I haven’t picked my candidate yet this election season — Clinton is too much a mainstream conservative liberal, and I suspect Obama, despite his glowing accolades, will someday be outed as a politician (crazy, I know) — but I have been watching the election coverage with great interest. Nevertheless, rather nonplussed with either option presented to me, it’s exciting that Indiana finally takes a national presence in the Democratic primaries, and for the first time I can recall the Democratic presidential candidates are actively touring my state.
Ex-prez Bill Clinton toured Indiana yesterday in support of Senator Clinton, making his final stop of the day in my hometown of West Lafayette. The venue for his speech was kept quiet until the last minute when, to my horror, it was announced that he would speak at the local high school less than a block away from my house. Chef called me after work to let me know that the neighborhood was crawling with black Oldsmobiles and Buicks, driven by serious-looking men in inconspicuously collared shirts and mirrored sunglasses. The parking, he said, was terrible.
Damn you, Bill Clinton.
I came home after a long, miserable, ten-hour day of dealing with angry, resentful customers and discovered that someone attending the speech was parked with the butt-end of their car in front of my driveway — AGAIN — which may ultimately lead me to vote for Obama.
Hey, I’m hearing ya. The State of Illinois decided to alter the route of the annual Twilight Parade, which used to march up 9th St. from downtown all the way to the Main Gate of the State Fairgrounds. But noooooo! In its infinite wisdom, the State decided to cut the parade route in half—yet keep the same number of floats, groups, politicians, etc. Where does it start? Three blocks from my house, that’s where. With all the staging area, the detours, the folks lining up along the roadside to get prime seating for the parade—-there is nothing but wall to wall cars throughout the neighborhood.
A neighborhood of one-way streets. And there is no alley on my section. If I’m not home by 2:00PM, I can’t get home until around 7:30 (provided no helpful, friendly parade watcher didn’t do a number on my driveway like they did yours). I’ve taken to just picking up my daughter after work and going out to eat somewhere nice. Somewhere that mama can have a margarita and chill out, and forget about the fact that my own damn home is off limits!! Gaahhh! Make that two margaritas.
I got trapped on the wrong side of the street from my subway station when Bush came to town for the 2004 RNC. It was late, I was tired, and I just wanted to go home, but didn’t feel like getting tackled by the NYPD for blowing through the barricade.
So I flipped off the motorcade as it went by.