My Mother-In-Law won re-election (10th time- what a weird world!)

[The Straight Story]

She is a (D) in California and won re-election to school board. My family covers a lot of political ground from Republicans (my Grandfather was a R mayor and police chief) to (D) mayors, school board, and union leaders.

She told the wife tonight that this was her last election. She has grown tired of all the problems in schools and wants to relax some. She is what I would call a conservative democrat - hard core D and the family is well known in the area, but also conservative in some views on things like gay marriage to crime and immigration (ie, she parrots RW talking points on these issues). They are wealthy (both her and her husband serve the D party in their jobs I might add quite well) and don't sympathize with those who have not made it but are also loyal to the party in general. But in recent years they have split with the party on core issues like gay marriage - IE they see them in a secular view in that marriage was designed in such a way that a man and a woman should come together, create kids, and be given a tax break and that gay marriages at their core are not prone to that. While some marriages may not end up with kids many do and so the system they see is designed around that for tax purposes and the like. Their youngest son is gay (and to add to the oddness, my best friend is and he is a republican/libertarian) but to them that has no bearing on how they view the marriage issue. They pounded the pavement for Kerry but felt he was not the best man for the job for that reason and a few others (but they would never, and have never, voted for any republican).

I want to thank them both for the hard work they have done for the D party, even when we disagree on some things. They have both worked hard from phone calls to walking door to door to keep dems in office. I am proud that they have done so much over the years from union issues (my father-in-law is a union big wig) to schools. They are old school dems, set in their ways and beliefs, but they have done a lot to better the lives of many.

What I have grown to see is the diversity in our own party, from conservatives to progressives (and even more odd, my own parents are republicans but treat others better and have more tolerance to gays and immigrants than my in-laws). What a weird world we sometimes live in here in the U.S.:

My parents are R and voted for Bush (my mom didn't as she was too sick to stand in line but she would have) but they live in a mostly african american neighborhood and are friends with many here, see gays as just another group of people (and love my gay best friend and have known and liked him over 25 years) whereas my Dem in-laws voted for kerry but live in a rich white area, wouldn't dream of living in a minority area, don't like gays, and have a huge problem with anyone not like them. My parents are middle class to poor, they are wealthy. My parents are baptist and don't blame the sinner (to quote them) while my in-laws have a catholic to no religion background and see the sinner as the problem (not a quote, but gleaned from talking to them a lot). My parents have built churches for free and helped many needing help, whereas the in-laws tend to keep all the money to themselves and shunned people needing help.

All a weird world really, and it causes me to pause at times here. My conservative christian parents have done more for others than my democratic kerry voting in-laws and my wife and I feel more at home with my folks than hers (we live next door to my parents in a different state even though her folks offered us a free house near them in CA). We live in a poor area next door to my folks on one side and the folks next to us on the other are nascar/football loving folks who voted * but have no problem living next door (two doors down from me) to a convicted felon and in an area of half whites and half minorities.

I grew up with an uncle who was the best D mayor his city ever saw, and the first D mayor in over 75 years. He and others he knew did not like where the party was headed (he died a few years ago) and tried to keep it somewhere in the middle to please all. In a mainly rethug town he was the man and worked hard for the workers there.

I contrast all this to my niece, who is I don't know what, but hates *, and is the most hatefilled and angry person I know. She hates to work, hates government, wants a commune so she can do what she wants and not have to answer to anyone (so she thinks) and while hating * does not really like anyone that I can tell (though she wears a jacket now that says * is not my president). She is anti-corporate world, not really a dem but less a rethug, and I could go on.

Through it all I have seen a few things which noted leave me in a sense of wonderment and confusion. Conservative baptist rethug christian parents who welcome gays and african-americans to democrat in-laws who shun those groups, barely have a religion except through a church name they once attended and since no longer go to, to a niece that hates * and loves anything which will bring anarchy, and...well I don't know. I am too confused.

Sorry I went way weird on this thread! I googled my mother-in-law today and saw some news articles on her winning and intended to post this solely as a congrats to her - but the more I thought about it the more I drifted into the nether regions. *I* live in a small area with people convicted of murder (and the guy remains friends with me and the family, and personally I don't blame him as I would have done the same maybe in that situation) minorities, rednecks, and the like and most here voted for * (as evidenced by talking to people and seeing signs in the hood) and yet the dems I know in CA are affluent and to me uncaring for the most part (except where union jobs are involved and then my father-in-law is a one of a kind man who has spent his life helping union people) and see gays and minorities as a side show which they have to traverse to keep their base happy.

I am confused, bewildered, and sometimes I feel like a stranger in a strange land (but the history of where I live is like a twin peaks season which I will save for another time....)