Fred and Valerie

With temperatures dipping into the low 30s and upper 20s, a brisk breeze in the air, and leaves of gold, orange, and red all around, Fall is upon us.

There was brief talk on the news this morning of snow flurry potential, but it never came to pass. Instead, we had a cool, cloudy day that looked like it would blizzard at any moment and we’re in for a cold night.

We’re hoping to take another trip along Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park this weekend to see the Fall foliage in its peak. We went a few weekends ago and had a pleasant and wonderful drive and can’t wait to do it again.

If our next trip along Skyline Drive is anything like our current commute home amongst the golden landscape of Afton Mountain, we will be in for a treat.

Yesterday, Valerie and I woke up early to drive to Potomac Mills for some shoe shopping. We decided to make a nice, relaxing day of it by driving all of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park from the South entrance at Afton Mountain to the North entrance at Front Royal.

The drive was wonderful and we made many stops for photo opportunities. All in all, it took about five hours and we made it to the Interstate in about five hours. From there, we let the GPS take us to Woodbridge, VA.

The GPS soon had us off the Interstate and driving along Prince William Parkway. We had been listening to CNN on XM Radio and had heard about a John McCain rally in Woodbridge and, sure enough, we were soon driving by the location of the rally. Droves of people were walking towards the rally site and numerous police officers stood guard around the grounds. We even caught a glimpse of the CNN Election Center bus!

We already had plenty of things to do, so we kept driving and were soon at Woodbridge and eating lunch at Famous Dave’s before doing our shopping.

Our late lunch didn’t take too long to complete and we packed all the camera equipment in the trunk in preparation for parking at Potomac Mills Outlet Mall. We left the Famous Dave’s parking lot, turned onto the side street, then stopped at the light at Prince William Parkway. All of a sudden, I heard a siren, looked to my left, and saw four motorcycle police officers riding our way.

Of course, there was no way I was going to pull in front of the officers, so I stayed put at the light. Quickly, they drove by us and one of them gave me a “stay right there” signal with his hand. Soon after the first set of motorcycle officers was another set and then, in the distance, two black SUVs.

“That’s McCain’s motorcade,” I exclaimed.

Both Valerie and I watched as the two black SUVs approached and as the first one passed by, we got an excellent view into the back seat and saw John McCain’s profile. There he was, the Republican nominee for President of the United States, just 20 feet in front of us.

As if to further confirm everything, the two black SUVs were passed by a large bus with a sign in the front window that read “Press Bus.”

Neither Valerie nor I have ever been that close to someone of that stature and it was pretty cool, even if it only lasted for a split second.

But, no matter how cool it was to see McCain and his motorcade, it’s not going to change our votes.

There has been a lot of talk lately, from both sides, about negative ads and campaigning. In fact, negative ads was one of the topics discussed during the third and final debate just a few evenings ago. Given this recent use of and focus on negative ads, I had an interesting visit to the mailbox today.

Inside the mailbox were two political ads. Both ads are farily large, full color mailers that opened up to a larger sized brochure. That’s about where the similarities ended.

The first mailer I received was from Bob Goodlatte, who’s running for U.S. Congress. The front of the mailer has a picture of what I assume to be Goodlatte and his wife along with the “Bob Goodlatte – U.S. Congress” logo and an area for my address. The sender is listed as “Goodlatte for Congress Committee” and the mailer is addressed directly to me.

The back of the mailer has another picture of Goodlatte (I assume) and what appears to be a mother with a son and daughter and there’s what appears to be a playground in the background. In large lettering, the header of this side of the mailer is “Bob Goodlatte’s Plan” and then four tick marks list a summary of the key points of his plan: Strengthen our Economy, Become Energy Independent, Balance the Budget, and Lower Gas Prices. Each bullet point has a brief, one sentence explanation.

When I open the first fold of the trifold mailer, I see a picture of Goodlatte (by now, I’m sure it’s Goodlatte) sitting down with what appears to be an elderly, senior citizen-aged husband and wife at a kitchen table with coffee mugs, a newspaper, and a pair of reading glasses. Next to this image is a quote signed by Goodlatte that emphasizes the four points again.

I open the last fold and I’m presented with a large header that states “Bob Goodlatte. The courage to lead.” Below that is a banner of stars, followed by a banner close-up of red and white flag stripes, followed by another banner of stars. After that, it’s back to the four points, only in more detail. It’s “Lowering Gas Prices,” with several detailed sentences and a photo of Goodlatte working in an office with a nice library of books behind him. Then it’s “Reducing Waste and Balancing the Federal Budget” and more detailed sentences. Below that is “Creating new jobs and strengthening our economy,” again with several detailed sentences and a photo of Goodlatte in what appears to be a warehouse with a female and two male workers. The footer is a large-lettered listing of Goodlatte’s web site and a note that the mailing was “Paid for and Authorized by Goodlatte for Congress Committee.”

All in all, it’s a very nice and well put together mailer. In fact, it may be one of the best political mailers I’ve seen in quite some time. And here are some key statistics to remember:

• Including logos, web site listings, and every manner of text, the name “Goodlatte” appears eight times. Five of these instances represent most of the largest lettering in the entire mailing.
• The only use of the words “Republican” and/or “Democrat” are in the sentence, “I am pleased that over 160 members of the United States Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, have signed onto my legislation.”
• There is not a single mention of Goodlatte’s political party affiliation.
• There is not a single mention of Goodlatte’s opponent in the election.

The other mailer I received was from John McCain via the Republican National Committee. In stark contrast to Goodlatte’s mailer, the front of the McCain mailer is headed by the title, “With Wall Street in Crisis, Obama Partied with Hollywood’s Elite” in yellow and white lettering on a black background. There is a photograph of a smiling Barack Obama collaged with a performing Barbara Streisand and a serious-looking Leonardo DiCaprio. There is more text to further explain the issue with Obama partying with Hollywood in the face of an economic crisis. The sender is listed as “Republican National Committee” and the mailer is addressed directly to me.

The back of the mailer shows what appears to be a typed schedule. From 3:00 – 6:00 PM, the schedule lists an “Air Obama Flight.” From 6:00 – 9:00 PM, it lists a “Hollywood Fundraiser” and includes “Notes: $28,500 a plate dinner, filet mignon w/ asparagus. Notable Guests – Barbara Streisand, Leo [sic] DiCaprio, various Hollywood Producers, etc.” A large red arrow has been drawn on the schedule and, in seemingly hand-written text, “Squeeze in 20 minutes with economic team about Wall Street crisis.” has been added. Large text at the top asks, “Why would Barack Obama give wealthy Hollywood celebrities six times the priority that he gives the crumbling economy?”

Upon opening the single-fold mailer, I see a large photographic background along the bottom half. A photo of palm trees and the signs for “Beverly Dr” and “Sunset Blvd” is overlaid with a photo of Barack Obama speaking and a movie board that says “Movie Project: Election ’08.”

The header of the inside of the mailer is “During the Wall Street Meltdown Obama put Hollywood Above America. Below that is more text, including “Obama’s own staffers have conceded that they have concerns about how gingerly Obama has approached this crisis,” and a quote from ABC’s Good Morning America that states, “Obama aides say he did not make any calls to help round up votes.” The text is finished with “We need a President who Puts America First,” then much larger text that states, “Barack Obama. Not Who You Think He Is.”

The last part of the interior looks like a newspaper clipping and is a quote from The Washington Post further backing the 20-minute claim of the mailer.

Here are the stats:

• Including logos, web site listings, and every manner of text, the name “Obama” appears 11 times. Three of these instances represent most of the largest lettering in the entire mailing.
• The word “Republican” is used in three references to the “Republican National Committee” being responsible for the mailer.
• The word “Democrat” is only mentioned once, in the newspaper quote from The Washington Post.
• The single mention of McCain is in a note about the mailer being “Authorized by McCain-Pailin 2008.”

I had to look it up to make sure Bob Goodlatte was a Republican. I had to dig into a news article about a debate to find out that his opponents are Democrat Sam Rasoul and Independent Janice Lee Allen. The more I look into Goodlatte, the more I find out about Goodlatte.

On the contrary, McCain seems more worried about making sure people know his opponent’s name than his. For a man falling further and further behind both in the popular vote polls and the Electoral College estimates, one would think McCain would want to get more exposure for HIS name.

If nothing else, the Goodlatte mailer makes me want to find out more about him and actually makes me consider voting for him. The McCain mailer simply confirms for me that McCain has nothing to offer except attacks of Obama. When you have a Congressman from rural Virginia articulating his plans better than a Presidential candidate, that says a lot to me.

A few weeks ago, we saw the first one. Then the next one, and the next one, and now there are quite a few around the county. The large signs, with a blue background and white text, proclaim, “I Am Voting For The Chick.”

At first, I was generally surprised. Then, that feeling turned to amazement that people are more excited about the Vice Presidential candidate than the Presidential candidate (any McCain signs are either non-existent or much smaller in size). And now I’m pretty much offended.

I don’t know if it’s true or not, but Fun Trivia has a response about the origins of the word “chick” in regards to women and it sounds fairly legit:

Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang dates the usage from the 1920s onwards. There’s a quotation in the Oxford English Dictionary dated 1927 from Sinclair Lewis’s “Elmer Gantry”: “He didn’t want to marry this brainless little fluffy chick.”

I have to think that if Barack Obama, Joe Biden, or any other Democrat called Sarah Palin a “brainless little fluffy chick,” or even a “little fluffy chick,” or even a “fluffy chick,” or even a “chick,” they’d be given the highest amount of animosity possible from McCain and Palin, just for starters. Heck, McCain and Palin were up in arms when Obama made a seemingly harmless reference to “putting lipstick on a pig.” Why wouldn’t they get up in arms over Palin being referred to as a “chick?” And honestly, I think it would be a legitimate complaint.

Now I’m sure some people will say that people are allowed to make these sorts of references to their “own kind.” It’s the same idea that I can crack jokes on my family, but you can’t.

But I have a problem with this because McCain and Palin aren’t family; they’re more like a sports team that these people are rooting for. I, as a Washington Nationals fan, would never even consider walking up to a Nationals player and asking, “Hey, how ‘ya doing slacker,” or “Feeling washed-up today?” On the contrary, I would show them an immense amount of respect. After all, shouldn’t I respect those I support?

And this is why I’m offended by the “I Am Voting For The Chick” signs. They actually show an high level of DISrespect. It’s as if John McCain has said, “I feel this woman is good enough to be Vice President,” and the people with these signs have said, “Hey, she shares my values! Not bad for a chick!”

Sarah Palin may want to connect with Joe Six-Pack and be an everyday hockey mom, but I can’t imagine that she would actually appreciate being called a “chick.” I can’t imagine any women who would appreciate that. In fact, isn’t this the sort of thing women have been working so hard to break out of?

Lastly, I couldn’t begin to imagine a sign saying, “I Am Voting For The Black Guy,” but the funny thing is that Sarah Palin being a woman matters just as little as Barack Obama being black does and both the “chick” sign and the hypothetical “black guy” sign should be considered offensive.

Today is Valerie’s birthday! To celebrate, I surprised her yesterday with a trip to a friend’s farm to mingle with the cows.