When the Walls Come Tumbling Down - Democratic Underground

H2O Man

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Sun Aug-31-08 06:58 AM
Original message

When the Walls Come Tumbling Down

"If John McCain thinks he is fooling us, he’s fooling himself"

In the past four days, I have spent a number of hours in the Emergency Room and a hospital room with my wife. She is, of course, my best friend. My "Yoko Only." And so I am pretty tired out, both physically and mentally. As a result, maybe what I have to say here won’t make much sense. Or, maybe it will.

Late Friday, my wife had some symptoms that her doctor had said to watch for, and to go immediately to the ER for. While I got the vehicle ready, she called her best friend. At that hour, she only got the answering machine. But when we got home, her best friend and her daughter were at our house, helping our daughters deal with the stress that comes with seeing their mother so sick.

Our return home signaled that things were okay. The TV was on in the next room, and so pretty soon we were discussing Obama’s speech and McCain’s VP selection. My wife, her best friend, and her friend’s daughter had all supported Senator Hillary Clinton in the democratic primary. My young daughters had supported Obama, even before I decided to support him. So, it made for an interesting discussion.

My wife and her friend both have master’s degrees, and have worked together both at the mental health clinic and now at the alcohol & drug abuse services. Her daughter was one of the best high school basketball players a decade ago; played at an Ivy League college; and now teaches there. She used to babysit our daughters, and we traveled to lots of her games. Now, in the summer months, she spends time "coaching" our daughters.

I said that to say this: These are the types of women that I, as a father, want to have both my sons and daughters look at as friends and as role models. All three of them talked about some strong feelings that they have regarding their beliefs that Hillary Clinton should have been picked for VP. But when we talked about McCain’s choice, the daughter said it best: "If John McCain thinks he is fooling us, he’s fooling himself."

After they left, my oldest daughter said she had been surprised that they came over that late. I said that I wasn’t – it is the quality of people that they are. I have trouble though, expressing how much it meant to me.

My youngest daughter told me to call my younger son, who is away at college. They had called him, and he was ready to drive home, but then our friends arrived. He said to have me call.

After discussing the medical business, he said he had something interesting to tell me. He had been talking to his biological mother, who was also a Senator Clinton supporter. She resented Barack Obama, and had not really taken the time to ever listen to him. So my son asked her if she had watched his speech? She had not. So he said he wanted her to listen to it, and then call him back. She did, and he said that she told him that it had moved her to tears. Now she is supporting Obama for President.

I think that the importance of this is that women know that John McCain is trying to get their support by exploiting resentments. As soon as they learned a little about his pick, they rejected her. And a person who had previously disliked Obama found she actually had much in common with him, once she actually listened to him.

Let’s keep our eye on the prize. Focus on what is important, and don’t get distracted.

Thank you,
H2O Man