Coffee with Dad............redux

I don't know if Dad will vote for Obama or McCai

Geez. Like everybody else, Dad is sick of this battle between Hillary and Obama. My sister, on the other hand, thinks it's great. As in "hang in there Hillary - if Obama can't handle you, he can't handle the Republicans". So, fight fight fight. And I really think  there is some truth to that. So, even though I hate this protracted fight that's tearing the Democratic Party apart, maybe my sister has a point there.

My Dad is genuinely torn.............he doesn't know the things that are bad (and I can't tell him, frankly, unless I want to turn our precious weekend mornings together into an endless political rant - it just gets to the point where it's just too much) about just how much of a bad guy McCain is..............he still wants to vote for Obama or Hillary, but he's very distressed...........all he has is the MSM, which has trashed both of them, and played them off against each other.

I don't think he wants to vote for McCain.........I get the sense that he genuinely wants to vote for a Democrat........but he's wondering why right now and I don't blame him.......I'm starting to wonder the same thing. Voting for Corporatists pretending to be something different.

Not that I'm going to be a Nader voter or anything. I firmly will vote for whatever Democrat wins the nomination. But I too am starting to wonder what I will get for my vote.

My Dad has told me "I'm an old guy with a bad ticker, and I just want to see you girls (haha girls me 55 my sister 52 he's a dear) able to live after I'm gone"

He's wondering who he should vote for and I don't know what to tell him. I think he will vote Obama, but he could get in that voting booth and change his mind.

He was a Republican all his life, and has no love for the Democrats. It's totally out of character for him to even consider voting that way. I hope he does. But I'm not sure it will happen.

•  You're a good daughter

  If you have a laptop or can borrow one (I'm assuming he doesn't have a computer), why don't you make some CDs of various speeches or websites for him to look at. It will give him a different view than MSM.

  If not that, then perhaps printouts?

  utahgirl

  by nio on Sat Mar 29, 2008 at 08:39:40 PM PDT

  •  oh he's got a computer of his own

    just doesn't believe any "net" news haha

    I really do think he will vote Obama - but it will be in SPITE of rather because of what he sees on the news

    by Rosebuddear on Sat Mar 29, 2008 at 08:42:19 PM PDT

    •  but thx for the good daughter comment btw

      I really hope I am.......:):):)

      by Rosebuddear on Sat Mar 29, 2008 at 08:44:49 PM PDT

    •  I think he will vote Obama,

      because he loves you and your sister, and in his heart, no matter what he hears on the MSM, he trusts his gut, and his gut tells him this is a good man, a man who will attempt to make this a better world for his "girls". I am going through the same thing with my husband, he is an independent, a conservative independent, and he was 100% behind Obama, voted for him in our primary. His reason was, although I don't agree with him on some of the issues, I trust him to be different, and to be telling the truth for a change. This whole Pastor Wright has made him question his initial judgement, however, he does not like John McCain and hates all things Clinton. He doesn't trust McCain, says he is too much like the rest of them, and will say and do anything just to get elected. Naturally, he feels even more so about Hillary. He doesn't feel that way about Obama. I can only trust him to go with what is in his heart when he votes on election day. I think he will do the right thing, (listen to me, because, he didn't in 2000 and 2004 and look at what we got, he knows better now).

      by Vera Lofaro on Sat Mar 29, 2008 at 08:56:14 PM PDT

•  I don't understand the

  "hang in there Hillary" statements. I can not help but think if roles were reversed, and Obama was in the same position Hillary finds herself in today, more delegates, more states, more popular votes. Only winning in the bigger states, where Democrats usually, with the exception of Ohio, carry in the general. Michelle Obama out there talking up the Republican nominee, and denigrating the Democratic opposition. How would your sister feel, would she say "hang in there Barack", "fight, fight, fight"? I seriously doubt it. I feel differently than you do. It is not so much that I am an Obama supporter, but I do see him as the agent of change. I don't see Hillary as that agent, she is too in bed with corporations, taking so much money from them much like Bush did. With the numbers stacked against Hillary, any other candidate this far down the line would move out of the way and let the person in the lead take the nomination, so the party could rally behind him, and we could get on with the task of beating the the Republican candidate, rather than waste time, money and good will on keeping this fight going. The way I see it Hillary is in it for Hillary and maybe Bill, not for the good of the Democratic party. If she does do the impossible and captures the Democratic nomination, I will change my party affiliation because in my mind the Democratic party is not what I thought it was, and I will not vote for McCain, but I certainly will not vote for Hillary. I don't believe her loyalty will be to helping the average American, but to get in there and pull for the corporations. As for your Dad, bless his heart, he sounds like a wonderful man, and you are lucky to have him around to have coffee with.

  by Vera Lofaro on Sat Mar 29, 2008 at 08:48:59 PM PDT

  •  I think my sister sees Hillary as a fighter

    I understand what you're saying Vera, it's just all that family stuff........I personally will vote for her if she wins the nomination, but I don't think she will.

    by Rosebuddear on Sat Mar 29, 2008 at 08:52:46 PM PDT

•  I seem to have lost TU status for the moment....

  Can't recommend your comments. But I would if I could. Cheers.

  by Rosebuddear on Sat Mar 29, 2008 at 08:50:05 PM PDT

•  btw Vera, bless you

  My Dad really is a great guy

  by Rosebuddear on Sat Mar 29, 2008 at 08:53:50 PM PDT

  •  I lost my Dad 15 years ago,

    and lost my Mom last December. Spend as much time with him as you can, you will not regret it. If discussing politics cuts into the quality time, forget it, just make the time you spend together be happy, in the end, it is what is really important. I wish I had more time with my Dad, I didn't, so I tried to do the best I could with my Mom.

    by Vera Lofaro on Sat Mar 29, 2008 at 09:01:23 PM PDT

    •  Vera I hear ya.........

      Yeah I try to do that every day.

      by Rosebuddear on Sat Mar 29, 2008 at 09:02:53 PM PDT

•  Thx Pam in Calif for coming in

  and sprinkling recommends around.

  I know what it's like to not want to comment but to read something you like. thanx.

  by Rosebuddear on Sat Mar 29, 2008 at 09:01:52 PM PDT

•  Rosebudear

  Hi, again. Simply lead your wonderful Dad to O's website and prompt him to hear the speeches, especially those in the Black churches, he'll get it. He might even want to hear the rest of them, in which case you might have an octogenarian activist on your hands.

  by DaNang65 on Sat Mar 29, 2008 at 09:09:33 PM PDT

  •  Well hon if you have a link for me

    I would love to have it now. I don't have any websites to lead him to but if you do, I would love to see them.

    Bless.

    by Rosebuddear on Sat Mar 29, 2008 at 09:11:38 PM PDT

    •  Being of the "non technical" generation

      I'm as bad as can be at providing links. But I know that simply entering "Obama" in google brings results, pretty near the top, to a page called My Barack Obama.com which has a sub choice, Barack TV. Once started it can be hard to stop. I've seen most of them several times.

      by DaNang65 on Sat Mar 29, 2008 at 09:17:45 PM PDT

      •  Thx DaNang

        very good information :)

        by Rosebuddear on Sat Mar 29, 2008 at 09:20:33 PM PDT

        •  You could play it and ask him,

          "What do you like or dislike about this?"

          "What do you distrust or trust about this?"

          It's like the piece of paper exercise, where you put a line down the middle, and list assets for a decision on one side, negatives on the other side. It's not that blunt, but asking people questions, allows them to air what they're thinking, and start to go in more of a straight line with it, versus just spinning in circles in their own mind, or avoiding really processing.

          Myself, I think Obama's going to sell out, and already has on healthcare, the worst thing would be if he doesn't even know it yet, but vs voting for McCain? Slam dunk.

          The racism speech was excellent. Needed.

          So it's complicated for me. How much more so for your dad? (lots) So don't "argue" it -- ask. Then listen.

          by AllisonInSeattle on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 01:55:46 AM PDT

          •  No charge for the empty blockquote

            Heh. Time to toddle off....

            by AllisonInSeattle on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 01:56:40 AM PDT

•  Thx everybody for commenting here

  I really appreciate it.

  Rose

  by Rosebuddear on Sat Mar 29, 2008 at 09:31:45 PM PDT

•  I love reading your diaries

  Coffee with your dad. It's like you have your own column. It's the kind of thing I'd enjoy reading every Sunday morning with my morning coffee. Your dad sounds so much like mine. I think mine is more closed-minded though. I'm glad your dad is thinking about Obama. And I'm glad you have more patience than I do.

  by dawnt on Sat Mar 29, 2008 at 10:47:21 PM PDT

  •  Thx Dawn - I LOVE it when people say they like

    This series. It didn't even start out to be a series really. I just posted the first one, and then the things that Dad would say on subsequent Saturdays were interesting enough I thought I would post about them It's kind of like the way I think that Bill in Portland Maine got started with Cheers and Jeers - posted one, and people liked it a lot so he kept posting them. And look how THAT turned out. :):):)

    I don't have the temperament or the time to research to do the "serious" (and very erudite and well-researched and interesting) political diaries that so many educated and thoughtful people do here. I like to write about home-ly personal things, so when I can take that and make it relevant to current politics I love to do it.

    I figure I will keep cranking them out as long as Dad (or the next door neighbor) keeps tossing nuggets my way. I'm glad they make for good reading on a Sunday morning. :):)

    by Rosebuddear on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 05:22:45 PM PDT