Thursday, October 30, 2008

Here I am, Senator!

I watched Barack Obama’s infomercial last night, then switched to Larry King Live to see his interview with John McCain. McCain’s take on the infomercial was that it was made possible only by the suspicious contributions of “mysterious donors.” That would be me. I’m one of those.

Earlier this year I made a $100 donation to Obama, the first time in my life I’ve ever donated to a presidential campaign. Oh sure, once in a while I’ve checked the presidential campaign donation box on my income tax form, but who counts that? The problem with my $100 donation, apparently, is that it was under $200, the minimum amount that the government has declared must be recorded and made public. If I’d had another extra $100, I’d have been glad to give it -- more, even -- but I didn’t. That means my donation is buried with millions of others the Obama campaign received, even though I had to give my name, address, employer information, credit card information, and swear to my American citizenship before they'd take my money.

Another reason the Republicans would never suspect me as a donor is the fact that I’m a white woman, 65-years-old. That puts me in a category they were convinced would not support Obama. Isn’t that great? My identity is a natural disguise.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck said yesterday that she thought the idea of spending money on a political infomercial was “repulsive.” In truth, I, too, am appalled at the amount of money required to fund a successful presidential campaign. I hope that changes one day. For now, though, campaigning costs money, and that’s why I and the millions of other “mysterious donors” sent money to him: so he can spend enough to win. I want him in the Oval Office. He’ll have plenty of time to be budget conscious once he gets in office, but if he doesn’t get there because he hesitated to spend one thin dime of my donation, then he doesn’t deserve to be there.

I look at the cost of this campaign the same way I viewed the expense of purchasing energy-efficient appliances when I remodeled my kitchen: Obama may cost more up front, but he’ll pay for himself in the long run.

Anyway, Senator McCain, I just thought I ought to step up and be counted. Maybe enough of us will do that so you don’t have to spend the last few days of your discount campaign searching for all of us suspicious boogeypeople.

6 comments:

  1. i love the analogy between O and the energy efficient appliance. It is a good one. I guess it could be...we are paying for what we want...and hope we get it this time and it is not stolen from the delivery truck down in FL like when Bush stole the election with Al Gore.

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  2. I too think the amount of money spent on campaigns is appalling. And the fact that this one has been going on for 2 years! UGH! I really think we need to mandate them to four months PERIOD. That's quite enough for me. I'm getting giddy at the thought that in a week or so, it may take me longer than 10 minutes to watch Good Morning America because then they'll hopefully have something besides politics on!

    And Velvet, I feel the same as you. If you support someone enough give them money, by all means, stand up and be counted!

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  3. Elisabeth wouldn't be appalled if it were McCain who had all the money. However, I agree that too much is spent and the campaigns are too long. But, it's a "use it or lose it" situation. The candidates can't save whatever is left over for their next campaign. It has occurred to me, though, that if the campaign hadn't been as long, and Obama hadn't collected so much money, he might still be completely unknown to voters in some areas of the country. What to do? What to do?

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  4. Sister-Three, if election hanky-panky plays any role in this election, I hope somebody goes to jail for it.

    Creekhiker, the thing that stresses me out most about the two-year-long campaigns is that the victors barely have time to get to work before it's time to start campaigning for the next election.

    Betty, I hadn't thought about the fact that Obama needed all that time and money to make himself known. That's a very good point.

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  5. I found you a couple of posts back, and kept coming to see what else you would write.

    I loved the chicken post. I love your diversity.

    Thank you.

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  6. Robin, I'm glad to have you here and thank you for your kind words. I especially appreciated your choice of the word "diversity" for what I tend to think of as my undiagnosed case of attention deficit disorder. ;-)

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