Well, maybe not yours, as far as I know anyway. But mine did. I almost cried when he told me. This, after months of saying he was undecided but was leaning toward Obama. After months of me ensuring I was available to help when he was confused about what the candidates stood for, or annoyed at something he heard on the traditional media (things that I was always able to debunk through the many excellent, well-researched blogs I read). I sent him the most objective sources I could find so he could evaluate the candidates and ballot amendments with as little partisan bent as possible.
And he turned on me as if he were a starving dog and I were chained to a side of beef.
My respect for him really tanked yesterday. In all honesty, if he told me he voted for McCain because he thinks bomb-bombing Iran, overturning Roe v. Wade, giving tax breaks to the wealthy and megacorporations while making middle-class citizens pay taxes on health insurance benefits, etc. is good for the country, then I could at least respect him for truly understanding his candidate's positions, before getting the ever-living fuck out of there, of course.
Let me be clear - I'm not asking for relationship advice. We've been dating 6 months and I like the guy a lot, but I sure as hell don't need him to make my life complete. I'm a professional woman, earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees, owned two homes, can buy a new car when necessary, can provide myself with everything I need and many things I want and have some left over to donate to my favorite causes. I enjoy my life immensely, whether I'm partying with friends or alone at home with my cats, books, and garden. I'm proud of what I've accomplished, in particular because I had little, if any, help from others. And none of that will change whether I'm in a relationship or not. But I confess, I like having him around. He's gentlemanly, generous, good in the sack, enjoys most of the same activities and music I do, and as Marie (Carrie Fisher) noted to Sally (Meg Ryan) in When Harry Met Sally, I have someone to do things with on national holidays. I wonder, though, if I've become too ideologically focused to be able to date someone who doesn't share my political views, nor can I decide if this is a good or a bad thing. I don't want to close myself off from people whose ideals differ from mine, because I like to have my views challenged every so often. I've found it almost always reinforces my opinion that the Democratic Party has the best plan for the country. But I've also found that I simply don't have time in my life anymore for people who refuse to face reality.
MY BF is a Republican, which I knew from the beginning. However, I always had him pegged as a moderate who, given the right information and persuasion, could be swayed a tad to the left. He supports higher income taxes on wealthy people. He thinks corporations have too much power. He's okay with civil unions. He doesn't believe the government should interfere in the personal lives of citizens, whether it's regarding your choice of sex partner, how you raise your kids, or what religion you follow. He thinks the Iraq War is a clusterfuck. He hates George W. Bush and doesn't particularly like McCain. So why, I begged to know, did he not vote for Obama? How could he not see that a vote for McSame is a vote to continue the country's downward spiral brought on by conservative policies?
Because, he replied, "I don't trust him." Obama, he says, just tells people things they want to hear, and because he is able to articulate his ideas so well, people believe him. (Curse those eloquent black men!) Which makes me wonder, does BF think a totally incoherent candidate such as McCain, who also tells people things they want to hear except most of the time no one understands what he's saying, is more qualified to be leader of the free world? I pressed him to be more specific about just why he doesn't trust Obama, but could get not further. And that, sadly, led me to suspect there's a more sinister explanation than he cares to admit out loud.
I would classify BF as a "benign racist," if such a thing can exist. He complains about illegal immigrants taking American jobs, upon which I must remind him that the root of the problem is the corporate world hiring those immigrants over Americans. He thinks blacks need to "get over slavery" and rid themselves of white hate, assuming that's somehow no more difficult than tossing out old shoes (especially tough for me to comprehend, given that I still own a sweet pair of black suede knee boots with big fold-over cuffs that I purchased in the 1980s), although for what it's worth, he doesn't think all blacks feel this way, just "a lot" of them. He thinks most blacks are only voting for Obama because they're of the same race; his "evidence" for this is the upsurge in black voter turnout. Pointing out that most blacks have historically voted Democrat, and that voter registration and turnout is very high this election across most demographic groups, has no effect. He thinks Obama should make a national address to all black people and ask them "C'mon, be honest - are you people only voting for me 'cuz I'm black?" The fact that there are plenty of white people who are only voting for McCain because he's white is lost on him, because, he insists, there aren't that many of those. And besides, that doesn't explain why Jesse Jackson, Alan Keyes, and other black Presidential candidates never got close to being nominated. It's pretty clear to me that Obama's success isn't a "black thing" so much as a people thing, an American thing, and it's long overdue if you ask me.
However, I can assure you that BF would never join the Klan, nor would he refuse service to, or refrain from, hiring a person of color. (Except, apparently, if that person of color was trying to get hired as President.) And besides, he has black friends!
Sigh.
One thing's for sure. If Obama loses Florida by one vote, we know who to blame. Want BF's address?