They're Not Making It Easy

Earlier this afternoon, I was presented with yet another example of why I am having difficulty voting for George Bush. I was driving down the road doing what I usually do in the car - listening to talk radio. In this case, the barely tolerable Sean Hannity was trying to comfort a 25-year old woman from Illinois who was literally crying at the prospect of Bush not being reelected. One, one-thousand, two, one-thousand, three, one-thousand….Nope, couldn’t take it anymore and the switch to the local sports talk station ensued.

Just a bit ago, though, I was reminded about why I am loath to vote for Kerry. Via Instapundit, this Michael Totten post (read the Slate article too). These two anecdotal accounts are perfect mirrors of about 90% of my interactions with Democrats. Democrats are, well, mean and bitter.

One of the right’s favorite targets when identifying angry liberals is James Carville. During college I had the privilege to meat Carville through a group that brought high-profile speakers to campus. As the reception after his speech was winding down and the number of us present waned, Carville, engaged a small group of us in some political banter. Carville was the same guy you can see to this day on CNN, impassioned and articulate. We were equally passionate, and hopefully almost as articulate as he. At the end of our brief encounter Carville, with a big smile on his face, shook our hands and told us that he had a good time debating us.

I try to emulate Carville in that regard whenever I engage in debate with friends and acquaintances who are Democrats. The feeling, however, never seems to be mutual.