Life in a Swing State

Living in a hotly contested election state is a new experience for me. Everywhere else Andy and I have lived (Utah, Arizona, and Massachusetts) were either firmly red or blue, so major party candidates mostly skipped over them on their quest for the White house. But here in Ohio, we are wooed, visited, and bombarded with election commerials, hoping to sway us one way or the other.

This morning I got a message on my answering machine from the Republican National Committee informing me of a McCain-Palin "Road to Victory" campaign rally that will be held in Columbus this coming Monday. The event is free, all that is required is to pick up a ticket at the McCain headquarters office in downtown Columbus and then show up on Monday morning. Having never attended anything like this before, it piqued my curiosity and I decided that I'm going to attend the event. Not as an ardent McCain supporter (I'm actually undecided at this point), but more as an interested observer. Who knows? I may never get another opportunity to attend a large, choreographed presidential campaign event and see a candidate live. And, I'll admit it, I'm very curious to see Sarah Palin in person. The SNL skit about her featuring Tina Fey was so funny, we'll see how true to life her caricature really is. I checked the Obama website to see if they had any upcoming events in the Columbus area, but unfortunately, none were listed.

So for part of our date tonight, Andy and I drove downtown and picked up three tickets to the rally. That means two extras if anyone else would like to come along. Only time will tell if the road to victory for McCain truly runs through Columbus.