discussed politics until this year. In fact, she didn’t know John Mattingly was a Republican until a few months ago.

Early startMattingly said she started voting for Democrats when she was young – because no one wanted to go to the “war mongers.”

She said neither she nor her husband pressured their children to vote one way or another.

Andrew Mattingly, a former alter boy, said his politics stem primarily from his Catholic upbringing.

“Being Catholic, it kind of follows my beliefs a lot more than the Democrats seem to,” he said.

Michael Mattingly, too, sees his vote as an extension of his religious upbringing, and can’t understand how his mom can vote for Kerry.

“The way I see it, she claims to have the same moral values, but I don’t know how people who go to church could vote the way she does,” he said.

Debbie Mattingly said she is extremely proud of her sons for taking a stand on political issues, even when it is different from hers.

“You defend yourself very well,” she told Andrew. “And you can stand on your own and these things surprise me all the time. That means when you vote, you’re knowledgeable, and that you find it important enough to find out the facts.”

Besides, her youngest son, Ben, is a little more liberal, and might even the score when he gets to be voting age.

Mattingly said she votes from her gut and is proud to be a Democrat – even in a house full of Republicans.

“It’s not like wearing a scarlet letter,” she said, making a “D” on her forehead.