Meeting Persephone

We're entering the home stretch of election season - thank every single (and married and gay)god!! I've reached the point of shock when I see an advertisement that has nothing to do with the campaign. I'd practically forgotten that once upon a time commercials were used to sell such garbage as the Swiffer. I'd even started watching infomercials to get my fix of capitalistic advertising - it's been that bad!

To make things a bit worse, the phone rang last night. It was a call from California. Assuming that it was his brother, my husband answered the phone. It turned out to be moveon.org asking for me to volunteer this coming Saturday at a semi-local campaign office to help encourage voters to get out and do their part in the coming election. Ok. I hemmed and hawed and tried to talk my way out of it a little, but the persistent woman on the other end of the phone was having none of it.

I guess it wouldn't be so bad. After all I'd be calling and reminding those who are already supporting Obama just to get to the polls and cast a vote instead of being complacent. After the call I got online and saw that the once securely blue Missouri has tightened in the polls making it a battle ground state once again. It was always a battle ground state, however, the new polls make it seem that we could turn red pretty easily and I just can't stand the thought of that.

My fear is that I'll make a call to some random person and assume that they were going to vote for Obama but then hear a string of racial slurs that could knock a buzzard off a garbage truck which would of course lead me to lash out. Hey, I live in Missouri and a lot of people here still find the need to show their confederate flags. I have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to intolerance. I'm the same girl who used to corner my mother about her bigotry. Inequality puts me in a bad mood and I have a bad habit of not keeping my damned mouth shut in those circumstances.

Could I become the Palin of the Obama campaign??? Could I become a liability? I mean, I support Obama in the election because these times are too desperate - even if there are other candidates who much more closely fit my ideals. I can't bring myself to vote for someone I know stands no chance of succeeding just because of my own principles AT THIS TIME. Obama is not my ideal, but he's a damn sight closer than McCain. And I know that a vote for the Green candidate or one of the Socialist candidates is as good as a vote for McCain.

I hate the two party system. I hate the fact that money makes these elections go 'round. I hate that those that I really support don't get anywhere near the attention they could/should because they don't have the financial support that the two "big ones" do. The last 3rd party candidate who got anywhere near enough attention to have made a real dent in the elections was Ross Perot. What does that say about our system?

So I'll stuff my principles and vote for Obama - and I suppose I'll go make calls for the sake of the country at least getting on a better track than where we are right now. But I'm also waiting for the day when we can vote for those who really represent us rather than who the media decides is most interesting. I'll help place yet another Christian capitalist into the White House and while I'll be mostly happy and somewhat proud to do so, I will also think of the day that may come when nobody has to worry about health care, food, a place to live, and rights to govern their own bodies and bedrooms (because those are human necessities) without threat of losing liberty.