...and I didn't realize how bad his addiction was!
Let me start by saying that he is not a "band-wagon" junkie, its just that the importance of this election has escalated his need for a fix from 1-2 hours a day to 24 hours a day!
As excited for Tuesday as I am so that we can finally have a decision, I am even more excited to be able to watch regular TV again:)
You may have noticed I have not had any "TV Talk" blogs lately. Well, you can absolutely blame it on my political junkie husband who has taken over the TV. Thank goodness for Tivo! I don't know how I (and he) would have survived this election without it. I have been reduced to catching up on the weekends the best I can for my regular programing. My soaps...I haven't seen that in a few weeks because I can thankfully read about it in my magazine, unlike the other network shows that have been airing. The World Series and the Debates have helped prevent me from missing some episodes because they were moved to accommodate those airings (yeah Phillies!).
I must be honest that I have enjoyed some of the political programing, most specifically Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. If I had not made up my mind on who I was going to vote for, these shows would not have been as good to watch. They are most definitely biased. But I do think that if it wasn't for Rachel Maddow, I might have had to cut the TV off a long time ago!
If you have already made up your mind, you should check those two shows out. They are very biased for Obama but their sarcasm really puts things in perspective. They speak real news, and don't spin, but they don't spend a lot of time objectively going after Obama either. You won't hear talking points from Obama campaign, you will hear criticism of McCain. And their favorite target of all time...the is the big red target painted on the back of the moose hunter from Alaska. And its my favorite target too!
One of the things that has made watching shows like the Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow show bearable has been Sarah Palin. She provides such great material for how bad she is. When I hear they are able to talk about another one of her flub ups....it brings a smile to my face!
Ben and I are different types of viewers. He is not the scream at the tv kind, I am. And with the addition of Sarah Palin to the mix I have only gotten more vocal while watching than I would have been without her. While Ben is the junkie in the family, he is a lot more objective than me. He disagrees with her politics and policies (and is afraid of her being president) and he doesn't agree with McCain either, however I would say the best way to describe my feelings on Sarah is that I hate the bejeezes out of her and her voice is like nails on a chalkboard! Ben puts it nicely and says while he would probably not vote for her because of her views and polices, if she had more experience she would be a more realistic candidate. Me, I just hate her.
Let me pause here and give props to McCain though for his appearance on SNL. I really did think he was entertaining. And while I do not plan to vote for him, and I yell at what he says on TV a LOT lately, I found it refreshing that he could get into it on Saturday Night Live. It was a MUCH better performance than Sarah Palin's who I thought just looked stiff and out of place. I thought it was more of a joke that she thought it would be good for her to be on SNL. She didn't even do anything. McCain embraced the opportunity and took his chances.
Now, back to the mud-slinging! Here is how I am looking at the race....
McCain-Palin:
Its much simpler to just say what I do like about these two, or rather what I like about McCain. He can be funny. That is about it. I think he lost this election when he picked a chick from Alaska that he met once and he really had no idea what he was getting himself into. Someone on one of those TV shows I have seen in the last few weeks said it best..."even at McDonald's you have more than one interview". What was this man thinking?? On a whole I don't agree with more of their social issues than anything else. I think McCain deserves respect for his time in the service and as a POW. I don't think that it automatically makes him the best guy to be president.
Now to the crazy lady who likes to pimp out her kids and jinxes hockey teams like Flyers by dropping the puck and insulting Pittsburgh fans when she is in Western PA by making comments about the Philadelphia Phillies. Don't get me wrong...she can make these kind of actions all she wants because it just re-affirms to me what a wacko she is and why I would never vote for anything she is associated with. I think she is delusional. I think she is out for her and has been the entire time. I am not even convinced she really thought she would win with McCain but she DID think it would get her into the mix that she has been so out of since she has been holed away in Alaska. Whether she likes to admit it or not, if she isn't part of the "boys club in DC" she is a no name that would have only ever been in Alaska, charging the taxpayers to travel with her personal hockey team, I mean family. She is way to far right in her social issues for me. Abstinence only education...let's see how well that worked out? And pro-choice is NOT pro-abortion and I am so tired of hearing people say it is. If you talk to most people who are pro-choice, they would never have an abortion but they also don't think the government should be the ones to decide what a woman does to her body. With the potential for the next president to pick at least 2 Supreme Court Justices, I want her as far away from that choice as possible. She has a high approval rating in Alaska, because she gave residents a raise from $2000 to $3100 a person, not adult-all people (which explains why she has so many kids!) to live in Alaska. She gets the money to do this by taxing the oil companies (and so Alaska benefited by the high profits of the oil companies while the rest of us paid high prices for gas). Her family alone makes almost $22,000 a year JUST TO LIVE THERE! I know people who work 30 hours a week and make less than that. You wonder if that is what she is referring to when she talks about her own "small business" aka popping out babies. I should point out, that this tax scheme is awfully similar to what Obama wants to do that she keeps calling "socialist". And the "drill baby drill" thing is a grant chant but all they are saying is that the oil companies can drill off our shores. It is not saying they have to sell it to us and China is willing to pay a lot more than we are. Where do you think their business will be going? That is a point that seems to be overlooked anytime she says "drill baby drill".
Oh and this whole Mayor of Wasilla thing...the town is so small it doesn't have4 its own police, fire or social service departments. What did she do? Open the new stores in town? And I have to say that as far as her ability to "clean house" when she got to be governor...what does she think she will get to do as Vice President? Does she think she gets to go in and get rid of all those senators who she doesn't like since they are the ones that actually pass the bills and such. Of course is it quite possible she does think this since she doesn't seem to have a true idea of what the role of the VP is within the Senate anyway. She seems to think the VP runs the joint and she can just get in there and get them to pass policy she wants.
And let's talk about her "foreign policy experience". So, by her logic that she has all this experience because she is only 58 miles from Russia...that means that the Governor of NY is an EXPERT since they share a border with Canada. I bet she will say Buffalo's mayor is an expert too since they are so close to Buffalo and probably have actual relations with them unlike Alaska and Russia!! Oh and by that logic I am a border expert because I go to Taco Bell and I am a foreign relations expert because we have a Chinese food restaurant on the corner!
And how about them clothes? There is no "hockey mom" in America that would ever consider spending that amount of money on clothes, to be donated or not! And what is with her having only Palin signs at a rally in Florida? Did she forget that she is running as the VP with McCain...she is not the only one on the ticket? Or was she just putting those signs out there now for people to use in 2012 when she tries on her own??
I could go on and on about Sarah Palin but I have already spent too much energy on her.
On to bigger and better things....Obama-Biden!
I will start with Biden. I liked him in the primaries but didn't really think he had a chance of getting top ticket. He strikes me as someone who has strong family values (how many people do you know who take a train round trip from DE to DC daily so that they can be close to their family?) I respect that he has not pimped out his personal struggles as part of the campaign and I really had a lot of respect for him when he responded to Palin's comment during the VP debate where he clearly stated that he too knew what it was like to struggle and to be a single parent. He has a long career in the senate, working with many different presidents through the years. I think he will be a good support to Obama. I get the feeling they really would work together in the White House and not be fighting each other (like I think McCain-Palin would because I am not convinced they have ever actually agreed on anything!) When I watch Biden speak, I feel like he is educated, experienced and truly cares.
Obama...I was not sure about him at first. During the primaries I didn't even really like him all that much but I must admit I was also not paying that much attention either. But when I did start paying attention I found that I liked what he had to say. He has some very interesting ideas and while most of them probably won't happen quite the way he has planned, I truly believe that he believes what he says and he wants to do right by the country. I don't have to agree with everything he stands for and I understand that if he is President, he is still not the only one who makes things happen. But I believe he cares. I believe when he says he wants to help middle class America. I think he believes it because he has lived it. Little things I like about him are not something I would base a vote on but I do like that he does not pimp his kids out along the campaign trail. And today, I saw a clip of him on TV walking with his little girls and they looked happy and like normal children should look. Not dressed up to look like stepford kids to keep up an image of what a candidate's children "should" be when really, all they should be is children. They shouldn't be used as props in a campaign (unlike a moose hunter we all know). When I saw the Obama 30-min "infomercial" it evoked emotion I didn't expect. It was much better than I expected. And it didn't seem like a half hour either. I was almost disappointed when it ended because I really felt like he was truly speaking to the American People and the biggest difference I get when I watch McCain vs Obama is that where I think McCain says what he needs to say, I believe that Obama believes what he says.
And that is my political rant for the day. This will all come to a breaking point on Tuesday when the election officially ends and we find out our winner. I truly hope that not only does Obama win, but that he wins significantly so that we are not plagued with a repeat of the 2000 election or any question as to who was elected by the people to be our president. No matter what happens, the campaigning will end and the reality will set in. (And I will get to watch my regular TV shows again too!)
Don't forget to vote on Tuesday. It DOES count! (And tell all your friends to vote too!) Take them with you so the wait is more fun!
