wait, it’s October?!

Sorry, dear readers, for being so absent the last couple of weeks. Things have been buzzing along here in Nashville… classes are absorbing (both intellectually and time-wise), fall is slowly creeping across the Mississippi, and life, in short, is going well.

But let me pause from the normal banality of this blog (at least of late) and chat with you all a bit about the presidential election. You may know that I generally answer the question, “What do you do?” with the reply, “I study elections,” so it should come as no surprise that the presidential election is of enormous interest to me. I have been following the developments closely, particularly since the conventions, when both major-party candidates woke up from the summer slumber and got back to serious campaigning.

I should say that Obama was not my favorite Democrat running in the primary, but that I find many things about him intriguing. And, to be sure, I am infatuated with the historic nature of his nomination. By contrast, in a broad sense, John McCain *WAS* my favorite Republican running in that primary… oh, sure, I loved the wit and fresh air that Mike Huckabee brought to the campaign, but since I made a vow in 1994 never to support Mike Huckabee for any public office, I couldn’t very well lend my support to him this spring. Despite whatever reservations I had in the primary season, I was happy with the two nominees… I like them both, again speaking in broadstrokes. McCain’s recent (~ last two years) move to the right is unfortunate, and Obama’s relative lack of Washington experience is likewise unfortunate, but deep down, I have no qualms with either of them.

It was the two weeks of political conventions that really shored up my support for the Democrats, though. Again, those of you who know me well will not be surprised at my admission that, despite the fact that I have ardently claimed to be a moderate for most of my adult life, I definitely lean — and that’s the key word here, *lean* — to the left. I am no tree-hugging, granola liberal, but I am awfully inclined to vote for Democrats. That’s not to say I’ve never voted for a Republican, mind you.

At any rate, despite what political sciene as a discipline tells us (and what the talking heads on TV will confirm), the two senators’ vice presidential picks are what made up my mind once and for all.

Joe Biden is one of my favorite politicians, if not my absolute favorite. He speaks his mind bluntly, not always elegantly, and despite his many years in Washington, still feels like an honorable person to me (relative to other politicians, I mean). In fact, Biden was my favorite Democrat in the primary race. When Obama picked Biden (over Hillary, who would have been a politically genius pick), he sealed my support.

By contrast, Sarah Palin scares the daylights out of me. The hard-core conservatives will go on about how she’s a “maverick,” and that the “liberal media” have given her a tough shake. Well, let me go on record as a women who believes that not all criticism of female candidates is sexist, that not all media reports of questionable ethics reveals political bias, and that not everything this woman says is true. The reports I’ve read of how she handled herself in Alaskan politics have made a real impression on me; she reminds me so much of George W. Bush, in that she keeps her friends close, alienates anyone who doesn’t agree with her (and apparently calls them “haters,” how third grade is that?!?!). She stretches the truth so completely in her speeches that, in my mind at least, she’s outright telling lies. She didn’t say “thanks, but no thanks” to the MONEY for the bridge to nowhere; she didn’t sell the luxury jet on eBay. She loves to throw verbal jabs at the Democrats, but her people go apoplectic when verbal jabs are thrown back, crying “sexist!” and “liberal media!” anytime anyone criticizes her. Good grief! I think we *ARE* back in third grade!!

At any rate, I cannot WAIT for the vice presidential debate tomorrow night, if for no reason other than the fact that for me, that’s where the real action is. As I said, I don’t have strong negative feelings for either Obama or McCain, but I will be raving mad come November 5th if Sarah Palin is our vice president-elect. Oof.

Anyone with me? 🙂