Lately I've been feeling like I'm looking in a mirror and seeing Jenny Sanford's reflection. Well, truthfully, I look nothing like the rather reserved but MILFY castoff of the C Street wonderboy. She's somewhat of a disguised and constrained middle aged hotty. And me, a 64 year old, semi-retired lower middle class news junkie with a few too many pasta dinners under the belt.
But when I look in the mirror lately I must be thinking about the same thing she does each morning. "Why did he do this to me?" Of course, we're not talking of the same man. Her's is a wimpy, phony, pretty boy with faux conservative philosphy to boslter their political aspirations. Yes, THEIR aspirations. It is easy to find documentation of how she nurtured, groomed, and even supported his rise to prominence. But my man was so much different. He was tall, manly looks, (well maybe not the sissy jeans), and a white knight of the people. I campaigned, donated, argued with friends, and yes, voted for him. When he said that he supported a public option, I gave him my heart. Like me, he said he preferred a single payor system, but knew that the American people just don't have the communal passion to take that step.
When others, like David Sirota and Paul Krugman, started to question his appointments and decisions, I thought, not yet, don't give up on him yet. Give him a chance. And when he sold my grandkids college education to give his Wall Street friends a bonus, I thought, well he tells me it just isn't true. If he doesn't doesn't give them their bonuses they will foreclose on my house! So I smile and think of how wonderful he is. He is so handsome when he walks down the steps of that jet!
Finally, he took me aside this summer and confessed it all to me. It had been very confusing for him, but after much thinking he realized Max Baucus and Charles Grassley were his true "soulmates." The public option that we had shared so intimately was just a sliver of his needs.
He said he would try to work things out with me. I haven't completely given up. I know we have much work to do to make things right. But as I sit here, sadly looking into the mirror and asking why and contemplating whether I should continue to stand by him as he publicly works this out, I think of Jenny Sanford.