Which is scarier? Halloween or Nov. 4th?

What an odd Halloween this year. I've been planning on posting several times this week, but my heart was just not into blogging and I couldn't really figure out why. Well, now that Halloween has come and gone, I think I've got it. I'm a bit depressed. Just like the rest of you. No matter the outcome of the election on Tuesday (and I'm very pro-Barack, if you didn't know), we are in a mess in this country. All talk is swinging to the fears that college grads won't find work and my heart is, as always, all consumed with all the Boomers and 50 Plussers who, with the greatest of spirit and skills, will not be able to get a foot in any employers door.

This year, Halloween was odd. Very quiet on the streets, very subdued decorations. Pumpkins went moldy at the sellers because people didn't have the spirit to carve this year. Very few kids on the streets and lots of homes very dark. On the bright side, it seemed that many people pulled others into their homes with parties. (A psychological circling of the wagons?)

And parents meeting other parents on the street talked politics, the insanely high electric and water bill we all got in our 'hood, and the slowing of business all over. Not really about our kids, or holiday plans, or our own plans for the future.

On to Nov. 4th. A pivotal election. Obama is not the seasoned politician that McCain is, but Obama stirs hope AND can surround himself with an incredible pool of talent. After all I've seen, I'm convinced that he'll make solid decisions. I'm not worried about his support of Israel for one major reason. He is going to go full steam ahead on alternative energy sources. And who is the leading country able to turn desert into arable land? Who harvests water from the saltiest of seas? Who has had to rely on invention and the use of alternative energy sources and leads the exploration in that area? Israel. Nuff said there.

I have great respect for McCain, but I think he is better as a contrarian than the leader of the country. I could never trust his "on-the-fly" decision-making in light of his selection of Sarah Palin (and I was on the fence for awhile about McCain vs. Obama having been a true Hillary supporter). But our country needs his 'tude and I hope that if Obama wins he'll hold a pivotal role in that administration.

But the other thing that really got me this week, and that I've not quite been able to put into words, was my daughter's reaction to Obama's politi-mercial earlier this week. My 8-year old has been very interested in this election because my mother and I are tireless in our channel flipping between CNN, MSNBC and FOX to see as many perspectives as possible. And my child has been subjected to this for a very long time. She watched the CNN interview with John McCain with us and then the Obama infomercial.

She didn't understand all of the words, but she had a strong visceral reaction to both. The Obama infomercial was very well done. Slick, manipulative (ummm...not quite the right word...more like orchestrated and on point), and a very strong musical soundtrack. The music combined with Obama's review of his mom's situation struggling with cancer is what got to my child. She was sitting on the sofa, with our dog, Daisy, and started to cry. She asked me if I thought Daisy missed her mother. So the infomercial worked on an 8 year old.

After the two candidates were done, I asked her what she thought about each candidate. Her answer to me was based on two simple things -- the warmth of their eyes and their perceived caring for people. Of McCain she thought his eyes looked angry (he's a fighter, so that would be accurate) and that made her think he might not care as much for the people. Of Obama, she thought his eyes were warm and based on the infomercial, that he really cared for people and loved his mother.

So the polarization between the two camps isn't lost, even on an 8-year old. McCain is a fighter. And his style is to push past our borders and keep the strength of the US boldly fighting abroad. Obama is looking at the internal hurt in our country and believes we need to fix some problems at home, fast and furious, before we compromise our position as world leaders.

I take counsel from my child. I'm not against McCain. I'm just for Obama.