Being a mother of five has made my home where everyone in the neighborhood gets together. I’ve seen all these kids grow up, beautiful children that have become independent women and dashing young men. I’ve fed them, wiped their tears, heard their brokenhearted stories as well “approving” their latest love affairs. Through it all, I’ve been honored to be their friends, yet they can still amaze the heck out of me…
We recently got into a political discussion which made me want to pull my hair. Most of us are democrats (pro-Hillary) and because this is Texas which is a republican bastion, we have a fairly good amount pro-McCain. We also have some that are Pro-Obama and that is where the discussion came from. I asked them why Obama and not Clinton. The answers were varied in this young crowd:
1) He inspires me. Okay, Obama inspired you to what? Wash the car, pay your bills, get drunk, what? Nope, I didn’t get that one cleared. He’s just inspiring…
2) He gives me hope. How? If a politican gives you hope, we are in serious trouble. Because hope comes from within, aka a matter of faith. It is something personal, something that either is or is not because it isn’t tangible or measurable. But shouldn’t we be able to measure how good or how prepared a presidencial candidate is without matters of faith? Shouldn’t we be assured (not hope) that the person we put in charge of that red button is qualified for the most important job of the nation instead of having hope that he knows what he is doing??? Can someone pass me a Tylenol?
3) YouTube. Two of Danny’s friend who are voting for Obama explained to me that they were sold on Obama by YouTube. The ads are cool. It’s like being in a concert. Look at how many hits those downloads are getting…and then we also have the Obama girl. Forget the Tylenol, pass me the tequila.
4) Reason #4 blew me away…Obama used pot and “blow” which I just found out is coke. As you can see I’m not cool. But Obama is. Just lovely. A presidencial candidate which is cook cuz he used drugs. I can use drugs. Anyone can use drugs. It doesn’t matter. We can all be presidents. When I got sarcastic about it they explained to me that Obama used drugs because he had “an identity” problem. Well excuse me…don’t talk to me about identity. I’m a Puerto Rican. We are Hispanics, born USA citizens, but we don’t know if we are supposed to be Spanish or Anglo. From here or from there. Even more serious is the concept that you can escape your problems through drugs and that is okay. I take drugs seriously. This subject is not inspirational or hopeful or cool. Drugs almost destroyed my family.
Now this is the kicker. The same friends who raved about Obama without any reason whatsoever demonized Hillary because she’s: 1)ugly 2)old (heaven help me) 3) a bitch (I’m one too) 4) and a liar. When asked what Hillary had lied about – the number one reason was “about everything.”
I’m sure there are more savvy young voters out there. But I can not tell you the amount of young voters that have fallen for Obama “just because…”
1 response so far ↓
Mireya // February 28, 2008 at 11:37 am
Mama, I think it has always been like that. When you ask the younger people of age to vote why are do they think candidate x is better than candidate y or why are they voting for candidate a and not b, the reasons they give are not logical at all. I first voted in 1980. My first election was a Republican primary. The only reason why I went to vote was because my dad was Republican. To this day I am thinking what the hell was I thinking. See what I mean? There was no logic in my going to vote for a Republican. (It was Reagan’s first election btw).
After that, I have not been voting for candidates, I vote for the party that best reflects my personal beliefs. I happen to think that all the candidates are full of hot air. *shrug* Obama has more charisma than any movie star, but I fear all he is spouting is pure rhetoric. Hillary seems to have a better plan, but I also happen to think she’s full of it. So, bottomline, I am voting for a party, not a candidate … yet again. You can hit me with your wet noodle now.