My best friend is a dyed-in-the-wool conservative. The kind that voted for Bush twice. The kind that tunes in to Limbaugh, and Hannity, and Fox. The kind that would send me subscriptions to the Limbaugh letter just to get my goat.
For the past 15 years, we have argued passionately at polar opposites of the universe. He's never been a "knee-jerk" Republican. He had his qualms about the Republican scandals, about Terry Schiavo, Abramoff et. al. He would always fall back on the idea that all politicians are corrupt, but for better or worse, the Republicans had the policies that resonated with his conservative world view. He's always hated Bill Clinton, and laughed at the eneptitude of the Democratic congress.
But today, he called me with an unbelievable confession....
He's voting for Obama.
At first, I thought it was an Ann Coulter conversion. Anything to stop Hillary. Anything to stop McCain. But as he started talking about Obama, it was clear he wasn't focused on fear of Hillary or McCain, but on hope for something different and new. He cited the idea that we are facing a choice between voting for the past, and voting for the future, and that of all the candidates left in the field, Obama is the only candidate that represents the future. I was dumbfounded. This is a guy who relished Clinton's impeachment. But my amazement only multiplied by what he told me next...
He had to hang up with me so he could call his other friends and make sure they were voting for Obama.
Something big is happening.
UPDATE: Wow. I've never had a diary on the recommended list. I wrote this thinking it would just drop down the diaries, and then I went to pick up my son from school. Came home to a big surprise. Thanks for the recommendations!
I see the comments from people who think I'm making this up. I suppose there's nothing I can say that will convince a committed cynic. But this is God's honest truth. I wish I could dissect exactly what it was that changed for my friend, but I have a suspicion the roots are in two related issues. 1) Iraq. He knows a number of folks who have served, and has been disgusted at the treatment of soldiers. Initially he was for the war--anything to stop the terrorist threat--but it now it's a never ending mess. 2) The economy. All that money going to Iraq, and now we're all fearing for our jobs, while big companies are turning record profits.
I'm not certain this is the nexus of his change of heart--he's not that reflective or confessional. But those are the topics that have been at the top of discussion over the past few months, and where we've been aligned in shaking our heads.
Thanks for reading.