I got a call from a political poll tonight. It was fun!

[kas125]

She was asking questions about the congressional race in my district. My rep is a Democrat who has been there for 25 years and has about 0% chance of losing to the teaparty idiot running against him who has already tried several times and lost. The second part of the questions were about comments people had made about each candidate and whether they made me more or less likely to vote for them. My congressman and I agree about most things, but not everything. When she told me that he wanted to build that border fence and get more funding for drones to patrol the border with Mexico I told her that I was absolutely against that, I hate drones, that they'd just killed innocent people in Afghanistan with one yesterday. The woman said, "I don't mean to sound stupid, but what's a drone?" So I told her and she was aghast. She said, they want to use those on OUR border?!!? That's crazy." I told her about my sister who was talking about 'illegal aliens' one day and that I asked her to think about the reasons someone so poor would choose to leave their home, their family, everything they've known to go to another country where they don't know the language and could be killed just trying to get there, simply to get a job,. I went on for a few minutes explaining that I thought the answer was to change the policies, to stop letting our corporations go to Mexico to ruin the land and pollute the water so the farmers and the cities have none for themselves and have to leave. I thought the woman was going to be like my kids and act like I'm crazy when I can't just answer yes or no and have to explain why I feel as I do when she told me that she never watched the news or read the paper, that she knew nothing about politics until she took that job and that she was learning a LOT and loved talking to people like me, but that she's beginning to wish she could be like the lady she talked to last night who was absolute clueless, knew none of the candidates, know nothing at all about the world and sang to her on the phone. It was easier than knowing all she'd been learning.

So she tells me more facts about my congressman, Pete, like that he sponsored the bill to make the materials like steel used in the stimulus projects be made in the USA. And he's made sure that our local VA clinic was expanded so our vets didn't have to travel all the way to Chicago. And twenty other great things he's done and if they'd make me more or less likely to vote for him.

And then she started on his Republican-TeaParty opponent. The first statement was that he had filed bankruptcy last year, was $50,000 in debt and if he couldn't run his own finances, how could he be trusted. And that he's fifty years old, still single and still lives with his parents. She laughed at that one and asked how could he be that far in debt if he lives with mommy. I told her it was probably from the last time he ran against Pete and lost. That he is the head of our county's TeaParty. I told her those people were nuts. Then she said, "He wants to write a bill requiring a 23% national sales tax on everything including food, housing and medicine." Before I could even answer whether that would make me more or less likely to vote for him, she said, "Are you kidding me? This lunatic wants another tax? People are all on food stamps now and can't afford their medicine and he wants THIS?" I said, "I told you Republicans are crazy." She asked more questions and we talked a lot and she ended up telling me that she'd learned so much from me and that she hoped Pete would win. I told her so much about the reasons I've been against the wars since before they started, why I feel the way I do about health care, about all sorts of things. It was the best political polling call I've ever gotten, and probably the only one that really mattered. I got to teach someone some things that she didn't know that will affect the way she votes in the future.

The weird thing is that I ignored a call on my cell phone while I was talking to her on the land line. It was from the same number she was calling from, so I guess I'll get to do it all again tomorrow...