Dreaming a blog about politics? oh no!

Monday morning I awoke having written a wonderful blog in those few moments before full wakefulness. Too bad I didn't remember any of it once I was fully awake. I remember thinking I should write about it except it was political... dum de dum dum. I wasn't going to write about politics for awhile even though I had one more written but never posted on politics and beauty.

I agree with what Andrew Sullivan said in his blog about how obsessed many of us have become with everything happening in the political realm. We turn on the internet, read some newspapers, some blogs (in my case right and left wing), make some comments, read some comments, then later in the day (for me) turn on the TV for news and to listen to pundits saying what happened and what mattered (appropriate puppy choice was big one day). When Farm Boss would get home, we'd regurgitate back to each other what we had absorbed during the day. What are he and I going to talk about now?

Tell me, is that a healthy lifestyle; but even if you weren't writing a political blog, it's what many people did. If you were, well, how can you write about something if you aren't exploring all sides of it? If you haven't read the links, don't know what's being said, you might be more peaceful, but your blog is probably on cooking, nature or something equally peaceful (fortunately not inclined to get nasty comments hurled back unless a recipe failed)-- not that I put down the value of such blogs as I have more than a few bookmarked where I lust over the images of delicious meals or beautiful nature photos.

Although my blog hasn't always been so political, during this fall, it went into everything that happened and all the issues or factors that seemed important to me. I read extensively, thought about it all, my blood pressure rose, and I knew that whether Obama or McCain won, when the election was over, I wanted to let the results go. I am finding it's hard to do.

For one thing, if you are a writer, could there have been a more fascinating cast of characters as they interacted with each other, did the expected, the unexpected, and led other people to react in ways that sometimes blew an observer's mind.

Who would have guessed Joe the Plumber would become a major character, a policy expert on foreign affairs for of all people John McCain? Joe is still getting free drinks in NYC off his fame. Could that have happened in any novel anybody imagined writing?

Or Sarah Palin, Sarah the beautiful, a fascinating (not necessarily a compliment) woman who seemed oblivious to a lot of what the rest of us consider to be critical for a potential president to know, oblivious to why it mattered. She saw only one thing as important-- win. For her admirers, she didn't need to know anything.

To them, Palin was a wild woman from the far North who could praise the lord, shoot her own moose, dress and cook it, put on a cocktail dress that night and still wow all the men in the room while making all the women envious, pop out five babies, and still have a perfect figure that could put $150,000 + worth of clothes to good use.

To me, she was a frightening choice to possibly be president and not just for her extreme religious views. There was the way she delighted in stirring up hatred. Watching her on those podiums, you could see how that didn't make her uneasy but empowered her. Yet, could anyone find her boring which is why we are still inundated with stories about her. Do I wish she'd go away? You betcha. People who think like she does religiously scare me no matter what their religion. Do I think she will go away, not on a bet!

Should I include Joe Biden in any character study? It's hard to do so. He's harder, because to me, he's just Joe. We have known him a long time, seen how he can say the wrong thing, know he's charisma challenged (something from which none of the other three on the ballot have suffered), but that he's solid on his knowledge about government and the world. He's been there and he has paid attention. I guess he's the solid one. The one the villain has to get around, the one who holds the ground in bad times for the hero to come to the rescue? I don't know. What do you think?

John McCain is a great character to study. That man was full of surprises (a lot of them not good). Once in awhile, as though a fog would lift, we'd see the man we used to believe he was, then it'd settle in again. Was there anyone who saw his humorous bit for the NYC charitable foundation dinner, and didn't think why wasn't this man running for president? Who was that other guy-- the one, who using a snide tone, asked us who Obama was, when the real mystery was who was John McCain?

I'd like to think McCain was the man for whom, in order to vote in the 2000 primary, I almost changed my party registration before he was booted by Bush/Rove dirty tricks. It's painful to think he was the man who used those same dirty tricksters to try and win his own presidency.

I'd like to think John McCain is the man, who I said early in this campaign season, that even though I thought he'd be the hardest to beat, I hoped the Republicans would choose because he was the best of their lot. Will we see that man again in the Senate? Has he been freed from whatever spell of ambition sucked him into that other guy, his evil twin? I hope so. The country needs the man I once thought he was and now hope he is.

And finally Barack Obama, centerpiece of the story, the supposed mystery man, who nobody knew his policies even though he'd written books on them, had a lengthy website explaining them all. Obama did have a secret he had to mostly hide. No, it's not that he's a terrorist or a Muslim. He's a wonk. If he had fully revealed himself ahead of time, he'd have never gotten elected.

He had to hide behind a charismatic personality which he can still don when needed, but inside is this guy who loves policy discussions, who can finally carry his own briefcase, who became a Constitutional law scholar, who goes into press conferences without answers memorized because he operates from his principles and facts he knows he can draw upon... until he pops out seance and boom, is wishing he'd memorized everything.

I see Obama as a man well equipped to be leader by his background and temperament. He will be interesting because he's not the far leftie some had feared and others hoped but he has the hero goal-- do what is good for others. Having someone articulate in that office will be welcome. I hope the Secret Service is alert and watching all the time because the hero I see in him is not how he is seen by all. Yes, he is the hero type where a novel centers around his successes, failures and foibles.

I think if I write about politics over the next few months, and it's inevitable that I will (you don't give up an addiction over night), it'll be mostly about character and personality-- red meat to a writer. Ahead might lie more interesting stories. Maybe some new villains or old ones reappearing. Hopefully with happy endings. I love happy endings.

And that dream blog, well I hope it'll all come back to me. Maybe tomorrow morning. I wish I could find a way to record what goes on in my head right before waking.... on the other hand...