February 8, 2008--Family Focus Group
If you want to know why Barack Obama is having a tough time attracting 65-year-old white Democratic voters, you should have been with me the other evening.
After all the food ordering and catching up with each other about ___’s colonoscopy and ____’s pacemaker, after gulping down the bean curd soup, all talk turned to politics.
“You know, the reason I’m having trouble voting for Obama is because of the 114 times he voted ‘Present.’” This from Cousin _____ .
That he tracks these things carefully should be evident by the 114, but at first I was confused about what he was referring to. I had had by then a bottle or two of Tsingtao and wasn’t fully compos mentis. Thus I asked, a chow fun noodle dangling from my chopsticks, “114 what?”
“You know, he voted that way that many times when he was in the Illinois State Legislature.”
“Oh that,” I said, confident I could quickly clear that one up and thus convince him that Obama was worthy of his support. “You see, in Illinois, that’s the way legislators show disagreement with a piece of legislation or an amendment introduced by their party’s leader. So as to indicate opposition without actually voting against it. It’s sort of a courtesy and doesn’t indicate Obama wanted to duck responsibility for making tough decisions.”
“You mean,” he came back at me, “like what John Kerry said four years ago about his vote to authorize the war in Iraq—how he was against it before he was for it before he was against it?”
“Sort of,” I had to admit. And thought maybe voting Present isn’t the easiest thing to explain away, but that’s how the system works, sort of, in the US Congress and in Springfield, Illinois. I wasn’t at all sure that my argument had convinced my cousin to lean in Obama’s direction. I was, therefore, thankful that he isn't a Super Delegate.
While I pondered this, one of my other cousins offered, “I’ll tell you why I’m for Hillary. It’s because of her experience. She has 35 years of it and is ready to be president from Day One.”
I thought, who else has been using that Day One phrase? You can see what Chinese beer does to you.
“Obama is too inexperienced. It’s a dangerous world and I want someone experienced to be Commander in Chief.”
“I understand that,” I said, thinking if I agreed with her I might more easily get her to see things my way. So, I tried something that I think I heard a politician say—I also forgot which one: “But shouldn’t we be looking for Judgment? You know, someone who was against the war from the before the beginning? Someone who had the Judgment to oppose it then and didn’t have to change his or her position just to get elected? [I emphasized the her.] Obama had the Judgment.”
She clearly wasn’t biting on this one, so I added, “OK, let’s take a look at her experience. Yes, she has been in the public eye for 35 years. True. But tell me then, just what has she actually accomplished during that time? Please, give me a specific list of the legislation she introduced that got passed.”
That should have been persuasive enough but I couldn’t stop myself from adding, “Like McCain-Feingold, for example.” Realizing that by allowing this to slip out, who knows, maybe she’ll become a McCain supporter.
She dodged my challenge and offered one of her own: “What about all those overseas trips she took while she was First Lady? She visited, what, more than 82 countries.”
Again, where had I heard that “more than 82”? Wouldn’t you have thought that whichever candidate had provided that number would have more authentically said, “more than 80”? But I let that one go and said, with a smirk, “You mean all those trips to foreign countries Hillary Clinton took during school vacations so that Chelsea could see the world, ride on elephants in India, go on safaris in Africa, all at taxpayer expense?”
“No, I mean while Senator Clinton took those trips she met with dozens of foreign leaders. So if she becomes president she can resume her relationships with then.”
I had her there: “Tell me, which of those foreign leaders who she met seven or ten years ago are still in office? Dictators-for-life aside. Every head of state from that time in Europe and Asia and Latin America is no longer in office. Tony Blair is raking in millions of pounds and Boris Yeltsin is dead. At least I think he is. Even Putin is stepping aside this week, in a manner of speaking.” She remained silent so I moved in with the crusher, “To tell you the truth, in these terms, both Obama and Clinton are equally inexperienced. So I’m going to go with Judgment.”
Just as I was feeling satisfied with myself and basking in my rhetorical victory, a third cousin, in a soft whisper said, “All I want in a president is someone who will make me feel safe.” At this, my other two cousins nodded in silent but deeply-felt agreement.
For this I had no rejoinder. And so, down here among the Senior Set, John McCain could be looking very strong.
After all the food ordering and catching up with each other about ___’s colonoscopy and ____’s pacemaker, after gulping down the bean curd soup, all talk turned to politics.
“You know, the reason I’m having trouble voting for Obama is because of the 114 times he voted ‘Present.’” This from Cousin _____ .
That he tracks these things carefully should be evident by the 114, but at first I was confused about what he was referring to. I had had by then a bottle or two of Tsingtao and wasn’t fully compos mentis. Thus I asked, a chow fun noodle dangling from my chopsticks, “114 what?”
“You know, he voted that way that many times when he was in the Illinois State Legislature.”
“Oh that,” I said, confident I could quickly clear that one up and thus convince him that Obama was worthy of his support. “You see, in Illinois, that’s the way legislators show disagreement with a piece of legislation or an amendment introduced by their party’s leader. So as to indicate opposition without actually voting against it. It’s sort of a courtesy and doesn’t indicate Obama wanted to duck responsibility for making tough decisions.”
“You mean,” he came back at me, “like what John Kerry said four years ago about his vote to authorize the war in Iraq—how he was against it before he was for it before he was against it?”
“Sort of,” I had to admit. And thought maybe voting Present isn’t the easiest thing to explain away, but that’s how the system works, sort of, in the US Congress and in Springfield, Illinois. I wasn’t at all sure that my argument had convinced my cousin to lean in Obama’s direction. I was, therefore, thankful that he isn't a Super Delegate.
While I pondered this, one of my other cousins offered, “I’ll tell you why I’m for Hillary. It’s because of her experience. She has 35 years of it and is ready to be president from Day One.”
I thought, who else has been using that Day One phrase? You can see what Chinese beer does to you.
“Obama is too inexperienced. It’s a dangerous world and I want someone experienced to be Commander in Chief.”
“I understand that,” I said, thinking if I agreed with her I might more easily get her to see things my way. So, I tried something that I think I heard a politician say—I also forgot which one: “But shouldn’t we be looking for Judgment? You know, someone who was against the war from the before the beginning? Someone who had the Judgment to oppose it then and didn’t have to change his or her position just to get elected? [I emphasized the her.] Obama had the Judgment.”
She clearly wasn’t biting on this one, so I added, “OK, let’s take a look at her experience. Yes, she has been in the public eye for 35 years. True. But tell me then, just what has she actually accomplished during that time? Please, give me a specific list of the legislation she introduced that got passed.”
That should have been persuasive enough but I couldn’t stop myself from adding, “Like McCain-Feingold, for example.” Realizing that by allowing this to slip out, who knows, maybe she’ll become a McCain supporter.
She dodged my challenge and offered one of her own: “What about all those overseas trips she took while she was First Lady? She visited, what, more than 82 countries.”
Again, where had I heard that “more than 82”? Wouldn’t you have thought that whichever candidate had provided that number would have more authentically said, “more than 80”? But I let that one go and said, with a smirk, “You mean all those trips to foreign countries Hillary Clinton took during school vacations so that Chelsea could see the world, ride on elephants in India, go on safaris in Africa, all at taxpayer expense?”
“No, I mean while Senator Clinton took those trips she met with dozens of foreign leaders. So if she becomes president she can resume her relationships with then.”
I had her there: “Tell me, which of those foreign leaders who she met seven or ten years ago are still in office? Dictators-for-life aside. Every head of state from that time in Europe and Asia and Latin America is no longer in office. Tony Blair is raking in millions of pounds and Boris Yeltsin is dead. At least I think he is. Even Putin is stepping aside this week, in a manner of speaking.” She remained silent so I moved in with the crusher, “To tell you the truth, in these terms, both Obama and Clinton are equally inexperienced. So I’m going to go with Judgment.”
Just as I was feeling satisfied with myself and basking in my rhetorical victory, a third cousin, in a soft whisper said, “All I want in a president is someone who will make me feel safe.” At this, my other two cousins nodded in silent but deeply-felt agreement.
For this I had no rejoinder. And so, down here among the Senior Set, John McCain could be looking very strong.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
2:35 PM
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