Saturday, November 01, 2008

*ring ring*

Me: Hello?
Lady: Hi. May I please speak with Michael Ogblay?
Me: Lucky you. You are.
Lady: Hello Michael. I'm calling tonight about California's Proposition 8, which seeks create a constitutional amendment to deny some people the right to marry. Have you made up your mind on this issue?
Me: That's rich. Do you know where I live?
Lady: Uh.... San Francisco?
Me: That's right. Tell me, how many people do you think there are in San Francisco, a city mayored by Gavin Newsom and basically wallpapered with "No on Prop 8" signs, that haven't made up their mind yet about gay marriage?
Lady: Does that mean that you're voting "no"?
Me: It does. Do you think you could be spending your time more effectively than calling people in the Ground Zero of gay marriage?
Lady: We appreciate your support on this issue. Have a nice evening.

As is evidenced by the increasing number of useless phone calls to my household, it's nearly election day!

These phone calls crack me up, as do the bumper-stickers and window signs that attempt to pass for both exterior decorating and political discourse. Who are these people trying to reach? Is the idea that some set of voters somehow made it this far into election season without making up their minds about the major issues and candidates, and yet somehow are so easily swayed that a window placard will convince them?

"Look, honey, it's another Obama/Biden sign. Geez, although the first 10,000 of them didn't persuade me, this one is pretty goddamn compelling. Time to Ba'rack and roll, honey!!"

What is the point of all these window signs? Are those home owners hoping to start a conversation with the swayable? Sorry, a sign isn't a converation starter. If I see a dude with a sign, that's pretty much a conversation ender. They're either crazy or have an axe to grind, either way, they're a crappy choice for partners in political discourse (my neighbors excepted, of course! I love you partisan bastards!)

All that being said, I am going to be a little sad when this presidential election is over. This has been the most entertaining election of my life. The cast of characters was diverse and we ended up with two candidates, both of whom I like better than the typical retreads from their respective parties, and both of whom would be preferable to the current president.

And for those of you who have not yet made your mind about the presidential election, I offer you this persuasive argument: Obama/Biden '08!!

4 comments:

Avery Gray said...

Thank goodness you took that huge load off my feeble lady mind. I mean, I know they gave us the right to vote, but who has time to research the candidates and formulate opinions when we've got dinner to get on the table and apple turnovers in the oven? Someone sure wasn't thinking that day!

Mike said...

Hey lady with new pic, you are welcome. Lemme know how the apple turnovers come out.

Meg S. said...

I think you'll enjoy what some of my friends put together. http://straightsagainsteight.blogspot.com/2008/11/no-on-proposition-h8.html Here in the center of CA it's Yes on 8 all over. I'm not going to say my daughter and her friends took down a lot of the signs one night and made a No on 8 sign out of them, but if she did gosh I'd be proud.

I got a call today that if Prop 4 passes my underage daughters will be taken out of school for abortions by pedophiles all willy nilly. Really? My 4 year old? I need to get that kid a lock on her door.

Mike said...

Meg, that's a pretty good video. As for the pedophiles, who knew they were so concerned about preventing births? It's kind of impressive.