You know, it's the Mothers and Grandmothers who led the protests in Argentina and several other countries.

Never get the Mothers too angry.

You shared an amazing and revealing anecdote about how one voter has come around to vote for a candidate she didn't even give the time of day at the outset because he's a "colored man."

I wish I could've heard the conversation. Not because I don't believe what you've written, but I would simply have enjoyed hearing her tone of voice as my side split with laughter.

... that I have trouble accepting that in shaping it into a "story" you haven't gone too heavily for "character" and too light with "accuracy".  I see from your profile that you are a newspaper editor, and that you bona fides are in order, so I'll leave it at that, except to ask, "Does your grandmother really speak like this?"

... by stating unequivocally that she would never vote for a Republican again.  "They’ve lied about this war from the beginning, and they continue to lie about it," she complained.  "They’re bankrupting the country so that their cronies in the oil industry can walk away with billions of dollars, and they don’t care that they’re ruining America’s standing in the world."

This lesson, completely expressed, is certainly good to hear.

They are going to vote overwhelmingly for Obama in areas that we have traditionally despaired of as solidly unwilling to "vote for the colored man."

And they will develop any rationale they need to overlook his racial makeup. Your mother just stated the easiest one for the to adopt - "He's half-white, you know."

It doesn't matter. Obama will get their votes because McCain is just so, well, Republican. And most Americans would be happy to forget that Republicans ever existed. The Reagan Legacy will be seen as the shiny giftpaper that made us eagerly unwrap the box of dog feces.

There will always be a few staunch supporters of Anti-Progressivism, like there were people that refused to believe in the Copernican solar system. But eventually they all died, leaving only the believers behind.

That's what is happening here.

And she’s willing to blow up the whole god damned world. Maybe she has grown balls and her mind is clouded by testosterone.

that she has lost votes--which she previously had--all by herself, with her own words and actions, over the course of this campaign.

Spousal Unit was a lifelong Republican, president of his Campus R group way back in the day and still won't hear (many) bad words against Nixon or (any) bad words against St. Ronnie. I didn't talk him out of this, it took Bush to drive him out and for awhile he was looking at third parties.

Me? Lifelong Democrat. Took up with this guy late in life because (in part) I love to argue politics. Didn't argue with him on this point, just sat back and let him work it out, like your Gramma did. He started by supporting Edwards, then got intrigued by Obama after the Iowa speech. He was a bit starstruck for awhile, then as time went on and he watched more, his support became even stronger.

I was Edwards since 04. Heartbroken when he quit just before I was gonna get to vote for him (TN primary.) Looked at HRC and BHO and shrugged; do I vote my skin or my genitals? Pretty well sided with Hillary on the historic-breakthrough/it's about time argument.

Ever since then she's been prying my fingers, one at a time, off her campaign. Like the SO I was being continually impressed by Obama: the way he campaigned, the tenor of his conduct, the dignity, the inclusiveness, the damn common sense. My arguments in support of her got progressively feebler.

The last finger came off the Hillary cliff with the "I'm qualified to be CinC, Sen. McCain is certainly qualified...my opponent, well...." line. You. Do. Not. Do. That. To. A. Fellow. Democrat. No way no how, not ever.

Happily jumped ship to BHO and haven't looked back. Sorry to watch Hillary and her supporters behave increasingly badly as the drain continues to circle, but there ya go.

Is Barak perfect? Jeez o pete no. In practical terms his sit-down interview skills are not the best and his debates are downright lame. In policy terms he is not nearly as progressive in solid proposals as one might hope.

And yet...and yet...there really is a chance he's running a Superman campaign, as somebody mockingly said. Running as Clark Kent and heading for the phone booth as soon as that oath is administered. His First Inaugural could be most interesting.

Sorry to run on so long but thinking of your grammy's evolution on the subject brought to mind how it parallelled both the spouse's and mine. There are just too many of these stories to keep track of but they pop up, as you note, in some pretty damn unexpected places.

So these are the thoughs of another old, Midwestern/southern, non-college-degreed, "hard-working" white woman for Obama. Add it to the pile. :)

WHATEVER she's running for.

I'm glad she stayed in the race.  If she had quit, there's a bunch of people out there who wouldn't have had to think about the issues of gender and race.  They simply would have seen Obama (or Clinton) as different from what they were used to (incompetence, with a B).

People on this site have been panicking and ranting about HRC dropping out.  If she wouldn't do it, she would tear the party apart.  But Obama's calmness has worked out.  That is the point of his campaign.  Don't give in to panic, fear, and other passions.  It's like the rabbi in "Fiddler on the Roof," "Everyone sit down."  

is the reason why we will win in November as many many other people who are opposed to Obama now have a few months to get used to him.

congrats to you and your mom!

As to her belief that the country isn’t ready for a black man?  "Well, you know, he’s half white," she pointed out, as though that was some special revelation.  "Maybe that’s a good thing, to have someone who can see things from the point of view of black people and