Primary Day

I have been gleefully watching the back and forth of my liberal friends. The moaning and gnashing of teeth as they decry the Clintons has caused me unmitigated delight. "How can they do this to Barack?" they cry. First, no one has done anything to Sen. Obama, because it's not allowed. You cannot lean too hard on the black guy without hearing the charges of racism. Former President Clinton learned that, when he referenced Sen. Obama and Jesse Jackson in the same breath. As much as I find the machinations of President Clinton despicable, I do not believe anyone could rightfully accuse him of being a racist. The forces on the far left have though, and will continue to, because it matters not who is best qualified for the job of President of the United States. What matters is how we feel about ourselves, and our choices; at least if you reside on the far left of any issue. Secondly, where have all you people, who are just now discovering the evil genius of the Clintons, been for the past 15 years? These two have always been reprehensible self promoters who always feel your pain; unless of course they were the ones who caused it.

As I watched the antics of the Hillary and Obama supporters at my polling place yesterday, I was moved to outright laughter on a number of occasions. One sweet, young, college student approached me with an earnest look and a reporter's notebook. "May I ask you some questions?" she asked with a bright smile in place. "Depends. Where are you from?" I responded. "U of W, Seattle and we're observing the election process," she bubbled. Now my smile grew brighter and I agreed to bear her questions. "Did you vote today?" she queried. "I did," I said. "And who did you vote for?" she followed up. Knowing full well for whom she had voted, I said "I'm an R." Mildly perplexed she said, "You guys have a primary today? Who'd you vote for?" At this point, the Firefighter Lt., with whom I was conversing when this delightful creature approached, broke out into laughter. Ah, but it was only to get better. "We truthfully only had the one choice," I told her as politely as possible. "Who's that?" she asked. By now we were drawing a crowd of uniformed firefighters from inside the firehouse polling station. "Why, Sen. McCain already has enough delegates to be our nominee, so it's not worth the effort to vote for either of the others," I told her. "Hmm," she processed before turning to the firefighter Lt. "And have you voted today sir?" she asked. "Not yet," he said before continuing, "but I'm an R too." "And why haven't you voted yet," she said with a straight face. "Because I'm working," he retorted.

At this point the entire episode became bizarre. Did I mention he was a uniformed Lt. in the Philadelphia Fire Dept., standing in front of a Philadelphia Fire Dept firehouse, complete with big, red fire engines? Anyway, with no sense of irony, and pen poised to take notes she looked him right in the eye and said, "And where do you work?" At this point, convulsing with laughter, the assembled firefighters literally ran from the area. Pointing at the firehouse, the fire trucks and, finally, the uniform, in my best spokes-model mode, I asked her, "Do you see all these fire department things?" And the Lt asked, "Did you miss the big red trucks?" "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm working on three hours sleep." Yeah, that's not quite going to explain it.

After that exchange I questioned her about why she was voting for Sen. Obama. The answers were, predictably, Hope and Change. As to what, exactly, that change was, she admitted she had absolutely no idea. "I've seen Barack three times and his speeches are wonderful, but they aren't very substantive," she told me. Apparently, if you feel good enough about something, that it is more than enough. I guess I don't have to tell you this young girl was lilly white, nor do I need to tell you that so were most of the people sporting Obama buttons. We've all seen it. The phenomenon of the fainting, and messianic status of Sen. Obama has, at last, begun to wane, but not the adoration. Nothing can stop this fight from continuing, and Sen. Obama will probably still be the candidate for the democrats come November. I recognize that my experience was nothing more than anecdotal evidence of what I have always suspected, but it was great fun to be proven right; at least in the most microcosmic of examples.

Regardless of the outcome of the General Election, I am, now and forever, on our team. I would mourn for a day or so if Sen. Obama were elected. I would mourn for the days to come, and for the brave men and women in uniform; all of whom are my kids, regardless their age. I would mourn for them because their valiant sacrifice would be for nothing, if Sen. Obama were to stick to his talking points and begin withdrawing them before the war in Iraq is won. I would have to move on and begin doing what the warriors would need from me after an Obama presidency. I would still salute the flag. I would still be proud of my country and its people, but I would not be happy with their lack of reason. Sen. McCain was not my first choice, or even my second, but he is my choice now for one simple reason: he will let my guys in uniform put lead on target until the mission is done. I need nothing else at this point in time. We are engaged in a battle for the safety of the world against a foe with whom we cannot barter. Sen. Obama may doubt that, and I am certain the lovely young lady from Seattle knows it isn't true, but Sen. McCain knows differently. Sen. McCain takes Zawahiri at his word when he says, "I urge all Muslims to hurry to the battlefields of Jihad (holy war), especially in Iraq," Zawahiri said in the message, the second in a two-part series to answer about 100 questions put to him via online militant forums. "The situation in Iraq heralds an imminent victory of Islam and the defeat of the crusaders and those who stand under their flag," he said. Some on the left will gladly reference bin Laden or Zawahiri when it suits, but never will they reference when it doesn't. Voting for change and hoping for peace with Al Qaeda won't make it so. And to that young lady from Seattle I say, remember, even you know there's no substance to Sen. Obama. Keep your rock heroes on the posters on your wall and let a grown-up govern the land.