Politics & Parenting

Perhaps I've got my priorities ass-backwards, but I spent a good part of this Sunday afternoon on the phone calling voters in Pa. To my near utter astonishment, I had a lengthy chat with a lovely woman who, admitting that on policy issues, she's 75% in Obama's corner, also admitted that in her gut, she essentially views him as a terrorist "sleeper cell." Holy shit! Amazing stuff. But I stayed calm (my brain had to have been spinning off my head, really, into outer space, but my voice didn't betray anything).

I sounded curious, understanding, concerned. As with others I'd spoken to in Pa., I pulled out everthing. Yes, I could understand her fears; my sister-in-law survived both attacks on the World Trade Center. But Barack only lived in Indonesia as a child, a choice that was made by his mother, not by him. And Indonesia has historically (if not in the last few years), been one of the most moderate Muslim countries on earth. And would it be fair to accuse you of being a Mafia princess if you spent some of your youth in Italy? And you have children, don't you? Well, don't you want to vote for their future, rather than succumb to the fear-mongering that has dominated our politics these last eight years and led to all kinds of abuses in the name of fighting terrorism? If you agree with Obama on policy, can't you make that the reason for pulling the lever? Can you see that a weakened and fearful America has given victory to the terrorists without their having to attack us here again? Don't you want to feel hopeful? When you go into the voting booth, you will be pulling the lever for your children, who aren't yet able to do it for themselves. I hope you'll vote for their future, that you'll vote for hopefulness and for the chance for America to be a great country again. And please do talk to your husband again. Since he thinks that everything that could've been "outed" about Obama already has been, listen to him. He sounds like a wise and insightful man. It would be awfully hard to be a secret terrorist with so many people looking at your every move for months and months. And he's surrounded by hundreds of people advising and working with him. It seems so unlikely that all those smart, dedicated people could be fooled by him. And remember, he spent a few years in Indonesia, but his formative and adult years here. I want you to feel good about the vote you cast; if you're concerned about health care and the economy, think about those things and try to set aside the fearful side that you say isn't even based on any specific example or incident. Cast an affirmative vote. Cast a vote for your children, for their future.

Shoot me now. She was lovely, but geez, how do people believe this shit? And then contemplate voting on it. And she wasn't even the person I was trying to reach. She was that person's sister. So I don't even get credit for the f...ing call!!! But maybe I screwed her head back on right and got her to listen to her husband, and to cast a vote in November for Obama. I'll just have to hope, since I'l never know.

But then there was an even longer call with a lovely older woman (65), who admitted to being undecided, but also had clear disdain for Bush and company. Her hesitation seemed to have a lot to do with Obama's "making it all sound too easy." I started by drawing her out, and heard about how she and her husband are middle class, and that each has at times held more than one job. They helped a daughter through college. That daughter was in ROTC and served in Desert Storm, and then went on to earn a PhD. A son essentially put himself through college.

I'm too tired to go through much of our conversation. Suffice it to say that at the end, she said to me, "you can feel good about this call." "So can I count on your vote for Obama?" "Yes, you can." Mission accomplished.

I'm so glad I've done this calling, but none of it makes me feel better about Obama's prospects, because I see how hard it is to convince people, and how much time it takes. The older woman, Anita Z., even thanked me for answering her questions and giving her so much information, because up til now, she'd had no one to ask and no way to get her answers. There have to be so many other people who feel as she does. There just isn't time left to reach them with this kind of detail. I just have to hope that folks can cut through the nonsense. But having a perfectly rational sounding woman essentially tell me that she considers Obama a one-man terror network makes me realize what an uphill climb this is, in spite of all the rosy polls. Where the rubber hits the road, there are some crazy ass skid marks.