Another Story About Voting Against Your Own Interests: My Neighbors (Joe the Plumber Free!)

[TornadoTN]

Well, I guess you could call them my neighbors, they are the closest house to our farm and property out here in rural Tennessee. I farm on the side - all organic - and I travel all around the property in the evenings doing various tasks that have to be done after I get off of work. I've spoken to these two people and their children several times, good conversation and they seem like nice people.

About 8 months ago, we started getting phone calls from collection agencies looking for these people. I guess they had to find the closest neighbor to try to get in touch with them. I would just tell the collectors that I didn't have their number (I didn't) and I didn't know them well enough to go tell them someone was looking for them. This went on for several months until one day someone actually showed up at our house asking about these people. They were from their mortgage company and wanted to see if I was interested in buying their property. This was a little off-putting and I told the person that I would speak with them about it and get back to them. I drove down to their house and had a long conversation with the man, who admitted that his family was having financial trouble and was in danger of being foreclosed. I told him that there were some other options for him through other lenders and that if he was able to settle with his credit card companies, that he would be more likely to get more favorable options for his house. I felt sorry for the family, so my wife and I started bringing them food from the farm - enough for the entire family to get by on for a week at a time and offered to help in any way we could. I got him touch with a good friend at a local bank who was able to point him in the right direction and they finally got their mortgage situation solved. They could keep their home.

After this, we still went by and dropped off a few things every now and again and chatted casually about politics. It's not secret who I support and I've had an Obama sticker on my truck since early January. The family has one income and 4 kids - and the one income is just now starting to get stabilized as the father was lucky to find a stable job in the current economy. Their situation has been addressed over and over again by Obama and all of the things they related to me indicated that they were exactly the kind of voter that Obama is trying to reach. They weren't Republicans or Democrats - just "people" as they once told me.


So imagine my surprise today when I drove down the road and noticed a big, giant McCain/Palin sign in their front yard. I stopped in and asked how everyone was doing and politely inquired about the sign in a non-confrontational way. The father looked at me and said "I've just been getting too many e-mails that I can't overlook". I responded confidently, "Well did you know that most of that stuff isn't true? Would you like me to show you factual information that proves it isn't true?". "No", he replied, "I've already seen enough and if there's just one iota of truth to it then thats all I need". I struggled to find the words to respond and I finally got out, "Well, John Doe, I wish that you would reconsider or at least be willing to listen to the other side of the story. I really feel you are voting against your own best interests and you will eventually regret it. I hope not, but if you look at what you are voting for its clear he's not supporting you." He looked down and then said, "Well, why are you voting for Obama? You and your family have money and you'll probably be taxed more." I said, "Because there are a lot more reasons to vote for Obama than just my own back pocket. I think beyond just my own pocket and think about my child, our country, our soldiers, the future of this country, even you and your family." He cut me off - and said, "Sorry, but I'm not changing my mind. Goodnight" and he walked back inside.

If there ever was a family that could benefit from Barack Obama becoming President, this was it. But somehow, the hatred and the lies got the best of them. Even when faced with the truth, they didn't want to hear it. It's staring them in the face and they ignore it. Needless to say, I'm a little disappointed tonight and just want to bang my head against the wall and say, "Why don't you people get it!?!?!"

[BrklynLiberal]

1. The real sad part is that when Obama IS elected, and this family benefits from his policies...they

won't even acknowledge how wrong they were....

[TornadoTN]

2. That's what makes me so sick about it

There's no reason at all for them to vote McCain, it's totally against their interests. All over some stupid bullshit e-mails.

*sigh* Just a sad day. They'll never acknowledge that when their situation improves thanks to Obama's policies, it will be all for some other reason.

[rurallib]

4. The south far and away benefitted most from FDR

yet ......

[Kalyke]

11. And the South consistantly voted for Democrats until 2000.

Your point?

[TrogL]

3. Because they're authoritarians

They cannot think. They cannot do the mental arithmetic necessary to reach the conclusion you're asking of them. They have to be told what to think and only trust authoritarian leadership types.

[TornadoTN]

5. Yep. That makes perfect sense

I believe it was probably their church that did it. I'm sure they attend and we do not, so I guess they were persuaded to believe we were godless heathens that were dragging them into hell.

I drew a fucking connect the dots for these people and they still couldn't complete it.

[TornadoTN]

6. Evening bump nt

[joop]

7. oh crap, TornadoTN

You did the right thing. The wrong thing would have been to do nothing and drive on by with a disgusted feeling in the pit of your stomach upon seeing their dreaded sign.

You planted a seed of doubt in his head that maybe those emails might be bull. Maybe when his day gets long and he has a chance to think, he might actually check the rumors. If he speaks to his wife, maybe she might look into it.

Maybe not, but you planted a seed, anyway. I want to hope for your sake and their sake that something takes root.

[TornadoTN]

9. Let's hope.

The seed is planted.

As another poster said, it's probably an authoritarian predisposition for them or it may indeed be racism. If that's the case, I have no use for these people and feel truly sorry for their kids.

[Ikonoklast]

8. He won't admit to racism. None of them will.

It destroys how one thinks of themselves, as moral, righteous, and god-fearing. They will use any excuse to latch onto provided by those that do their thinking for them, to excuse their choice as anything but racism.

Racists are, for the most part, critically lacking in self-examination skills.

[qanda]

10. You sound like a wonderful person

I'm not sure what to say about your neighbor, I just pray that he is the exception and not the rule.