Watching Politics.

This morning Barack Obama finally disclosed his VP choice. Joe Biden. On the one hand, I really like and respect Joe Biden, but on the other hand, I think the visual is all wrong. Obama is running against McCain, an older, white-haired man. The contrast between Obama's relative youth and McCain's age is striking, every single time you see the two of them together. I think the choice of Biden mitigates that difference a bit: Biden is also an older, white-haired man. The visual of him with Obama strikes me as almost a capitulation to the belief that Obama is too young, too unseasoned and inexperienced, to run the country. But I do like Joe Biden. I had hoped for Evan Bayh (after the choice was whittled down to Biden, Bayh, and Kaine), if only because the visual of the two young (-ish!) men together, ready to direct their considerable energies towards solving the problems that face our nation and the world, was so attractive to me. I admit, it also would have been fun because my parents are godparents to Bayh's wife, so he is sort of in the family.

I wanted Joe Biden for Secretary of State. I wanted that man to be our Number One Diplomat, making up for Condoleezza Rice's incompetence and toadying. I wanted Biden to be the face of the United States around the world, a regular guy, a trustworthy guy, a guy so obviously in it to make things better and better in every way.

I used to want John Edwards to be Attorney General, as he had so much experience working against corporations for the benefit of the regular person in the street. When he left the presidential race so suddenly, and then was so quiet, I thought there was something that we weren't being told. His departure was so abrupt and his silence so deafening--there just had to be something behind it. Then the story broke about his mistress. Aha. The rat. (And you know what? That baby does look like John Edwards.) I was angry at him for betraying his wife, his family, and all of us. It wasn't so much the infidelity itself--although I hate infidelity more than almost anything--it was that he held himself up as above all of that, too good for that, too faithful for words. As I told KidThree, it was different with Clinton. There, we all knew he was a hound dog. We all were glad we weren't married to him or that our sisters weren't married to him, but we knew he was a hound dog and chose to overlook it because his strengths beyond that were so obvious. He didn't hold himself up as a model for marital fidelity and personal integrity. He was a hound dog, but he was our hound dog and we weren't married to him and we chose to overlook it. And now John Edwards' ego and libido lost us his considerable legal skills, which we could have used. I had wanted him for the Supreme Court after being Attorney General for a little while.

Now maybe we can have Bill Richardson for Secretary of State. I also really like Bill Richardson (and had liked the idea of him for VP). He is a terrific man, smart as anything, experienced in so many facets of government, and so far as I know a good guy.

It will all be interesting to watch.

Our computer here is infected, badly, and about to go at any time. Drat. I can't swing bringing the computer guy out here yet. He has KidTwo's computer all ready to come back home, but I will have to pay him for his work on that, and that money I don't have. I am so very tired of 'not having the money.' KidThree is starting school next week and absolutely has to look good--she has to have her hair and nails done. She has to look as good as possible in order to feel good enough to be able to go out the door and return to the big high school as a crippled kid in a wheelchair. Having her hair and nails done is equivalent to strapping on armor. It is important enough that the computers will have to wait, even if this one fails. KidThree will be facing a couple of thousand kids, many of them overtly hostile, and she needs every bit of reinforcement we can get for her.

Now time to go clean up the living room in preparation for our visit tomorrow from the parents of 'our' twins. I am looking forward to October. I'll be seriously busy, caring for twin babies, and limited in my ability to respond to the needs of KidThree as she works her way back at school, but our extreme poverty will effectively be ended. We won't be well off and won't be able to buy extras or even some more costly necessities, but we will be able to pay the rent and the electric bill and the cable bill and the phone bill and buy basic groceries. What a relief that will be.

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