At the tailgate yesterday, I met a close friend's new girlfriend. A HUGE step up in that department for him. She's a Major in the Army Medical Service Corps, essentially a hospital administrator.
We talked for a good bit, and I was charmed to no end. She indicated that she was just a few years from retiring from the service herself, and I opined that the health care field was liable to keep growing, and that she should find a pretty fertile job market there.
She then went into one of the best conservative rants against modern health care that I've ever heard. She said she didn't think she wanted to stay in health care, that it has her down. Too many people think it should be free, that they should get endless amounts of it, and that they take no personal responsibility for their own preventive medicine by altering bad health habits. After this rant, I smiled and said that I was happy to hear such a solid conservative philosophy.
And then she said, "But I'm voting for Obama". My jaw dropped. I said, "but don't you realize that his health care plan is the antithesis of what you just described?" And she said, "yes, I know, but we really need a change. I just feel he'll change the direction of everything."
I was flummoxed. Such cognitive dissonance is striking when you meet it head on. When a military officer, service academy grad, huge conservative leanings, says she's voting for Senator Obama because she wants a change, I don't see much hope for Senator McCain.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
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6 comments:
That is thoroughly depressing. The Sunday talk shows are equally depressing. As one MTP guest offers, 'just picture the liberal train wreck a Democratic-controlled House, Senate and WH will bring us.' I'm starting to think that the argument for divided government is the tactic the McCain campaign needs to use (then again, I thought suspending the campaign was a good idea).
However, on a neighborhood canvass yesterday, I knocked on 80 doors...and 2/3 of the people home revealed themselves as McCain supporters. So while the light is dimming, there's still hope, and maybe we should just have faith in the Silent Majority this year to bring it home for the GOP. (I know, I know, I'm delusional, aren't I)
Similarly, I heard there is a move afoot at The University to replace Al Groh with a basketball coach.
Why would you assume a military officer is necessarily a conservative? Socialist states such as North Korea, the PRC, and the former Soviet Union have or had no problem finding officers willing to serve the state.
Let me see, let me see...ah here it is. The blog entry on my conversation yesterday that I wrote, oh, one hour and twenty minutes ago. I have to re-read it, because I'm looking for the part where I assumed someone would be conservative because they are a military officer...hmmmm......let's see.....ok, there. I'm done. I've read the whole post AND I NEVER SAID SUCH A THING. If you'll read what I wrote carefully, and not what you wish to read, you'll see that being a military officer is only ONE of three things I cited, one of which was "huge conservative leanings" that were expressed to me in the conversation and which I related to you, the reader. From there, I suppose you were free to make your own insipid conclusions, like that I would naturally assume someone was conservative because they are in the military. But that's not what I did. My sense that she was conservative was built upon a more complete picture than that, including her own words.
Once again people, read what I write, not what you want to read.
sally, do you think mcCain supporters just aren't as vocal or better yet, do not wear their support on their sleave? I attended an convention of architects this weekend in Philly. I saw quite a few people wearing Obama pins on their shirts. Didn't see one McCain pin at all. I was a little depressed about this but thought that maybe McCain people just aren't in your face about who they support and election night might just be a surprize. Am I delusional?
Sam Shapiro,
I'll cling to just about any theory about now-I HOPE that's the case. I think in this climate, there aren't many folks who want to admit they're Republicans. We just need them to admit it in the privacy of the voting booth.
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