Hellllooooo, hydration.

"The pundits like to slice and dice our country into red states and blue states-- red states for Republicans and blue states for Democrats-- but I've got news for them. We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the red states. We coach Little League in the blue states, and yes, we've got some gay friends in the red states. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq, and their are patriots who supported the war in Iraq. We are one people, all of us pledging our allegiance to the Stars and Stripes, all of us defending the United States of America."

That's a quote from our boy Obama several years ago. He's so easy to fall in love with. I watched the speeches given by him and Biden yesterday. I think the good cop/bad cop image they've got going on is interesting; also notable are the political analyst that immediately dissect every speech. I wonder what effects these men and women have on voters. We watch the speeches together, and then they tell us what tricks were used. They point out the repetition of "working class" and the pot shots at McCain, and they let us know in no uncertain terms what buttons were pressed to cause what reactions. Does that change the effectiveness of political speeches?

I'm not sure. I, for one, found myself still enthralled. I hope I'm not being duped.

Reader's Digest just had some interesting interviews with both candidates. I like Obama a lot, although I worry about being caught up in the charismatic tornado and not the issues. I like to read about their stances instead of watching them speak because I think it helps me focus. Even so, I find my views to be more aligned with Obama than McCain. I think his lack of experience is certainly something to consider, although part of me actually finds that to be a positive; I would like the country to be shaken up. I think the most damaging thing to McCain for me is his patriotism. I consider myself a patriotic person; I do not consider the USA the greatest country in the history of man. I think that's a ridiculous claim, and one that we casually throw around. Now, if we wanna shout that from the rooftops, maybe also don't be assholes all the time? Just a thought.

Hmm, it's apparent from the end of that paragraph that I've run out political mojo. Bill Engvall just came on the television; this may have had a negative effect on my ability to care about the presidential situation for the next half hour. Sometimes it's nice to laugh at silly silly things.