people hating on Obama for dumb reasons makes me like him MORE than I would have, I think.

I don't think he's perfect; he's done things I really don't like (hello, drone strikes). And in the 2008 primary I voted for Hillary. But he's still a damn sight better in my estimation than McCain or Romney.

I see some people on FB commenting things like "I voted for the idiot because he was better than the moron," and it drives me NUTS, because I think, was there EVER a time when ANY candidate was perfect? People are acting like we've gone from a time of choosing between 2 shining paragons who just espouse different yet awesome things, to a time of choosing between Attila the Hun and Pol Pot. Fucking ridiculous.

I think I'm going to vote against our incumbent county supervisor (possibly not the correct office, but I know who I mean) just because his campaign has inundated me with ads that are anti-the-other-candidate in ways that are unpalatable to me. I have very little idea what either of them is going to do for our area, because no one says anything specific about that.

"Vote for the crook, it's important" will always be my favorite political bumper sticker (Edwin Edwards vs, was it David Duke? someone KKK-adjacent)

I always admired Edwin Edwards panache.

Duke, I'm pretty sure. Although I always liked David Treen's yard signs when he was running against Edwards: "An honest governor. For a change."

Edwards won big.

I'm pretty sure it was Duke (the KKK-adjacent, if not actually in).

I once saw something on PBS and someone in the "business" said that the most ... interesting ... places to run a campaign were Louisiana, Chicago, and Kentucky.

David Treen made being a Republican in Louisiana seem kind of noble. Back before Reagan.

Yeah, growing up in that political climate definitely colors my attitude towards corruption in government. Somewhat confirmed by my British history classes in grad school. Sometimes a corrupt government makes for stability and even progress!

Sometimes a corrupt government makes for stability and even progress!

I think there's more money to be made from corruption in a stable situation than there is in chaos.

edit: I did a lot of work with New Orleans in Edwards' era. I think the populace enjoyed the show. His trip to France to pay off his donors was avidly followed.

That fundraising trip is a classic. That was after he sat out a term because there was a limit of two terms on the governor but only on consecutive terms, so he served two, and then we had Treen, and then Edwards was back in. Then I moved away and didn't pay as close attention and when I moved back it was a whole different kind of mess.

There was a lot of showmanship, but he also did look out for the state in his way. This madness of governors refusing federal money for some sort of principal would never have flown with Edwards or the Longs - they might repurpose the money but by god they would take it.

Whenever my dad or Tim's dad starts to badmouth President Obama, my go-to response (because after all this time, I am NOT going to get into it with them) is "I tell you what, I know *I* wouldn't want that job!"

Hmm, maybe I'll try that one on my dad next time...

FYI, the Megamillions is $321 million tonight! Buy a ticket, fund buffista island!