We had a birthday dinner for my daughter the other night, a perfect time in a battleground state to take a family poll. I am relatively certain that "None of the Above" could handily win our family circle in November.
As it stands though, one person really is voting for a third party, one is voting for McCain and the rest of us are maybe/probably/unless-something-weird-happens planning to vote for Obama. I wonder what the conversational results are around all the other tables this fall.
Funny thing, most of the adults in my family like the VP choices better -- as gaff prone and controversial as they are. Maybe that's because both of them appear more human and familiar, even if sometimes in chalk-on-a-blackboard ways. I just heard that Biden has predicted within the first six months after Obama wins, there will be an international crisis the likes of the Cuban Missle one. I can just see the handlers begging Biden to go take a rest for awhile and frantically praying for laringytis to visit the sonorous one until after election day! You know, as 'duh, I shoulda' never said that in public' as he probably feels, old Joe is probably right. Of course our enemies will test an idealistic tenderfoot, green president. Do we feel safe about that? Hmm...more aptly put is how unsafe do we feel -- and just which enemies and what kind of test? None of us ever wants to see anything resembling another 9/11.
On the other hand, we are in a rather serious economic period. I do believe that McCain did finally notice ... just before he spazzed out and turned every-which-way but toward the middle-class. I think he thinks he addressed the middle-class, but coming from somebody who has that many houses, he just didn't connect. His mindset is in another world. He can't help that, but then neither can we.
My husband and I went back and forth over which candidate and which party to back as we were trying to finish building a small balcony off our dining room before winter sets in. It's a special addition because we did it together and we did it ourselves. If we had several houses, we wouldn't have one central hearth and heart and home for our memories. As for Obama, I can't see a do-it-yourself project co-existing well inside his millionaire perfect world either. No, neither candidate can really address the middle-class.... Isn't that what's at the bottom of so much of our discontent? When have we really ever elected "one of the people?" When have we ever had the opportunity?
