I'm taking a much needed day off today to visit my daughter and grandchildren in Pasadena. It's been months since I spent a weekday with them as I used to at least once a month before my mother became ill. Her numbers from yesterday's blood test were good so it is safe - I think - to be so far away for a day.
Taking a day off from being on-call with my mother also means taking a day off from politics. My daughter never has her television set on and I will not have access to a computer, so I will have to listen to the radio on the way home to hear news about the primaries.
While that's a good thing, it will probably drive me a little crazy. Keeping up with political news is addictive, especially during a presidential election year, and especially with this historic contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. But three beautiful children are a great and powerful distraction.
I really will be glad when this nomination is decided and accepted by both candidates) and we can move on to the general election season, the conventions, and the actual election. I am anxious to see how, if at all, Obama shifts his strategy, how he plans to win over Hillary supporters, and what she will do to help him - and all of us - win. Because there is no doubt in my mind that a win for Obama is a win for every American, while a win for John McCain would be more of the same, more disastrous Bush economic and foreign policies, and four years of stagnation.
When I put my arms around my grandkids today, the thing that will matter to me most is their future. I want a president who will take us into the future, who will transform this country in ways it must be transformed, who will help all of us find our better selves, and who will truly make us safe from both terrorism and environmental threats. I have no doubt that Barack Obama is that person.
