My last diary before I vote tomorrow

Or life in Pennsyltucky.  Is everyone thinking about us?  I just don't know what is going to happen.  I
was at the Obama office in my town just now and met Bob Casey and Harris Wofford.  They are going around pumping the volunteers up for a last minute push in canvasing.  Bob Casey has to have an impact.  He is the only major candidate who is working hard for Obama.  He is everywhere with him, which
is significant. Casey is very popular with the blue-collar guy; he won in 2006 by 60/40 over Santorum.  As for me, I think he is the picture of calm dedication.

But, the polls are going crazy and don't mean much anyway, except in retrospect. They are polling bowlers, beer drinkers, and gun owner. And, this has nothing to do with who would be the best president. The bitter thing was bad, you have to admit. It doesn't matter if it were meant properly and is totally true, because it sounds bad in retelling as a soundbite.  I want to know who made that video in the first place.

To be honest, I'm really positive but, a few things bother me. First is the middle of the state. It's like when I lived in California and there was some proposition that everyone thought would be golden and then it goes down in flames due to Orange County. The second thing that bothers me is that I have talked to a couple of women,
very intelligent women, who totally think that the media has been sexist and biased against Hillary and that this is a stand for women. One gave me a link to a video which started with the implication that Keith Olbermann is a sexist pig.  These are women who are more liberal than I am but say that "they don't know if they can vote for Obama in the general". What the heck is going on?  Has everyone gone insane?

Oh, and the breaking news is that Richard Mellon Scaife just endorsed Hillary.  What more can I say?

•  I can't wait

  to vote tomorrow.  I will be one of the 7:15 am voters and then it is off to work.

  Yes. we. can.

  by demkat620 on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 03:29:27 PM PDT

•  three words Supreme Court Nominations

   Just tell the Feminists ( full disclosure I am one and a senior one at that)  that voting for the republican guarantees when Ruth Badger Ginsburg retires she will be replaced by a conservative much like the latest justices.  there will be 2-3 retirements coming up in the next few years.

  by Lunch Lady on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 03:30:59 PM PDT

  •  Oh, don't think I haven't strained a couple of

    friendships over this.  I have.  I have.

    by alliedoc on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 03:36:57 PM PDT

    •  me too

      some good ones.  

      by Lunch Lady on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 03:48:42 PM PDT

      •  me and the Partner™

        can't discuss it

        by voila on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 04:13:12 PM PDT

•  Right on.

  People just assume that because I'm a woman I'm for Hillary.  That would be sexist, no?  I have looked at both and chosen the one who resonates with me more as a progressive, hopefully nonsexist, green human being who hates war.  I'll be at my PA polling place tomorrow, chosing Barack Obama.  

  by Nature Maven on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 03:32:08 PM PDT

  •  And, you have to vote directly for

    the delegates too!

    by alliedoc on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 03:37:34 PM PDT

    •  I did!

      Picked all 5 for Barack.  Got my "I voted" sticker.

      by Nature Maven on Tue Apr 22, 2008 at 08:54:43 AM PDT

•  When I saw that they had actually broken out

  support among bowlers, I knew we had gone around the bend. I don't even pay attention to the polls anymore. The polls that matter are the ones PA will be going to tomorrow.

  Good luck out there!

  by not a cent on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 03:34:25 PM PDT

  •  Like I said somewhere else,

    they seem to imply that bowlers, gun owners, and beer drinkers are independent.  Like it isn't a Venn Diagram with concentric circles.

    by alliedoc on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 03:38:49 PM PDT

•  On Richard Mellon Scaife

  He's a HARDCORE Republican supporter.

  He's spent MILLIONS of DOLLARS to attack Bill Clinton during his presidency, and Hillary Clinton as a Senator...

  The ONLY REASON he can possibly be supporting HRC now is because he is TERRIFIED of an OBAMA-McCAIN election.

  SO it's a good thing she gets his support--know what i mean?

  But Repub voters DESPISE HRC.....so i don't think the guise works.

  by liquidstoke on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 03:43:17 PM PDT

  •  I just wonder how many votes he will get her.

    Can't be many.  

    It's almost Magritte time.  I think I saw a clock running down my wall and a ladder floating over the next house.

    by alliedoc on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 03:45:08 PM PDT

    •  I've Got A Train Coming Through My Fireplace

      and an egg in my birdcage

      by Empower Ink on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 04:13:15 PM PDT

•  Strength and Honor!

  The Slogan of the Roman Legions! Tis all I can offer the supporters of Obama in PA. But remember what a commitment to Strength and Honor has accomplished in the past. And think upon what it can accomplish again!

  by kingfishstew on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 03:49:20 PM PDT

•  A Stand for Women

  Clinton said this week, "It is time for us to clean house, and one thing women know how to do - we know how to clean house."

  She has also been saying for a long time: "I feel really comfortable in the kitchen." as in "I know as the campaign goes on that it's going to get a little hotter up here. But that's fine with me," she said, invoking Harry Truman. "I feel really comfortable in the kitchen.""

  Add this one about how long it takes her to get ready: "And that is another difference, you know how long it takes me to get ready than my two opponents — I mean really just think about it," she joked. "I think I should get points for working as hard as I do plus the time it takes to get ready."

  And I start to wonder if she's really "joking".   Clinton clearly views comments in this vein as shoring up her support among women, but I think they paint a very unflattering picture.  When people say they want a woman president, just not this woman, aren't these comments a legitimate reason why they might be sincere?

  by Canadian Contingent on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 03:50:54 PM PDT

  •  I'm A Feminist Of A Certain Age

    I would love a woman president, for myself, for my daughter, for my grandson, for all our children and grandchildren.

    But Not This One. Not HRC. Ever.

    by Empower Ink on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 04:15:59 PM PDT

  •  what about the cookies?

    so when she says she preferred to work than staying at home making cookies, who exactly was cleaning the house?  puhleeese.

    by momEEE on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 04:29:56 PM PDT

•  phone banked PA for Obama today

  finished around 5 pm central.  if i hadn't been experienced in phone banking (called TX, OH, OR, WY, MS), i would never have done it again.  not for the weak of heart as i was calling the 570 and 814 area codes.  not a lot of Obama love out there.  and unfortunately, one individual who actually called me back (i'd left a message) who said he'd had enough "black antics", saying that Obama doesn't love the flag.  sheesh.  i tried to explain, but can you really talk to those people?  the women who answered the calls, usually just said "i can't talk" or "i'm doing something" and hung up.  out of 36 calls, 3 outright obama supporters, maybe 5 hillary, 4 undecideds and a bunch of messages left.  

  i feel sorry for telemarketers.

  by momEEE on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 04:26:43 PM PDT

  •  Wow, it's rough out there ..

    and exactly my point.  Thanks for trying.  If you changed one person's mind, then, well, that's one person.

    by alliedoc on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 06:00:43 PM PDT

•  "The bitter thing was bad, you have to admit."

  Actually, yes and no.

  I know this experience.  You feel you can't change things and you lose hope.  You become bitter about being stuck.

  (But, of course, our need for hope and change is his message.)

  Get it?

  He mangled it.  He knew not to try to explain. (Smart!)

  :)

  by apostrophe on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 04:44:39 PM PDT

  •  I disagree big time! Look at the polls; it did

    not hurt him; it backfired.  In PA, the polls have been moving slowly, but steadily toward Obama.  He may have a shot tomorrow!

    by PittsburghPete on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 05:23:59 PM PDT

    •  I don't know. When these things happen, you

      don't know how much it really matters.  When I hear, from say my mom, some weird thing like, "I heard that Obama isn't even a citizen", you have to wonder.  But, the thing is that the reason that it seems to have no effect in the polls is that anyone who would be affected by this is already voting for Hillary.  To me, it is only significant with the undecided voters.  

      And the clincher is, what happens in the fall?

      by alliedoc on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 05:59:08 PM PDT

      •  Right.

        Negative advertising is used to sway undecided voters, by giving them a reason (right or wrong) not to vote for the other candidate.

        I recommend with your mom and others to just keep saying, "Barack is so positive and other two are so negative"; that will help them to see the real difference.

        :)

        by apostrophe on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 07:05:42 PM PDT

    •  I agree.

      He meant clinging as in holding onto things that give you a sense of well-being in difficult times.

      He meant bitter as in the way you feel when nothing you do helps because you're simply overwhelmed by circumstances beyond your control.

      He said he wasn't criticizing but she insisted on the negative connotations of the two words.

      As you say it backfired; people didn't like her mincing his words.

      by apostrophe on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 06:58:47 PM PDT