Joe Biden was the right choice for Obama.  I liked him in the Democrat’s primary race.  He lends experience and gravitas to the Obama ticket, while not overshadowing the top of the ticket (like Hillary would have done).  Now that this is done and the hand wringing is over, it is clearly the right decision.

The question still remains, though: Can two waste-of-skin Democrat senators actually succeed at the top two executive positions of the biggest enterprise in the world?  I’m still not convinced.

The Many Houses of McCain

You couldn’t turn on the news or radio this weekend without hearing the sound clip of McCain telling a reporter that he’d “Uhhh… have his staff get back to him” when the reporter asked how many houses McCain currently owns.  The headline was quickly generated: “McCain Doesn’t Know How Many Houses He Owns!”

Truthfully, though, that’s not the case at all.  It seems to me that a more likely scenario is that McCain didn’t want to say how many houses he owned.  Clearly, a republican candidate for president bragging to a reporter about his investments in a time of economic downturn is a bad political move, and McCain could see that coming.  It was in the way he stammered before dodging the question that he created a whole new problem for himself.  I’m afraid such lapses and stammering might become standard fare for a 70+ year old candidate for president.  So much for straight talk.

The truth is, knowing how many houses McCain owns doesn’t hurt him at all in this race.  Why?  Because that is the great American Dream (read: Myth), that everyone can be rich and own multiple residences!  Why do you think raising taxes on the rich is so hard to do?  Because everyone worries about the day when they too will become RICH!  In this country, it is certainly no crime to be wealthy, and McCain is.

Nancy Pelosi is a Communist

Yesterday on Meet the Press, Tom Brokaw pressed Nancy Pelosi on the issue of energy, and how she now supports offshore drilling, which she had adamantly opposed weeks ago.  Her justification? If we put offshore drilling on the table, we get to put a whole lot of other issues on the table, like tax breaks for oil companies, and even levying new taxes on oil companies for using the oil that “belongs to the American people.”  She went on and on for 5 minutes talking about how these oil companies profit off of oil that “is the American people’s.”

Well, in case Nancy forgot, this country is based on ~240 years of PROPERTY OWNERSHIP, including mineral rights.  In fact, property ownership is one of the most distinctly American things anyone can do in their life.  There is no question that the framers were highly concerned with protecting the rights of private property owners – and oil and mineral rights are no exception.  They don’t belong to the “American people” (read: government), they belong to individual Americans and companies who have made the investment in their future.

And for the record, your super-fake smile really bothers me…

Thank you to all those who contacted me regarding yesterday’s post, and who offered their passionate support for their candidate of choice. No one actually offered cash though, so I was resigned to making up my own mind on this…

I decided to stop in to vote on my way to work this morning, rather than doing it on my way home. The logic seemed sound that more people would be voting later in the day, and I’d face less adversity by holding my nose and getting it done in the morning… wrong idea. The place was packed! It was like an elementary school carnival – lines everywhere, people sad and confused. I was just lacking the little kids crying.

I’m not going to tell you who I voted for, because… well… I don’t know. (Why do we not tell people who we voted for, anyway?) I have made no qualms about making my preferences made known up until this point in the race, so I guess I don’t want to share because it’s not a vote I’m proud of. I made a purely “political strategery” move…

So instead I just want to share a few little observations from the polls.

Obama will give you donuts: The only people smiling or enjoying themselves was a couple of Obama campaign volunteers on the sidewalk outside the polling location who were giving away free donuts and coffee to the voters. To fully appreciate this, you have to realize that last night we had a freak snow storm that came through and dropped 3″ on North Texas. Texans don’t do ice and snow. It was 33 degrees when I entered the polling place, but they were there giving out their donuts. So the conclusion? Obama supporters are nuts. Obama will give the whole country donuts.

Hillary was no where to be seen: No campaign signs, no supporters trying to sway undecideds, and definitely no donuts. And yet Hillary is still neck and neck in the polls? I think this is because it’s not cool to be a Hillary supporter anymore. Everyone who is anyone is a Barack supporter now… so the poor Hillary lovers are forced to be closet supporters lest they get attacked by the Obama crazies.

Will the Huckleheads please go home: As I saw people leaving the Republican door, I wondered… why are they even here? Are they all just coronating McCain? Or are they here to cast a vote against John McCain? If so, that means they are likely voting for TV Evangelist Chucklebee. I had to seriously resist the urge to break their legs and fingers at that very moment.

Never catch the eye of a Ron Paul supporter: There were one or two who were coming out of the polling location when I was going in. They scared me. Of course, they were partially dressed in camo (and boy-howdy they really needed an undershirt or “bro”), and probably came with their gun rack in the back of their truck filled up with their highest power weapons, just in case they needed to protect their freedom. Should you find yourself in this situation, just look at the floor and start muttering the preamble to the Constitution, and they’ll leave you alone.

Republicans are better looking than Democrats: …or at least they get more ‘dolled up’ to go to the polls in the morning. I’m telling you, there were some HOT ones coming through the republican side. The Dems had more of a ‘homely’ bunch… lots of obvious school marms and shut-ins. (No offense to the school marms and shut-ins who read this blog) I actually first noticed this by watching the election judges. On both sides, they were all older ladies. The republicans were the typical Texas belles, with their hair recently done up, nice makeup, looking professional, efficient and elite. The dems were all kind of lumpy… with bed head (not the really cool, hip kind) and large facial moles (ok, I made that part up).

It pays to be disabled: There was a sign on the door that said, if you are unable to stand in line, pull to the curb and honk your horn. THANK HEAVENS no one actually did this while I was there, or there would have been a good old fashioned riot led by yours truly. Why should you get to go to the front of the line, just cause you are so overweight that your own knees can’t support the weight of your large backside?? grrrr…

Though we’re the world’s most advanced society, our voting system is incredibly antiquated. First you stand in the line to get your name found in the book. Then you sign the book. Then they pass your ID and voter card over to the election judge. Then you wait in the 2nd line to get your ballot. Then the election judge writes your name (manually) on some carbon copy triplicate form (so I guess the only qualification for this job is to have good handwriting and to look ornery), then hands you a ballot. Then you stand in line for a voting machine. Then you stand in line to turn in your ballot, which they actually just stuck in a pile on the top of the table. No ballot box! How am I to know my vote won’t get overwritten or …oops… knocked onto the floor!?! What happened to the security of the ballot box with the super official looking lock on it?

Gimme a What-What for the Bruthuhs and the Sistahs: The line for the Democrat primary was probably 80% african-american. I’m so glad they are coming out in force! You could tell, for many, it was their first primary, and probably their first vote ever. I’m happy that the Dems have such a closely contested race. I’m glad that they have two live ones! I just wish the republicans just had ONE live one… is that too much to ask? Sigh… However, if there’s one thing about this Obama, it’s that they figured out how to get new people into the system.

Time to hit the showers: I will tell you this about my vote… I walked into the polling place undecided. I stood in both the democrat and republican line. I talked to both election judges, both of whom scowled at my independence and quite openly wondered to themselves why I wasn’t a party hack for either side. I held my nose and cast my ballot. I voted for someone I really don’t want to be President. And now it’s time to hit the showers. I feel slightly dirty by the trick I pulled, but it was the only option, with My Man Mitt out of the race.

Hopefully in November I’ll feel better about the ballot I cast.

So just for fun… reply to this post with who YOU think I voted for.  Maybe I’ll tell you, maybe I won’t…