Life in a Purple State

Only ten days remain until the 2008 Presidential election.  In my entire adult life I don't recall ever looking forward to an election as much as this one.  Is it because I can't wait to cast my vote for my chosen candidates?  Nope.  Here's a list of the reasons why I can't wait for this election to be over with:

~ so I can answer my phone and actually have the person on the other end be someone who is calling to talk to me, not to poll me.  Number of times I've been polled in 2008 -- greater than ten.

~ so I can answer the phone and not have someone offering me directions to my polling place.  I know I'm getting older, but honestly, I can remember where and when to go vote.

~ so I can sleep in on Sunday morning, get up and roam the house in my jammies, and not hear my daughter yelling "Mom, there is a strange man at the door with a bunch of papers and an "insert candidates name here" sign on his car."  At 9AM no less!

~ so I can listen to the radio again, without hearing the words "I will stand beside George Bush" in the ads of the candidates from BOTH parties in the Senate race.

~ so I can listen to the radio again without having to eventually give up and switch to my iPod because the only stations not playing attack ads are interviewing people about the attack ads.  

~ so I don't see the people filling up the comments section of my local paper and tv station continue to spew hate-filled rhetoric about anyone who doesn't share their point of view.  And, for the record, no one party has a monopoly on this rhetoric.  What happened to basic respect for others?  For that matter, what happened to the ability to think for ourselves and not spew some party line?

Okay, I'll get off my soap box for now, plug in my iPod, unplug my phone and cable-tv (but never my internet access,) lock my doors, and count the days until this election ends.  

Oh yeah, and I'll pray that whomever is elected has the wisdom, the will, and the ability to do something to rally the people of the U.S. to address the multiple crises our Nation faces.  Because the job is too big for any one person.  

They're Baaaaacckkkkk!

Just when I thought I could safely drive down the road without fear of getting caught in a motorcade -- we became a purple state.  Or maybe it's a striped state.  At any rate, both Senator's McCain and Obama (in alphabetical order) visited us this weekend to bash each other try to win our votes.  

I try to stay away from political blogging, because it just begs controversy and that's not why I blog.  But honestly, am I the only person who's really not happy with either choice at the moment?  

They both promise to cut taxes and give us all kinds of great stuff.  I wasn't born yesterday - that tax cut promise they are trying to use to buy my vote has to be paid for somehow, and borrowing more money from overseas just doesn't seem like a good idea to me.  I've already resigned myself to working until I drop dead, hopefully somewhere with good medical coverage so my dropping dead can be put off a bit, since my 401k is going nowhere and social security is going to be bankrupt before I'm old enough to draw.  

I'm tired of hearing about the party base - either party base.  I'm about as moderate as can be, and I think the polarization that the two parties 'bases' are insisting upon is destructive overall.  

I'm tired of political ads telling me how bad the opponent is without telling me anything about the person who is running.  I'm tired of ads that anyone with a grain of sense can tell are distortions of the truth - are we really that stupid in this country?  

How many more weeks of hearing candidates talk about how bad their opponents are do I have to look forward to?

Primary Day Recap

I'm  not an intensely political person, so it is rather ironic that many of my first blogs would contain references to politics.  I have to say that this election excited me more than any election since I've been old enough to vote (except when the town where my university was located was voting to go from dry to wet, but that's a story for another blog.  And if you don't know what that means, it's probably something you'll enjoy reading!)

Even though I've complained about the annoyances that accompany the primary, I'll miss them.  No more planning my route to work around potential motorcades and debate locations.  No more counting how many pieces of political mail I get daily.  No more poll of the week phone calls during dinner.  No more political activists knocking on my door asking me if I have questions about their candidate.  No more five candidate commercials in a row during Extreme Makeover Home Edition.  Yes, life in NH will be much quieter now.  

But today I'm proud to be from NH, where yesterday we turned out in record numbers to vote.  When I went to my polling place yesterday, there was an excitement there that I don't remember seeing in past elections.  I saw several young girls who were in the line next to me, proudly announcing that it was their first time voting.  I saw senior citizens, business people in their suits, Mom's with kids coming along to see them vote (and since we participate in kid's vote, the kids had their own opportunity to cast a ballot.)  And people were happy!  

Today's news discusses why the turnout was so high.  True the weather was great (60 degrees, so we waded over melting snowbanks.)  But I think the reason is - for once, most of us -- democrat, republican, libertarian or independent -- actually felt like we had a choice of a candidate or two we liked.  I can say that in the last two elections I voted for the candidate I disliked the least, so actually having a choice of more than one candidate I like was a refreshing change.  Let's hope that whomever is eventually elected delivers on some of the hopes that I saw reflected in voters faces yesterday.

Ending 2007 with a Few New Records

The seven inches of additional snowfall we received overnight has given December 2007 the distinction of being the snowiest December on record.  We got somewhere around 44 inches of snow this month - yes, that is 44 inches of snow in 31 days.  

As someone who still considers herself a bit of a Southerner, this snowfall amount is amazing to me.  For those of you from the south who are wondering what we do with all of this snow -- we use something called a snowblower - a loud, gas powered machine that looks a bit like a roto-tiller - to pile the snow up next to our driveways and sidewalks.  In our household we determine how bad a winter it is by looking at our lamp post in the front lawn.  If we can still see most of the post, it's a pretty mild winter.  If the post is buried, I am counting the days until we escape to somewhere where the only 'white stuff' we have to walk through is sand.  Well, as of right now there isn't much of that post showing, and I'm counting the days (53) until we fly south for the winter (okay, for a week, but one can dream.)  Oh yeah, tomorrow's forecast?   Snow.  Followed by frigid temperatures for Friday.  I'm reminded of an old commercial -- "Calgon, take me away...."

Another record was set today at our household when I went to the mailbox.  There were six -- count them, six -- Presidential campaign ads reminding me to vote next Tuesday.  Barack Obama is offering me a ride to the polls.  Hillary wants me to know that she has the endorsement of 13 NH unions and three newspapers.  The Alliance for a New America (who are they anyway?) wants me to support John Edwards.  And three unions are sending me materials telling me how great Hillary is.  Apparently the Republicans have missed the fact that there is a registered independent in our household - or they don't care.  Aside from John McCain, they've ignored us.  In NH if you are registered as an independent (undeclared), you CAN vote in the primary, you just select which party you want to vote in at the polls.  

I'm still undecided.  All of the candidates are selling their ability to effect change, and heaven knows we really need some changes in this country - but I'm not convinced any of them can do that much.  

The most recent poll I answered asked "what are you most concerned with in this election?"  My answer "reducing the federal deficit."  There was silence at the other end of the line.  I don't think the script included this as an option - it appears from looking at the ads that I was supposed to say healthcare, or education, or energy independence, or the Iraq War.  Yes, I care about all of those, but if we don't get our spending under control how in the world will we address any of them?  When I want something I can't afford, I have to save up for it, or give up something else, or work harder to earn more money.  Why can't our elected leaders learn to do the same?