Am I going to burn in hell after posting this about my Mom...Most likely. I asked the 8-ball...signs point to yes. Well, if I'm going to suffer in hell for an enternity, I might try to do a little good...or offer a little insight on the short journey that is my life.
I talked to my Mom tonight and I specifically avoided politics. We had the obligatory 'how are you, what's new' talk. My sister just had a baby talk, talk, talk, about that. Then my Mom did something very funny, she brought up politics. I've kind of given up on my Mom, I remember the screaming rants we had in 2004 that took months to heal over Bush. Yes she was one of the donors to Bush campaign that had maxed out. OK.
I was encouraged by our phone conversation tonight, because she now hates Bush. Believe me, with all of her heart. To be extremly crass she wouldn't piss on him if he were on fire. I believe that this is because my step-father, whom she is married to, celebrated his 60th birthday in Iraq. He's OK, and I don't mean to belittle anyones service of this country, but how much service can a 60-year old warrant officer in the National Guard provide? (It turns out a hell of a lot AND it seems to me that he will either vote Obama or won't vote at all...funny considering the rest of this rant). But my Mom, she's just pissed that she had to live a year on her own.
Then, I asked her about the economy. She was scathing in her opinion of Congress, particuarly the House vote on Monday. She said 'Pelosi was wrong in injecting such a partisan speech (personally, I saw it more of Bush bashing more than anything else), and those 12 fools on the Republican side who voted against the Bill should be thrown out of Congress'. Foolishly, I thought that here was my in.
I started gently by asking of her opinion of Palin. She hates Palin, but what I didn't anticipate is that she hates the 'liberal' media more. This is where she started to rant. Conservative talking points started flowing out her mouth like the swallows flocking to Capastrano. Seriously, the only thought that occupied my little brain at that point was 'they got my Mom: those Repugs got a hold of my Mom'.
She went off on a ten minute diatribe about how the 'liberal' media doesn't ask Biden tough questions, she said that the 'liberal' media is trying to make McCain look bad, she said that a the 'liberal' media is ignoring his war record. I'm thinking the same thing you are: WTF? If there is anything Biden has been given, it's NOT a free pass from the press.
I'm going to call my Mom a 40%er. I sincerely believe that more than racism, Americans are unable to admit that they are wrong. My mother is definately not a racist, but she is completely and totally not able to admit she is wrong. And by admit she is wrong I mean that the Republican party has derailed. She admitted it to me! She literally said Republicans in congress are idiots! But come hell or high-water she is voting for McCain. I know that because I just got off the phone with her, and like Palin in an interview, she argued against herself. She argued against the economic benifits of herself, her husband, and her children.
I'm going to call my Mom a 40%er because that's how many people I believe, no matter how much they hate Bush, can't admit that they are wrong. Forget the Bradley Effect, how do you get people to admit that they were wrong? How do you get people to admit to a mistake? And, I think, this is McCain's biggest advantage: He's not running against Bush, he running to replace him. This allows so many voters who voted for Bush a way out. It gives Republican voters a way to say that: 'Well, we don't like Bush now because he's no longer a Republican but I can vote McCain because he's a new fresh voice" (And I tried the McCain might die in office and Palin would be in arguement, my Mom just laughed and said I was a doomsday prophet). Finally, a new, fresh, face that is 72 years old. Hmmmmm. Doesn't seem that new or fresh.
If you could provide help, I'm all ears.
I will leave you with that thought.
Update: I haven't had time to read through all the comments so far, but I wanted to thank all of you who took the time to respond and for many of you, I know your pain. Most of you have really good suggestions. Not to sound like I'm trumpeting my own wisdom, but I've been trying all of your tactics since 2000 with no avail. What is really great (perhaps this is the Great Democratic Tragedy), is to know that there are others out there grappling with this same issue.
I think that family are the hardest to persuade, especially if you're at the bottom of the pile like I am. I won't give up, but I know I'll probably never succeed. Let me end with this thought: I think that if one stranger knocked on my Mother's door and talked to her about Obama and what he would do for her, that would do more to sway her than a thousand conversations I could ever have with her on the subject. That is what we are doing in places like MI, and OH, and PA and FL and MN, and NC, and VA, and all the other swing states. We have been doing a great job so far, let's not stop until we have 269+1.
Thank you all for your support.