EvilJulie.com

Waiting for this election is like waiting for Christmas, except that this is a Christmas that could go very very badly. Sort of like the ones in my family used to, with my grandfather yelling and making everyone miserable. Except we knew that we would be able to escape at the end of the evening, and in the case of this election that evening will last approximately four years instead of four hours.

You may or may not have noticed, but the blogging has increased here at Casa de Julz, and it’s all political. This is intentional on two counts: one, I have to blog about it because this is what I’m thinking of all the time right now, and if I don’t get it out somehow, Zuul will escape out my chest ala Alien by Tuesday. Two, this is my own personal get out the vote campaign. I know not as many people are reading the blog these days because I was such a slacker for months on end, but if I can get anybody who is reading it to get involved in some way in a campaign or even more simply, just to vote? I will be happy.

Voting information, in case you don’t know your polling place, or what ID you need to bring, or what the regulations are about wearing campaign buttons or t-shirts in the polling place, or you just want to find out about voting rumors you may have heard, can be found here: VoteForChange.com (rumors and everything other than polling place info can be accessed through the links at the top of the page).

Someday, when I can think about something that isn’t politically related? I will tell you how Samang was a champ at the trick-or-treating. Kid has brought me candy. Now she just needs to learn to bring me some beer.

In five days, we’ll have selected a new president, at least in theory (we all know how long vote counting takes these days). I woke up this morning totally oblivious to that fact because I am so not a morning person. Actually all I could think about was “Alarm going off. Where snooze?” as I devolve into caveman speech in the morning. After I was a little more awake, though, it all came crashing back. How close this election is (I saw very low poll numbers yesterday in my hours of watching MSNBC, and they worried me), how much is riding on it, and how little time we have until this, too, is history and we have to live with it one way or the other. I’m telling you right now, if we have another election night like 2000 or 2004, I am going to need some really strong booze to get through it.

I have this wild hope growing inside of me right now, and all it will take to make it a reality is if ordinary people like all of you remember that in America, the people are supposed to have a hand in politics. We choose who we want in office, we have the right to call them and say “Hey, I think you should oppose this law or support this one,” and we can actually run for office if we have the inclination. Focusing on that first one, I really believe that in an election like this, choosing who you want in office doesn’t begin and end with going to the polling place. There are things you can do, like calling people, driving elderly and disabled to the polls, knocking on doors, and if you don’t have the time to do any of that, you can give money to a campaign so it has the funding to hire people who do.

I know. You’ve been hearing stories about how much money Obama has in his “war chest.” That money is getting used up big time right now. The last few days of a campaign are an all out blitz, getting the candidate and his endorsers to key rallies all over the country, running ads to combat robocalls, getting out the vote, all of that. If I have to eat a little ramen because I’m giving the man another thirty dollars today, then so be it. That money is needed.

Volunteers are also needed, however. If you go to BarackObama.com and feel like skipping the donation part, on the right hand of the page are tons of ways that you can volunteer. You can make calls (either by finding a phonebank or from your own house), or knock on doors, or drive to a battleground state this weekend and get out the vote there. Jordana and I made phone calls from a phonebank Wednesday night, and it was really kind of great. We were calling people in Ohio to make sure they knew about early voting and were taking advantage of it (early voting means that if for some reason they tell you you’re ineligible to vote, you have time to report that and still get your vote in before Tuesday). We talked to people who had voted for Obama and people who hadn’t, and while Barack Obama is the candidate I support, as long as I heard that someone voted I said “That’s awesome. Thank you for doing that.” That’s what it’s all about, people. Voting. Getting people engaged in our government again. I was nervous as hell when I started making calls, but fairly soon I remembered these were just people like I am, and this election is something we’re all going through together.

Tonight we’re taking Samang out for her first trick-or-treat, but tomorrow we start back on the phone calls. Because time is running out, and I am still way too unsure of how this is going to turn out to sit back and relax. There will be time for that later.

Regan sent me this link today via email. Go ahead, click. It’s pictures of little girls being very excited to meet Barack Obama, and these kids are killing me with the cute. Can you ever remember seeing kids this excited to meet a politician? Because I can’t. Now click this link. Same blog, different pictures of Obama and people attending his rallies. The picture of the woman wiping tears away as she sees Barack and Hillary take the stage? That could be me. I feel that passionate about this man becoming President. The very thought fills me with such hope, so much hope that I’m afraid to let it out for fear that it will be stifled again with another stolen election, or an assassination. Now ask yourselves, what the hell kind of country do we live in when we’re afraid to hope that a good man will be elected because we’ve had that rug pulled out from under us too many times? Not the country I grew up in, that’s for sure.

I look at the pictures in that first link and I see what is right with this country. I see a bunch of kids who will grow up to be engaged citizens, responsible voters, who will not only believe but know that their votes do make a difference. I see a promising future for all of those kids, instead of the horror movie I had almost become resigned to. I look at those kids and the man in front of them, and I see a return to the country I knew. A country I can be proud of again, a country that I don’t have to be ashamed of when I introduce myself as an American to those who live abroad.

I’m going to make calls for Obama from a phonebank tomorrow night to try to reclaim that country. Someday, when Samang asks me what I did during this election, I want to be able to say “I voted for him. I donated money to the campaign to help him win. And I made calls to get out the vote. I did it because I wanted you to be proud of where you grew up instead of wondering how in the hell a cowboy who looks like a chimpanzee and a man who didn’t look like a chimp but followed the same policies managed to flush it down the toilet for all of us.” Yeah, it’s sappy (aside from the crack about President Chimp Asshat), but if we don’t think about Samang and all of those kids in the pictures and any kids you know and what’s best for them? We’re not voting for the right reasons.

So the country is edging down the bumpy road to hell (those good intentions are murder on the suspension) and we’re staring down a possible Great Depression that could start as soon as Monday, according to John McCain. Since my birthday is Tuesday, I think John is trying to get me a birthday present, but dude? I’d much rather have an iTunes gift card or a pair of Dansko Stapled Clogs. A Depression is just too much excitement for me. I’m gonna be 31, I don’t think I can take that kind of excitement.

Ooh, but one good present that John McCain and Sarah Palin are giving me? This whole flip-flopping thing! You guys, the fact that you can’t get your stories straight on anything, and you’re trying to cause a panic with my birthday present are making my boy Barack look like a rockstar! “We shouldn’t have a debate, we should work on getting this whole crisis figured out!” McCain squeals like a little girl. And then Barack comes in and says calmly “Oh, I think we can do that and still have a debate. Because I can walk and chew gum at the same time, and also solve the country’s problems,” like President Bartlett on West Wing. That’s what I’m talking about. Poll bounce, my real birthday present.

Speaking of, my mom got me a very nice birthday present. She got Steelers tickets for Monday night for us. That’s right, people, when you tune in for Monday Night Football, Steelers vs. Ravens, I will be there. This means we are leaving for Pittsburgh on Friday and blog posting may be sporadic. Much like it is now anyways because I am lazy and playing Molehill Empire instead of writing. Oh, wait, I meant because I am thinking deep thoughts about the upcoming Great Depression. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

ETA: This. Letterman’s rants about McCain suspending his campaign over the economy. I love Dave. (YouTube might pull it, not sure how the Late Show advances got out.)

I have many thoughts on the whole Sarah Palin thing/debacle/trainwreck/whatever. But Jon Stewart just sums them up so nicely for me (thanks for the link, ESC):

Sarah Palin Gender Card

Did anyone catch the Democratic debate last night on CNN? Rick and I saw something interesting, which was later voiced by Keith Olbermann in his analysis of the debate: for the first time, Clinton and Obama were not picking at each other so much as they were picking at the Republicans. It was as if they looked around and realized “Hmmm, we’re the last two standing, we don’t have to do the backbiting anymore, let’s focus on the Republicans.” It looked like a Democratic ticket, people. And while I would still rather have an Obama/Edwards ticket, as Rick said “I wouldn’t mind an Obama/Clinton ticket with John Edwards as Attorney General.”

Bear in mind that I said an Obama/Clinton ticket, not the other way around. I still like Barack more than Hillary for several reasons. One, he is one of the most inspirational speakers I have ever seen. He makes people excited about getting involved in politics, especially young people. With him as president, I really feel like America would be a forward-looking nation again, the kind we haven’t seen since JFK was in the White House. I could be proud of that country and be proud to be an American again instead of somewhat embarrassed or at worst, defensive about it. Two, while I remember the Clinton era with fondness, I am a little wary of having the same two families in charge of this country for the past thirty years. We kicked the English out of this country two centuries ago because we weren’t fans of dynasties. Three, Hillary’s latest health care plan is what they’ve done in Massachusetts. Rick lives in Massachusetts, I know about that system and how it doesn’t work for the middle class and the poor. I don’t think that taking it national will get rid of those problems. And four, perhaps most importantly, Hillary supported this war and voted against the Levin amendment, which would have required Bush to go back to Congress for approval before actually going to war. And she has never once said that it was a mistake. She has sidestepped about that relentlessly, saying “With the information I had…” I hate when people don’t admit they made a mistake. Just own up to it and get over it. I would find it much easier to get behind her if she could just do that one little thing, like John Edwards did. “Yes, I made a mistake. I should not have voted that way, I admit it” sounds like a grown-up, and a responsible leader. “With the information I had” sounds like someone who can’t admit their mistakes. We’ve had that in the White House for the past seven years, and look where that’s gotten us. I worry about four more years of that.

That last paragraph was a lot longer than I originally intended, but what the hell. Yes, if it comes down to it and Hillary is the Democratic nominee, I will vote for her in November. I am a yellow dog Democrat at heart, and I cannot abide McCain or Romney (why I can’t deal with McCain would be another very long paragraph, and we just won’t go there right now). I cannot abide any more years of Republicans in charge of this country in general, watching my rights and civil liberties be eroded before my eyes every day. But on Tuesday, when I get to vote for the candidate closest to my heart, I’ll be voting for Barack Obama. And I will be proud to do so.