Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

February 3, 2004 - Political Soul

A friend yesterday directed me to President Match, a quiz provided by AOL News and TIME magazine, which allows you to match your views to the current presidential candidates.

The results surprised me, to say the least, because they didn't match up with the candidate I thought I supported.

According to the President Match, my views match 100% with Rep. Dennis Kucinich, the Democratic presidential candidate from Ohio, with the rest of the breakdown as follows:

Kucinich 100%
Sharpton 97%
Kerry 96%
Dean 89%
Clark 85%
Edwards 85%
Lieberman 74%
Bush 11%

Previously, I'd been supporting Howard Dean, primarily for his strong antiwar stance but also because I knew from my brother, a Vermonter, about his stellar record in Vermont.

And I'm somewhat startled to discover my proximity to Rev. Al Sharpton's views. While I like his as a political commentator and believe he has a sharp wit that's added some spark to the Democratic presidential debates, I don't believe he'll make a good president.

Kucinich has little chance of actually becoming the Democratic candidate, and by the time it gets around to Pennsylvania, there's no telling whether he'll even still be in the running. So I suppose I have some more thinking to do before that primary in May.

In the meantime, I've amused myself by coming up with T-shirts and bumper stickers sporting the slogan "Re-elect Gore." You can even buy them, if you like, at my store at CafePress.com. I think my next project will be to design T-shirts that say "NASCAR Dad" and "Security Mom" — the two big demographics that candidates are hoping to attract this election cycle (replacing the "Soccer Moms" of old).

In other, unrelated news, I straightened out an administrative kerfluffle this morning that led to a parking ticket. I was hopping in my car to go to my hair appointment when I saw the yellow ticket on my windshield. It was for $30: $15 for parking on the street between 3 and 6 a.m., and $15 for having an expired parking permit.

Wait a minute. Didn't I pay that? I got out my check book and sure enough, I'd written a check back in December.

So after my hair appointment, I drove back, admiring my new do. My hair dresser straightened my hair, which looks pretty cool but is impossible for me to do at home without a flat iron and some straightener.

Anyway, I went to the borough office and explained what had happened, showing them the canceled check. They were kind enough to give me a new parking sticker (since I can't remember ever receiving a new one) and to provide me with proper documentation so that I could get the police to cancel my ticket.

Huzzah!

The rest of my day will involve taking care of various errands so that I can turn my full focus to tonight's primaries. Will Dennis Kucinich, my new political soulmate, survive the cut?

 

Moral:
Sometimes you need an outside perspective to figure out what you want.

Copyright 2004 by Alyce Wilson

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