Obamarama

Mom's view:

The blog topic for today is Obama, but I have to back up a little and explain some things, because I really have no viewpoint. If you happen to be a political pundit (ie: know it all), let me advise you up front that I am not what you might call versed in political issues. In fact, I’m a cliché of an American, an ignorant slob wandering between action flicks and fast food joints, with virtually no idea what many of the issues are, much less whether one candidate’s plan for addressing them is better than another’s. Even worse, I’m purposely ignorant. You know why? Because a lot of political issues are BORING. There, I said it. I, like most Americans, don’t want to know all your petty little details about running the country. Just make my life better and don’t screw it up.

Does this make me an idiot? I don’t think so. I think it makes me human. I’m trying to live my life, not analyze it, so I tend to judge politicians based on the effect they’ve had on my life during their reign. For instance, to this day I have a soft spot in my heart for Bill Clinton. During the 8 years he was in office, my life was pretty good. Now, I realize that Clinton wasn’t responsible for my friendships during that time, or the fact that I was young and energetic, or that I really enjoyed the early stages of my career. But I was happy, and all was well. I was employed. I liked hearing about the fact that our deficit was taken care of, and that the budget was balanced, even though that didn’t make a lot of difference in my everyday life. Other than the garden variety crises that you tend to expect, things were okay.

Then, when George Bush was elected, life went downhill. I got divorced, my sister died, and Bush said a lot of stupid things. We were faced with 9/11, the war on terror, banks failing, the economy in ruins. My house is worth $75.00. My savings is stagnant because of the sputtering stock market. Sorry George, but you’re not my favorite guy.

Although I’m purposely ignorant, I’m not stupid. For instance, I’m aware that the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act occurred on Clinton’s watch, thereby setting the stage for subsequent events in the course of the financial meltdown. And yes, I had to Google that to remember the name of it. But sorry, George, the disaster happened on your shift. Where was everyone who was supposed to be watching out for the signs of disaster? And you didn’t exactly make it easy to like you. You reminded me of my parents, and they never understood me. That wasn’t such a big deal when I was twelve, but now I’m the majority of Americans and it’s a bit of a problem. You were out of touch. You thought you were funny but you weren’t. Let’s face it, you were a mess.

Because I know I don’t know a lot about the issues, I vote based on several global principles:

1. Never let a conservative or a liberal be in office too long. That way, things are so muddy that while it’s difficult to make progress, it’s also difficult to screw things up too badly. This is my way of protecting Americans from my ignorance.

2. Anyone who touts their conservative Christian views likes the 1950’s and doesn’t like change. Don’t vote for these people. They only like white guys in cardigans.

3. If someone seems like someone you’d like to hang out with and talk to about things, then they are a good person to vote for because other people will like them too and they might be good at playing political Red Rover (I'm amending this to add a proviso - this only works if the candidate is not more ignorant than me. Sorry George W. and Sarah P., can't win 'em all).

4. Whoever is president should reflect the middle aged majority of the day, because people who are middle aged still remember what it’s like to be young and are not yet afraid to try new things, but are mature enough to realize that not everything goes exactly the way you think it should.

As you may have guessed if you read the above, I voted for Obama. We had a conservative guy who yapped all day about what a Christian he was for 8 years. That was pretty much the end of my inquiry. The fact that Obama is in the right age range, is temperamentally sound, and has a gorgeous family is all icing on the cake. I like him. I like having someone who says things I agree with and who doesn’t get all crazy whenever he’s the target of criticism. I like seeing him with his family. I like that you can add stuff to the end of his name and create a word.

Has he done anything to help my life yet? No, but he certainly hasn’t done anything to hurt it. Do I pay attention to the specifics of what he’s doing? Nope. That’s why I hired a president. I have other things to worry about, like why ____________ keeps claiming he has no homework.

Son's view:

I think that Obama is doing a fine job as president. With all the war and stuff he is doing what he should be doing. I mean he is under all the pressure with the war and problems and people just yelling thoughts at him. He handles it very well. Also he has a family. All the pressures of the day and he still has time to be a father. A good one I might add. His kids seem to have a good smile. Not that cheap phony one. Overall, Obama is doing a great job.