I definitely get into the politics on this blog but you wouldn’t believe how much I’m often restraining myself.
Lordy, have I got me some opinions.
But tonight I’m going to bed with this odd little thing. It’s there, niggling. Deep, deep down, burrowed in the base of my belly, there it is: Possibility. A little thing called hope.
Here, in one of the darkest political weeks I can recall, like, ever, a niggle of hope. Maybe even a wiggle?
The Washington Post has announced, for the first time since Clinton’s win for the White House, a Democratic candidate has broached the 50% mark in polls in the weeks leading up to the election. Obama has snatched a considerable lead — nine points — over McCain. 52% to 43%.
Colour me elated. Let me repeat: No other Democratic candidate, not Gore (who nearly took the thing) nor Kerry, has had more than a 50% standing in the weeks directly before the election since Clinton, and before Clinton? Well, how far back does modern memory extend, anyhow?
This is promising.
Add to this good news something else? Now, it might just seem like a great soundbite from an anchorwoman who’s had just about enough bullshit, but what this is? It’s a brilliant ploy to invite exactly what the McCain campaign fears, an unleashed Palin, into the fray. She had the audacity to say it was the “Palin-McCain” ticket. The veep’s name never goes first, dude. I smell regret for an opportunistic and ultimately unwise choice for second-in-command.
Maybe I’m wrong. The coddling format of the debate to come with Biden certainly suggests she’s on a leash.
So that’s why I love this clip (and great article) of Campbell Brown ripping the McCain campaign a new one to “stop treating Sarah Palin like she is a delicate flower that will wilt at any moment.” But then she throws down the gauntlet.
“…You claim she is ready to be one heart beat away form the presidency. If that is the case, then end this chauvinistic treatment of her now… Free Sarah Palin. Free her from the chauvinistic chain you are binding her with. Sexism in this campaign must come to an end. Sarah Palin has just as much a right to be a real candidate in this race as the men do. So let her act like one.”

This one’s for all those college-aged kids who read this rag of mine. You guys probably all want Obama to win. They say college students always get stoked about campaigns, but their turn-out at the polls never meshes with the hype generated on campus.
You gotta put your vote where your mouth is, man.
Everything is at stake in this election. More than any election, really, in American history. What you do will literally affect the rest of the world. Every country in the world is waiting with baited breath for you to do your thing.
In a truly global economy, if the wheel that turns America goes off track, well, we’re all ultimately fucked. Sadly, though: You’re fucked the most. Don’t get fucked. Not like this.
Put your vote where your mouth is.
Never has an election come at a more pivotal, immediate, here-and-now, do-or-die moment than this election now. Hollywood couldn’t write this script. A war going on six years, encroaching 5,000 dead. An economy on the verge of a once-a-lifetime total failure. An energy crisis threatening your entire way of life (look at the gas shortages this week).
It’s all so very now. You have change, the chance to effect a totally new course of action for your country…
And half of you college kids who say you’re going to vote won’t show up. Why? Shit happens. But you need to fucking commit. It’s one day in your life, a day that can change your country’s future for the incredibly positive if you do the wise thing and vote Obama.
It’s a day you’ve known was coming for four years. And, what, something’s gonna “come up”? You got a paper to write? Fucking take a notepad. Write it. But get there!
You need to talk to your friends and organize Voting Trips. Make a plan. Travel together, stay entertained. Plan ahead. Make it an event.
In 2000, every fucking vote counted. You don’t think yours matters? Where’s your head? Commit to voting. It’s your future. Thank you.
(Click the image for a larger version so you can read the cartoon. 🙂