Tea for Who?

Last night I received an invitation I never in my wildest dreams thought I would get. A friend of mine invited me to a tea given by Virginia's First Lady, Anne Holton, wife of our Democratic Governor, Tim Kaine, for two women from Chicago who are here in Virginia to promote Barack Obama. My friend, knowing I am a conservative, said this tea was meant for women who are undecided or leaning for McCain. Hmmm, could two Obama surrogates have anything to say that would be of interest to me? You betcha! Not only would it be interesting to hear the pitch given by liberal women to a group not in the bag for Obama but I thought maybe, just maybe questions generated from conservative voices might actually sway some undecideds attending to McCain's side.

And so I accepted my liberal friend's invitation and went with another friend, Beth, who is a staunch McCain supporter. As we entered the home the atmosphere was obviously not a venue for undecideds let alone anyone favoring the Republican ticket. Every single woman proudly donned her Obama buttons and stickers. Here we were, two Bloods standing amongst a sea of Crips. And I didn't even bring my switchblade!

The welcomes were warm until the first disparaging Sarah Palin comment was made. As I came to Sarah's defense you'd think I'd passed gas and belched the alphabet simultaneously. The facial expressions were priceless. One woman, who had cheerfully greeted me, not a moment before declaring she saw everything in shades of gray as opposed to black and white, turned on her heels and walked away. Was it something I said? Yes. Apparently uttering, "I love Sarah Palin," is not advised in certain company, especially the shades of gray crowd.

My friend, Beth, and I made our way to the coffee station, no tea at this "tea". Guess they were serving that where the undecideds and women leaning toward McCain were! As we poured our liberal java, I took a sip and began feeling light headed, thoughts of tax rebates morphing into tax cuts became one in the same, health care for all, no matter what the cost, tax me , please, tax me, Sarah Palin, that evil, awful, scourge... wait a minute. What is in this coffee? Where the hell am I? Must... fight... the... nonsense...

A call went out through the house. The Obama-fest was about to begin. Around 30 women filed into the living room, the two Obama surrogates taking center stage. Introductions were made and the thank yous exchanged. With pleasantries out of the way, the fairytale commenced. Surrogates did as surrogates do; they painted a most glowing, dazzling, too good to be true portrait of their candidate, The One, Barack (no middle name here) Obama.

Once the character witness portion was complete, the case for Obama's superior judgment was made. An inordinate amount of time was spent praising Obama for his pick of Joe Biden, trading off the idea that McCain picked a running mate that is woefully unqualified were as Obama chose only the absolute, most qualified, most capable person in all the land to serve as his Vice President (who got a miniscule amount of votes, he was so good). The case was made that the Vice President is to be a person that would best serve and protect the country if, heaven forbid, something happened to the President (Joe would be the first to come to my mind, no question). Joe Biden was portrayed almost as perfect as Barack himself...almost, so says the Obamafiles.

The sermon continued, covering the asinine idea of the Republicans that Obama is a socialist. "Since when do Republicans call a tax cut Socialism?" crowed the Obama Mamas. Heads bobbed wildly at this statement. Apparently in this new liberal norm, paying payroll alone equates to paying payroll and income tax combined. As long as no one gets too rich, how happy we all will finally be! And so the message played... Big oil is still the boogieman that must be taken out, even though big oil employs hundreds of thousands of middle class workers. But hey, since they'll be getting a tax break, refund, hand out, who needs a stupid job at the oil company, a job anywhere at all?

After a few more gushings about the perfection that is Obama, the floor was finally opened up for questions. I was first to raise my hand, figuring I'd begin with a question that would gain me some allies, leaving me room for the hardball stuff down the line. I asked if Joe Biden was truly the absolute best choice Obama could have made for Vice President, what about Hillary? A room full of blank, stunned faces glared back at me. Hillary? You'd thought I'd said "Sarah Palin"!

The answers between the two Chi-town surrogates circled around the question claiming a candidate's choice is strictly a personal one, it must be a personality fit, like a marriage, the candidate must know their Vice President will "tell them the truth." I piped back, "and Hillary wouldn't tell the truth?" They hemmed and hawed and said Biden was a better fit with his world affairs experience. So they admit Biden has world affairs acumen that Barack doesn't, even though Biden's calls during crisis situations have all been proven horrible ones. Huh? I wasn't buying this and the Obama girls knew it.

Luckily for the Chicago gals, Ann Holden, First Lady of Virginia came to their rescue, sort of. Anne was honest. She said Obama could not chose Hillary, not because she didn't have the qualifications but because of Bill, plain and simple. Obama knew with Hillary comes Bill and Bill Clinton would dominate, making Obama's decision making process impossible. I thanked the First Lady of Virginia for her candor, all the while thinking if Obama would be dominated by Bill Clinton, what the heck would happen when Obama is confronted with a formidable foe? Since all of the Hillary sympathizers were undoubtedly drinking tea in the room where the undecideds and McCain leaners were, I decided to hold my fire in the coffee drinkers' room for a bit and reload for another topic down the line.

A hand went up, "how will we protect the voting in the election?" That question prompted a fervent call for local lawyers to work the polls, assuring no voter intimidation took place. The surrogates made it clear that every Democratic vote must be cast, a landslide must be the result so that they would not "have to steal the election." Their words, not mine. The surrogate made it clear that only a landslide would alleviate the Republican lawsuits to come. Apparently, however, lawsuits in Ohio, Michigan and Florida have already been filed by the Obama campaign in anticipation of Republican voter fraud claims and probable Republican thwarting of the vote. Picture I.D.s, I mean, the gall of conservatives!

My friend, Beth, raised her hand but was overlooked, maybe due to the fact she was seen talking to that Sarah Palin/Hillary lover. Another woman further in front was called on next, asking what Obama would do for families having children with special needs since Sarah Palin is committed to take up that cause? The Windy City Girls again were a bit thrown by this question. No details could be offered though they did say Obama has always and will always champion the weakest, including children with special needs.

Once again, Beth's hand shot up. Reluctantly, they called on her. The fact that she stood 5'10" in her heels and her bright red dress made her a hand they had to answer eventually. Beth began by thanking the Obama surrogates for coming to talk with us, noting what an honor it was to be able to stand in a house and discuss the issues of our country freely and with no fear. After that eloquent statement Beth continued by stating she had two questions that went something like this; "I want to know about the college years and why did Obama not support the law that would stop the deaths of babies born during a botched abortion?"

Oh my Lord! And here I thought my defense of Sarah Palin was ill appreciated. I thought the Chicago Two were going to spit fire through their mouths, noses, ears, eyes. Mini outbursts erupted around the room. Eventually, a level of decorum returned and an excuse that was attempting to pass for an answer was offered. "Obama had nothing to do with that."

Beth pressed on saying Obama did have a hand in it and as a Catholic mother she could not abide by Obama's lack of support of that bill. An excuse rather than an answer was trotted out claiming a prior law on the books in Illinois protects the life of the baby born via a botched abortion, making the law Obama voted against unnecessary.

The fact that the doctor who ordered the nurse to let the baby die, the doctor who gave no medical assistance to the viable baby, was not prosecuted, not penalized, still practices medicine, seems to be of no consequence. The law that currently exists obviously does nothing yet Obama saw fit not to strengthen the law, not to save innocent lives, saw fit to let the doctor go unpunished. But none of those facts were addressed. Instead, Beth was steered to a website for further information.

An attempt to go on to someone else was made but Beth stood her ground. "You have not answered my second question. What about the college years?" Patience was razor thin at this point. The Chicago contingent had had enough.

"What college years? What are you talking about?"

Beth demanded to know about Columbia, the thesis paper, why isn't that available for the record? What is with the thesis paper?"

A roar from the crowd peppered Beth, "It's in his book, read his book, it's all told in his book." There was no attempt to explain why we all must buy Obama's book to find out the answers. Why Obama cannot tell us straight out remained unclear. Why we don't know how Obama paid for his Ivy League education? Unanswered. I wasn't about to ask about his birth certificate and the whole riff about his African grandmother claiming Obama was born in Africa, not America. The tar and feathers were being readied as it were.

Once the chants of "read the book, read the book" finally ceased, our First Lady of Virginia took charge and called an end to the Q&A, all four questions addressed, not answered but nonetheless addressed, letting us all know we had other things to do, other places to go. I swear I thought the lights began flicking on and off. Then again, maybe that was the lingering effects of that coffee.

Beth evidently felt the effects of the coffee too, hers however prompted her to powder her nose. I noticed as Beth made her way to the restroom, several women approached her and thanked her for asking the questions she did. As I stood next to the First Lady, Anne Holton, waiting to say my good-byes and thank yous for extending the invitation, another woman came up to me and introduced herself. She told me she is a Democrat and is supporting a Democrat for Senator but is honestly not sure about Obama. I gleaned she was a moderate Democrat and asked her why she would not consider McCain? Her answer was that McCain is too old; he didn't do well in the debates. I asked her if her father was still alive. Yes, he was. Did she respect her father's advice? Yes, she did. Whose advice would she follow? Her father's or Obama's. Her response was her father's. I then asked her if her father would beat Obama in a televised debate? No, no he would not. She conceded that point.

I decided to take my argument one step further, knowing she was not a far left person. I asked her to consider Obama, Pelosi and Reid going unchecked. Would she really want the policies these three would enact? She was adamant about that. She did not want things to turn left. I told her, if that is the case, she had to vote for McCain. She congratulated me, saying I made the best point of the day.

As Beth returned from the restroom, several more women who needed to express their sentiments approached her. Beth had dared to broach the abortion question in a room full of liberal leaning women and I believe her courage outshined the difference between all on the issue. Beth's questioning was honestly appreciated and I daresay, prompted serious thought. On that, Beth and I walked out, not of an Undecided and McCain Leaning Ladies Tea but a Democratic Ladies Coffee with our heads high, our beliefs strengthened in the fact that this country, though divided, does have forums allowing for differing thoughts to be heard, questioned, discussed, pondered and sometimes answered, sort of.