During a phone call with my parents this evening the topic of the Super Tuesday primaries came up. I stated that while I had supported Edwards, I've switched to supporting Barack Obama for the Colorado caucuses. At that point my mom said something I don't think I'll ever forget. She said "Well if it looks like the Democrats are going to win in November, I'd rather support Obama than McCain, I hate him".
Now my parents are as Republican as they come. My dad keeps a signed photo and letter from President Bush for his fund raising efforts in his office and listens to talk radio all day. My mom follows his positions on all the issues. My older brother has multiple pictures of himself and his family with Bush. Needless to say, if someone that deep in the Republican party says they'd rather support Barack Obama than John McCain, I think we really have something this year.
The other side of the conversation was my mom talking about how she would support anyone other than Hillary. My parents hatred for her may be more intense than my feels towards Bush. I'm not sure what stirs their feelings, probably a combination of talk radio inspired irrationality and a dislike for her personality, but it is obvious that if she was our nominee they would do everything in their considerable power to see her defeated.
So on the one hand we have a chance to bring together families that have been driven apart by the decisive politics of the last 20+ years if we nominate one candidate. And on the other hand we have the choice of continuing the divide and conquer, 50 percent plus 1 politics of the past. I recognize that Hillary has a lot of positives, but this conversation sealed the deal for me and my support for Obama. I've pitched in $100 for him tonight, and I'll donate another $25 for each of the first 4 commenters who agree to match me.