My Endorsement

Eleven months ago – Feb. 21, 2007, to be exact – I used this space to announce my intention to vote for Sen. Barack Obama for President of the United States of America.
I was getting a little ahead of myself.
What I meant to announce was my intention to vote for Sen. Obama in the Jan. 26 South Carolina Democratic Primary as the Democratic nominee for President.
Although the stage is a little smaller, the stakes are not. And nothing has changed my mind about who is the best candidate to lead our country out of these terribly divisive times domestically and horribly troubled times worldwide.
Not John McCain being charming, funny and smart on Face the Nation with Bob Scheiffer.
Not Mike Huckabee playing bass and being charming, funny and smart on Meet the Press with Tim Russert.
Not actor Fred Thompson doing the folksy “I’m Just a Regular Guy Sitting at the Counter of a Small Town Diner Talkin’ Straight Talk” routine in his commercial.
Not John Edwards pulling his campaign up by the bootstraps and promising to do battle with the evil American corporations that are running and ruining this country.
Not Hillary Clinton crying on cue in New Hampshire.
Not Bill Clinton reverting to Hillary Clinton’s former role as paranoid conspiracy theorist on the campaign trail, whining after his wife’s defeat in Iowa that New Hampshire party officials were to blame for what he saw as her impending doom there because the state scheduled its primary too soon after Iowa. Then it was the media’s fault because they conspired against Hillary by giving Sen. Obama “a free ride” and calling his campaign “a fairy tale.”
No, only one candidate has inspired me to believe that America can be great again and moved me to give up by long-held ban on bumper stickers. And that candidate is Barack Obama.
But as a longtime Clinton family supporter/apologist, it saddens me that things have gotten so negative from their camp. Politics is a dirty business, I know, but this is how the other side is supposed to act. Not us.
Last week, on Jan. 8 at 7:58 pm, I received a phone call from an area code I didn’t recognize. I answered it and the person on the other end told me I had been selected to participate in a public opinion poll on the upcoming primary in South Carolina. I agreed to take part because it sounded like fun and I like it when people take the time to hear what I think.
First the guy asked me a couple questions about who I was supporting. I told the gentleman about my unwavering support for Obama, rating my opinion of Barack as “extremely favorable” and telling him it was “very likely” I would vote for him Jan. 26.
Then our conversation soured.
The inquisitor on the other end of the line asked me to rate how the following statements influenced my opinion of Sen. Obama. I knew something was up when an early statement said something about Sen. Obama supporting the issuance of driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants “who are stealing jobs from hardworking Americans.”
I recognized the tactic from an article I read in Vanity Fair a couple years back about how our current unforgivably inept President and his campaign managers, led by legendary leech Karl Rove, smeared American hero John McCain in the 2000 South Carolina primary by using, among many other dirty tricks, what they call a “push poll.”
A push poll is an old trick campaigns employ to plant misinformation about candidates and spread rumors using telemarketers disguised as researchers. But their goal is to shape, not measure, opinions.
In 2000, South Carolina voters reported receiving similar calls where they were asked, “Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for John McCain for president if you knew he had fathered an illegitimate black child?” I guess I would say “more likely,” but let’s get back to my personal anecdote.
The final straw of my phone call was when I was asked how I felt about Sen. Obama belonging to a black supremacist church on the Southside of Chicago. I laughed out loud, and actually, so did the guy asking the question. We both recognized it as ridiculous.
I traced the call to a telemarketing firm, Parker Consulting in Tucson, Ariz., but I know they were just paid hatchet men. I’m just depressed about who my gut tells me did the paying. As they say in the business, it’s “very likely.”