...and it was certainly overdue. So I headed over to one of the new mini-malls a few minutes from my home, and found it to be rather busy. I don't usually go in on a Saturday, but I'd just come from a meeting of the local Democrats, and had a little time to myself.
After a short wait of about 15 minutes, I was escorted by a nice young lady to a chair and seated. I was wearing one of my Idaho for Dean shirts, and the stylist noticed it.
"I saw your shirt. Is that the guy you're voting for?" she asked. I explained that, yes, Howard Dean was my candidate for President, and that I believed he was the best man for the job.
"Oh, I think I'm gonna vote for President Bush." she replied casually.
"For heaven's sake...why?" I asked, somewhat incredulous.
"Well, you know, he got rid of Saddam."
I told her that I agreed that Saddam Hussein was a bad man, but that there were lots of bad rulers in the world and we didn't invade all their countries (at least not yet). I explained that for years the United States had contained and isolated Iraq, and that they had not been a threat to us, if they ever had been. I reminded her that Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11, and that Osama bin Laden and al-Queda were and are the real threat. I also said that, if I had to give just two reasons not to vote for Bush, it would be sending U.S. troops to Iraq to die and be seriously injured when it wasn't necessary, and that he has saddled the American public with nearly $500 billion worth of debt.
"Oh, well, I really don't pay that much attention to politics." was her reply. And she went on to give me a fine haircut.
Now, here's a woman, I'd guess under 30, working for a discount styling chain, probably making less than $25k a year. Property taxes have gone up, she's getting less for the money she spends, and I'd be surprised if she has much in the way of health insurance. If she has kids, she probably received some tax cut checks from the government, but the state and city infrastructure is mired in deficit and struggling to hold its head above water. Whatever money she got from the Feds, they took that and more back to give to the minority of wealthy people in my state that make enough to easily buy and sell her a few dozen times over.
But she's voting for Bush because, hey, he got rid of Saddam. He must be a good guy, right? Right?
This is what we have to deal with, folks. A lot of people on this blog get excited when they read that Kerry's poll numbers are higher than Bush. Hey, we can win this in a cakewalk!
Cake, meet steamroller. Steamroller, meet cake.
There are millions of people in this country whose interest in politics is minimal. Most of them don't read newspapers, and what news they get is off the cable channels. A whole bunch of them watch Fox News and listen to Rush Limbaugh, and if those folks say the president is doing a fine job, well, that's good enough for them.
And this is long before a $150 million, well organized, right-wing wave of advertising has even begun to wash over them. When their eyes and ears are filled with positive spin of George W. Bush's accomplishments, how much more difficult will it be for the truth to reach them? I do believe it can be overcome, but I wish I had more answers on how to do it.
Please, folks, don't get cocky over the polls as they are now. As has been said before, they are crack for the weak, and as you live by them, so shall you find yourself, like that cake, smeared deep into the pavement.
You and I, here on DKos, are the folks who want the courtside seats, and can't wait to dish on how well our favorite politician is or isn't doing in the race, and how anybody with an IQ higher than runny eggs must choose to vote for ABB.
But up in the nosebleed section, there's plenty of regular, ordinary citizens who don't feel the way we do, and have no idea why we're all so fired-up against the present administration. They got their tax cut check, and sure, it's sad to hear about our soldiers in Iraq, but hey, didja hear about those new "Survivor" shows coming up?
At least I got a good haircut -- I just wish I hadn't lost some optimism along with the trimmings.