My husband is a good guy. The fact that we don't agree on many political issues always gives us something to talk about. And that's important when you've been together for many years. But sometimes, after a heated exchange, I just look at him and say, "How did we end up with each other?" He knows how to irritate me, but he's also usually smart enough to know when to back off: "Oh, I just like to get you going. You know, we're not really that far apart on these issues."
Well, not exactly.
He's to the right and I'm to the left. It works for us, mostly. But people are usually more complex than that, and labels just don't apply all the time for every issue, obviously.
Ronald Reagan is his favorite US president, while mine is Franklin Roosevelt. He's pro-choice and thinks Roe v. Wade should be left alone--and I agree. He asserts that global warming is a natural process that will occur at its present pace, no matter what humans do to the planet. (I disagree). I seethe about job outsourcing, but he sees it as an unstoppable economic reality. He thinks the Israelis are bullies and that their behavior is the reason for much of the conflict in the Middle East. (I don't). He admires Colin Powell and believes that we're in the Iraq mess because Bush didn't listen to him. He makes reasoned arguments, I admit, over just how difficult it will be to implement national healthcare. He doesn't care about domestic spying, Valerie Plame, or the current controversy over Gonzales--but I care deeply. He detests the religious right. (I couldn't agree more). And every now and then, if just for old time's sake, he'll drag out the "It's Bill Clinton's fault (insert problem here)." Yeah, those Clinton years were pretty intense.
But the major things we agree on are: George W. Bush is a terrible president and the Republican Party has gone to hell.
And he's been strangely quiet about national politics for a long time now. He mostly saves his diatribes for Illinois politicians, Governor Blagojevich and Mayor Daley. He really hasn't been following any of the presidential campaigns (probably because he's "demoralized"). So, imagine my surprise when he told me that he was going to watch the Democratic debate the other night. I was curious to know what his impressions were. The only people he really "knew" were Clinton and Obama, because everyone knows Hillary and Obama is our senator.
His thoughts:
Clinton: "Cold and calculating." (To be clear, if Hillary Clinton gave him a check for a milllion dollars, pushed him out of oncoming traffic to save his life, and granted him three wishes, he'd still struggle to say something nice about her. He ain't budging on this one).
Obama: "He did OK, but not great. I liked him better than Hillary."
Richardson: "If the NRA likes him, he can't be all that bad."
Edwards: "He reminded me of a country preacher."
Dodd: "Didn't care for him."
And regarding Gravel and Kucinich: "Those guys were total nutjobs."
But what I found interesting is that he said he thought Joe Biden (who I like for president) won. I wanted to know what he liked about him, and he said he thought he came across very well. He thought the "Yes" answer was funny, and he also liked how he put the aforementioned "nutjobs" in their place about the use of force. He described him as "confident" and "presidential."
We have never agreed on presidential candidates, so this is very unfamiliar terrority. Frankly, it's pretty amazing, because sometimes I think he just goes out of his way to disagree with me about political figures--if just to start an argument. However, I told him that Fred Thompson was thinking about running for the Republican nomination, and he thought that would be great (good grief). I don't think that he's quite ready to get back on that GOP train, but I can't guarantee that he won't, either.
Here's the larger issue, in all seriousness. This is one of the arguments I make for Biden, and this goes beyond the fact that I simply think he's the best candidate, period: he is one of the best bets the Dems have for taking back the White House, precisely because he appeals to the middle and unhappy Republicans.
My husband has been identifying himself as an "independent" for some time now. And there are lots of people I know that are like this. They don't like what the Republican Party has become, but they aren't going to go "too left" or vote for Hillary. Biden can appeal to these people, which is very important in a general election. I would bet money that this is the candidate that the GOP does not want to go up against in 2008.