Stumping Around

My friend just asked me how I felt about Donald Miller’s trip to Pennsylvania to stump for Obama.  I was tempted to say, “Who’s Donald Miller?”  Of course, the answer would be–the guy who wrote Blue Like Jazz.  So I decided to check out the link provided me by my friend (no doubt with a smirk on her face; I think she likes baiting me), and sure enough, Miller will be in my fair state the next couple of days to regale us with some verbiage about Barack Obama and how wonderfully wonderful he is.  Sigh.

It’s in moments like this that I really hate living in a battleground state.

Look, Don, it’s nice of you to make the trip out here to the East Coast, but we really don’t need you to come.  See, we’ve got lots of folks in-state who are trying to spread the message about their candidates and have been doing so for months.  We don’t need some guy who wrote a best-selling book to come to our state to tell us ignorant gun-toting religious nuts how to vote–thanks, but no thanks.

I don’t care if you’re hosting a forum with representatives from both sides to discuss the issues.  We did that already–it’s called a debate.  Maybe you caught it on television.  To me it seems like you’re using your celebrity to get college kids to vote for your guy, which is essentially what stumping is, isn’t it?  Using your fame to get people to vote for your candidate.

For some reason, I find this more insulting than Elizabeth Hasselback speaking with Sarah Palin or Ellen DeGeneres showering attention on the Obamas.  Actually, I detest when celebrities use their celebrity to buy votes from fans because at the end of the day, that’s what they’re doing.  I dislike it even more when they’re not even stumping for my team.  If they’ve got to stump, at least stump with me, not against me.

Election Day is less than a week away–and we are taking sides.  Instead of friend or neighbor, we have become divided into red state/blue state, Republican/Democrat, McCain-Palin supporter/Obama-Biden supporter.  In fact, I’m starting to wonder about people who support Obama because if they support Obama, what else is wrong with them?  How could such otherwise rational people make such a ridiculous choice for a candidate?  And are they thinking the same about me? (Yes! They are!)

We have become savages for our candidates ready to beat the crap out of anyone that threatens his nomination–like a blogger going after a published author just because he’s stopping by the state to talk a little bit about Obama.  I feel less than my usual accepting self.   I wanted to be diplomatic about things, but really, I’m tired of all the rhetoric.  I want to let loose and tell you all how I really feel about Obama.  But I won’t.

Suffice to say, I hate the election because it turns otherwised civilized individuals into ranting maniacs.  I also hate when candidates ENCOURAGE people to travel to battleground states to tell us ignoramuses what’s up.  It’s different when it’s politicians–that’s what they do.  And I’ve gone beyond hating life here in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.