Okay, so our son isn't actually old enough to vote. If he could, though, he would cast his ballot for
John McCain. He seemingly understands the issues and is willing, no, eager to discuss and debate them with just about anyone.
A couple of weeks ago, our next door neighbor, a staunch Democrat and fierce
Obama supporter placed an Obama sign in her yard. The nerve of her to place it there, so close to our yard, was cause for much controversy in our home. Why didn't we have a sign to counter her sign? Not long after, this mother of three sent her offspring out with, gasp, Obama stickers on their shirts for everyone in the cul-de-sac to see. This was upsetting to our son and so he asked the question he had been itching for them to answer, "are you guys going for Obama"?
You can imagine what followed. A firestorm, a tsunami of opinions flew between the rose bushes separating our homes. Five children under the age of 9 voicing their support for their respective candidate. My husband and I were inside our home, happily going about our weekend business with no clue about the uprise going on just outside our garage. Our son wondered why anyone would vote for someone other than John McCain.
He was puzzled but stood his ground when the matriarch of this liberal clan came to inquire about the hooplah. Back and forth they went when she finally asked, but what about the homeless? To this our son replied, "they just need to get a job and go to work!" Ouch, that one hurt! She let him know that made her sad and that was the end of it, sort of. Running inside he gave us the blow-by-blow and we were, well, shocked. Initially because we thought we may have offended our neighbor and friend. But after that first gut flipping moment we were proud. Yes, proud of them all.
In politics there is no universal right or wrong. There is no one party that represents every single person. We are each different. Our brother and sisterhood does not yield to partisanship ... and that's a good thing.
At the end of the day we are all just neighbors with our own belief system. We are no more, no better for being a Democrat or a Republican. We are just human beings trying to do the best we can.
The political thunderstorm that boomed and crackled outside our door has passed and the children are fighting about something different now, something about the economy ...