By Marke B.
Guess what? He’s still running.
So. Triple-horned Republican mind-fuckery. Let’s all panic!
“Oh shit, we’re gonna lose this thing!” was my mantra for the past few days, until my bf snapped me out of it with a quick verbal slap to my dim wits. I know I am definitely not alone in this, and commenters in the “liberal blogosphere” from Jezebel to Slate to HuffPo and beyond have been jangling off the hook with similar jitters at the Palin and “Maverick” switcheroo the Rovians have, admittedly geniusly (although clumsily), just pulled on us.
“Shut the fuck up, Marke,” my sweetie admonished. “Are you that ready to fall into despair?”
Hell, no, lover. But still, we’ve been thrust into Bizarro World, where suddenly we’re the sexist, conservative, race-card-playing prigs. Um, and Washington is liberal, choice is a decision only the daughters of anti-abortionists can make, and a Bridge to Nowhere is bad — but keeping the money for a road to a Bridge to Nowhere is “tearing down the establishment.”
It’s hella weird right now, and nervous tension is at a boil among us progressives who’re voting for Obama. A fact, I suspect, that led well-meaning but often toothless NYTimes columnist Bob Herbert to pen his actually pretty bracing liberal pep talk in today’s issue. Thanks, Bob!
“Any excuse not to vote for a black man!” is something I’ve said in my head a million times, especially as the fabulously unreliable polls have continued to tip in McCain’s favor. But that’s too easy, maybe. “She’s ‘red meat’ to my relatives in the Midwest!” That’s true to a point (and snobbish, yes) — but when I’ve actually taken time to talk to my relatives and reflect on how much I know them, it’s so much more complicated than that. And they resent being pigeonholed by anyone, from either party. And, come to think of it, if I can’t remember their birthdays, how do I know who they’re voting for?
So here’s the thing.