Sherry Chandler

Possum finds a warm place to sleep.

But his thoughts were interrupted by the entrance of a girl of around nine or ten, who set about looking under the chair opposite. Then she made quite a production out of rising from her near-prone position, ignoring his presence, and getting down to look under the sofa.

“What are you doing?” Melrose decided to be direct.

“I’m looking for my cat. He’s a ginger cat.”

“There are plenty of charming surfaces for him to lie on. Why would he shove himself under a chair or a sofa?”

Still on her stomach, she said, “I don’t know. I’m not a cat. His name’s Horace.”

— Martha Grimes, The Stargazey (Henry Holt, 1998)

As I read around the blogosphere, I note that many older writers have about the same reservations I have about Barack Obama. We are reluctant to dampen the enthusiasm he arouses in his followers, especially the young, but we are at the same time wary of an enthusiasm that has more the look of fandom than of politics. We are concerned with his run to the right on iconic liberal issues like health care and social security. We are concerned by his campaign allusions to rightwing tactics and talking points.

We would like to see some substance. Comparisons to Martin Luther King Jr.’s oratorical style are one thing, but Dr. King was a man of great substance whose devotion was to his people not to his own fame. He took difficult stances and stood by them when the going got tough.

We fear Obama will continue to give away the store in pursuit of bipartisanship. It’s not called compromise; it’s called enabling.

We are not without our reservations about Hillary Clinton. She has been in public service for 35 years or so and has a substantial record with quite a few spots on it. Her war support is one of the darkest, but I rather admire her refusal to flip-flop and apologize. Her support of sanctions on Iran is another. There’s also a troubling, if intriguing question, of what we do with a first husband who was also a highly controversial POTUS. And there’s the problem of irrational Clinton hatred.

But we are also proud of her, a wonky, unglamorous woman of our generation who has stood up to all the glamour and glitz, all the biased media coverage, and is still strong in the race.

By the way, I have a theory as to why white men (especially in California) broke for Obama. I think some white man would rather have any man for president than any woman. In fairness to the men who read and comment here and whom I love, I recognize the sexism in that. Maybe all those white men were voting their conscience. And I don’t think the demographic went as monolithically to Obama as was first estimated.

Conversely, I have no problem with saying that I lean toward Hillary just because she’s a woman. It’s time women had a powerful voice in this land. We’re a powerful voting bloq. And as my 90-year-old mother says, “It’s about time.”

So, as the fallout settles and on the Democratic side at least, I have to pronounce myself satisfied with the result of Super Tuesday. These two strong candidates will continue to vet one another, to test each the other’s mettle. I personally am for every debate they can have, even on the hated Fox News. Take the fight to the enemy. (And Obama has no qualms about doing Fox interview shows.)

I’m not even dissatisfied that the convention is likely to be something more than a coronation ceremony this year.

With luck, all this will give us a chance to demonstrate that there are certain things we expect from our candidate.

And I might get to cast a vote that matters.

If I am dissatisfied with anything about this race, it’s with a primary process that seems designed to disenfranchise most of the country. I am also really tired of the perpetual campaign. I would be in favor of one national primary, sometime in say May. I would favor a campaign that starts sometime about January of election year. But I’m a dreamer. I’d also like to see television networks required to donate, not sell, ad time for campaigns.

On the Republican side, well, McCain does look like the sanest pick, though I fear he’s a little insane on the subject of war, still fighting Viet Nam. Juan Cole hears echoes of Nixon.

For myself, I wonder how it is so many of these Republican candidates have blonde wives. Dare I say trophy? Or could it have anything to do with these studies I’ve seen but can’t verify that Republican men tend to get more.