I Want You To Want Me
I have a routine in the evenings. I come home from work, I cook something, and I eat it on my couch watching Jeopardy!, because I'm a nerd. In the last few weeks this routine has brought something to my TV screen I had never ever seen before: presidential campaign ads. I regularly see both a McCain and an Obama ad in my half-hour of trivia time. How novel! See, I'm from Texas, which votes Republican with such clockwork reliability that any effort at swaying the vote one way or another is pretty much futile. Campaign managers are generally pretty smart, so they never bother. DC is at the other end of the political spectrum, having months ago presented itself all wrapped up in a pretty blue bow on Obama's doorstep. There's no point in spending money trying to change DC's mind either. Why all the ads then? I have one word for you: VIRGINIA. The Powers That Be have declared that VA will be a swing state this November, and therefore both campaigns are pouring money into it. So, if Bethy and I end up moving there like we plan to, our votes might be actually worth something for a change. Or at least only mostly worthless instead of totally worthless. Messrs. McCain and Obama, you may suck up to me now.