Today was the Wisconsin primary, and I did my good citizen thing late this morning between the radio station and Carthage- and this inadvertently humorous sign was seen outside of Messiah Lutheran Church, which is the polling place for Kathy and me. The sign, if read literally, seems to indicate that in order to vote on the south side of Racine you need to climb on top of this six-foot snow drift and hope that you don’t sink from sight before getting your ballot filled out. And once you’re done voting, I’m not sure how your ballot gets tabulated; maybe one of those rescue Saint Bernards with a keg around his neck comes around to gather up the ballots and deliver them. At any rate, I was glad to be able to cast my ballot in the warmth and comfort of the church fellowship hall, and it was good to see a fair number of my fellow citizens there doing the same.
I don’t feel comfortable stating who I voted for, since I am a member of the media (a teeny tiny member of the media, to be sure; I am to Matt Lauer what a tape worm is to a blue whale) and my public neutrality is very important to me. But I will say this. . . I don’t think it would be the end of the world if Obama, H. Clinton or McCain were to be our next president. I think they are all people with tremendous strengths and each would represent a compelling choice. McCain is someone who has borne the most ghastly sort of pain that a human being can as a POW in the Viet Nam war, and I marvel at the strength and courage he displayed in surviving that nightmare. And he has been a politician of supreme integrity with a commendable record for reaching across the aisle with Russ Feingold and others. Clinton (isn’t it funny that we all refer to her as “hillary”) is so incredibly smart and exceptionally tough, and between her own political life and that of her husband, she has done it all and experienced it all and knows the scrappy world of politics as well as anyone does. And then there is Obama – who has so many people excited in a way that has really not been seen since the days of JFK – and for all his inexperience, there is something to be said for the importance of being able to inspire others. And I will reveal at least this much of my personal opinion on this: Any of these three would be an improvement over our current president. I probably shouldn’t say even that much, but it just feels like one of those undeniable truths by now, like “the sky is blue” or “water is wet” rather than any personal opinion of little old me. I cannot think of a single person in my life, Republican or Democrat, who feels good about the current president and wishes it were somehow possible for him to run for a third term. Everyone I know is counting the days off, almost like an Advent calendar but in reverse, in anticipation not of a great entrance but rather a not-so-grand exit.
Anyway, it is so fun to see a real political campaign underway – and one which is likely to be hard fought right up to the convention. And for as hard fought as this has been between Clinton and Obama, I have to say that this could have been a far nastier campaign than it has turned out to be. Still, I am sick sick sick sick sick of political ads – so much so that I would probably be willing to watch ten back to back episodes of that awful reality show about the tattoo parlor, LA Ink , if it meant no more political ads. (Honestly, I would ban political ads from television; they are WAY too expensive for the candidates to comfortably afford, and these political ads are all but useless for conveying any real and meaningful information.) I say ban them the same way cigarette ads were banned back in the early 70s. . and then, if nothing else, the candidates will have to raise so much less money than before. . . which in turn would make special interest groups and big time contributors so much less powerful. . . Ah. we can dream. At least they are ads on behalf of really good people. . . one of whom is all but certain to become our 43rd president.