Wisconsin primary

The Wisconsin primary is tomorrow. I'll be voting for Senator Barack Obama. In fact, I even made a donation to Senator Obama's campaign, the first time I have ever made a financial contribution to a political candidate. I think that Senator Obama has a better chance of winning the general election in November than Senator Hillary Clinton. Plus I'm ready for new leadership in Washington and think that Senator Obama is more apt to seek bipartisan consensus that benefits real people.

My concern is that the Democrats will once again "snatch defeat from the jaws of victory." For evidence of this, one need look no further than all of the talk about superdelegates and whether or not delegations from Florida and Michigan will be seated at the Democratic National Convention in August. One thing I'm sure of is that we need to get the Republicans out of the White House; it's time for a Democratic president. I just hope that the Democrats won't louse things up again in 2008 like they did in both 2000 and 2004.

Closer to home, there's a hotly contested race for Milwaukee District 3 Alderman. I attended a debate with all of the candidates last week at Lake Park Lutheran Church (ELCA). Before the debate, I was inclined to support Patrick Flaherty. He's a 'mo like me, and it would be nice to have more gays and lesbians holding elected office. Patrick Flaherty is qualified for the job, and he's also an alumnus of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, where my friend Mers works. However, I found Patrick to be awfully smug and even condescending at the debate. As such, I'm now voting for Sam McGovern-Rowen. Sam is the grandson of former Senator George McGovern from South Dakota. The United States would have been better off if Senator McGovern had won the 1972 presidential election instead of Richard Nixon. My mom was born and raised in South Dakota, and people with South Dakota roots tend to be grounded, reasonable, and nice people. In addition, Sam's mom is a member of my church, Plymouth United Church of Christ. I feel bad not voting for the gay guy, but let's face the facts: neither Patrick Flaherty nor his twin brother (my friends Barbie and Kat told me that Patrick has a twin brother) are going to help me find a boyfriend. Oh wait, this post isn't about me trying to find a husband. In all seriousness, after the debate I got the feeling that Sam McGovern-Rowen will be better for Milwaukee than Patrick. It will be interesting to see the results.