this woman’s work

I voted today before lunch but that hasn’t stopped the politicos (and their recorded doppelgangers) from calling. Just now “Hillary” called me (for the third time) on my work phone while “Obama” left a message on our phone upstairs. I’d say between the two of them I’ve gotten maybe seven or eight calls.

I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited about a primary EVER.

Barbara’s Blog: Unstoppable Obama

Clinton can put forth all the policy proposals she likes – and many of them are admirable ones – but anyone can see that she’s of the same generation and even one of the same families that got us into this checkmate situation in the first place. True, some people miss Bill, although the nostalgia was severely undercut by his anti-Obama rhetoric in South Carolina, or maybe they just miss the internet bubble he happened to preside over. But even more people find dynastic successions distasteful, especially when it’s a dynasty that produced so little by way of concrete improvements in our lives. Whatever she does, the semiotics of her campaign boils down to two words – “same old.”Obama is different, really different, and that in itself represents “change.” A Kenyan-Kansan with roots in Indonesia and multiracial Hawaii, he seems to be the perfect answer to the bumper sticker that says, “I love you America, but isn’t it time to start seeing other people?”

In my hard thinking since my last post, this is where my own head is going.

I want a do-over — not another Clinton in the white house. I’m sorry Hillary — I voted for you when I was 22 and again when I was 26. Back then I thought having a strong woman standing up next to her husband would pave the way for a woman president only I didn’t think it would be her. (I just can’t vote in another dynasty.)

But I sure love Michelle Obama — the way I loved Hillary when her husband first ran. I hear the Ohio primary is actually going to count this time and I’m waffling. Sometimes I think Hillary would be more effective because of her more deeply entrenched political life and sometimes I think it’ll make her less effective. I’m trying not to vote with my emotions but it’s hard. My heart wants BOTH of them to win. (But I think a Clinton/Obama or Obama/Clinton ticket is a pipe dream — what do you think?) But then I go back to: Who’s most likely to beat McCain? I gotta be practical.

Michelle Obama Solidifies Her Role in the Election - WSJ.com: “My mother raised us not to make decisions on what could go wrong or we’d never go forward.”

Yeah, I like this woman.

Edited to add: You all know how I worship my mother, right? She likes Hillary. She has a strong influence on me. I’m just sayin’.  (Not that I’ve decided who to vote for but the people in the internets vs. my mother? My mom very often wins. I hope to make up my own mind before I’m actually standing in the booth wringing my hands.)