A little family story about politics, Clinton and Obama.

[Drunken Irishman]

My mom's cousin is a very conservative Catholic living in Washington who voted for Bush both in 2000 and 2004. He was in town today and stopped by my mom's house to see how she was doing and noticed her Obama sign on the front lawn. The first thing he said was "I like your sign...and I agree!"

At first my mom thought he meant the sign by the doorbell declaring this a Catholic house, so no religious solicitation. He was, of course, talking about the Obama sign and said he liked him a lot and planned on voting for him in the election. My mom was floored. He said to her he could never support Hillary and didn't trust McCain. However, for him, Obama is the man.

Now a little backstory on my mom's cousin.

His mother was my grandma's sister, she was born in Ireland and was the housekeeper to Father Pellegrino here in here in Salt Lake. She attended mass nearly every day up until her death and even though I don't know her political leanings, my mom's cousin is definitely one of those social conservative Catholics that rarely vote Democratic. He's a pro-life, hardcore doctrine Catholic and even hinted that McCain was too liberal for him. But Obama, even though politically more liberal than he is, seems authentic and pragmatic. This is a guy that wouldn't even vote for John Kerry, a fellow Catholic, but now appears to be firmly in Obama's camp.

Just thought I'd share this story, I got a kick out of it. If Obama can convert my mom's cousin, he can convert anyone.

[LisaM]

1. Where do you get these signs saying you're Catholic so no religious solicitation?

I want one!

BTW, my Irish-Catholic Democratic family are all for Hillary!

[DAGDA56]

6. My Irish-Catholic Democratic family are actually split...

...by age. 18-55 for Obama, 55 plus for Clinton. So far, no animosity.

[LisaM]

8. We're on both sides of that gap. We still are all for Hillary.

I was pleased to find this out - we all arrived at our choice separately after Edwards dropped out.

[Drunken Irishman]

10. I'd have to talk to my mom.

I don't know where she got it.

[Arugula Latte]

2. I have one of those anecdotes as well.

Husband spoke w/ his brother last night ... Their rightwing, conservative rural Indiana Republican uncle told my brother in law: "I kind of like that Obama guy." If you knew the uncle, your jaw would have dropped that he was anything other than foaming-at-the-mouth anti-Obama.

[Hepburn]

3. West Coast ~~ South Bay, California, here...

...and the Pubbies I know? Hate Hillary and McCain about equally, but are going for Obama. I have a close friend who is a Reagan Republican. He is a CPA and while socially pretty liberal, everything else is mega conservative. He is a member of the NRA and a gun collector on top of all of this. When he said he would vote for Obama...I nearly fainted.

I can say this much: I have not seen one Hillary yard sign, have seen only one Hillary bumper sticker ~~ and that was in Westwood ~~ have seen nothing for McCain, but Obama signs and stickers are in evidence.

:hi:

[Arugula Latte]

4. Cool!

I love these stories. :thumbsup:

I grew up in the East Bay :hi:

[AtomicKitten]

5. His candidacy is groundbreaking, his campaign breathtaking.

Obama is going to make a great president.

[mamalone]

7. If Obama is smart...

and of course he is;)....

He will really make an effort to woo the social and religious conservatives. Now I know that is a horrifying thought to many here, but hear me out:

Obama's strengths are qualities that appeal to these folks- he has integrity, he just lays everything out on the table with no games. He is willing to work out new solutions to old problems. He is one person who could bring some resolution to some of the stalemates our society has been struggling with for the last several decades. I think Obama really has a shot at an incredible and previously unseen coalition of many of our wildly different political factions.

Just my 2 cents...

[rurallib]

9. Here is an old one or two from our (Iowa) caucus

One guy who had sneered at me a couple years ago and said "why would anybody in their right mind be a democrat?" was the #2 guy for Obama in our town.
Another guy who has been a dead solid Repub for as long as I have known him (30 years) also stood up for Obama that night. When he came in the door I nearly screwed my head off. I went over to him and told him that the repub caucus was down the hall and he said "I am here for Obama" kind of sheepishly.