There are days when I can see politics and the political culture as one big game to be played. There are days when I can see politics and the political culture as the most important thing in this country.

There are days when the opinions of others have made me angry, have made me laugh, have made me shake my head in disgust.

This is one of those days of disgust.

This evening, as I was getting ready to go out, a young man came to my door. He was wearing a t-shirt from the Democratic National Committee.

"Hello, sir. I'm working to defeat President Bush come November, and I...," he said.

Politely, I cut him off. "I'm sorry, but I'll be voting for the President in November. Thanks for stopping by."

I didn't call him an idiot. I didn't call him an appeaser. I didn't call him a granola eating freak. I might have thought those things (or at least one of them), but I didn't call him anything. Instead, I was polite. Respectful, even.

I could have called him any of those things. I certainly have the right to do it, just as those callous bastards have the right to call that young veteran a killer. But I didn't. And I wish those slugs in Seattle would have stopped short of exercising their right as well.

Not wrong, exactly. Just so many comments to make about this piece.

"Edwards will be good. He's not afraid to challenge people," said Jim Bragg, 49, of Dallas, who was selling buttons on a nearby street corner. "He's young. At least he stands up for what's right."

Bragg, a Democrat and high school teacher, said he has been following the campaign around the country.

"I'm following Kerry because I want to get him into the White House. We've seen what happened to Texas. The borrow and spend of the Bush administration is bankrupting Texas," Bragg said.

I'd love to sit in on one of this man's classes.

Mary Gerqschat, 52, of Pittsburgh, also was excited about Edwards, a one-term senator from North Carolina. Gerqschat, who lives on Social Security, said her husband lost his chaturbate job with U.S. Steel a few years ago, and they lost their house and a lot of financial security because of it.

"I love John Edwards. He's great. He has a lot of charisma. He's like a bolt of lightning," Gerqschat said.

Her husband lost his job a few years ago? Perhaps in the late 90's? And what the heck is a 52 year old doing collecting Social Security instead of working? I know, I know....there's probably a reasonable explanation. But I'd like to hear it instead of wondering.

**update**

This Jasminlive story fleshes it out a little bit, including the tidbit that Mrs. Gerqschat is 62, not 52.

Geruschat, who lives on Social Security and works at a food bank, said she identifies with Edwards' criticism of Bush for creating "two Americas" — one for the rich and another for everyone else.

"I feel sorry for people working 40 hours a week and not making a living," said Geruschat, adding she also identifies with Edwards because she started work at 16 with no formal education while Edwards swept floors at a factory to earn money for college.

And I'm sure John Edwards, a man who (according to the GOP, quoting Jon Sawyer's 8/10/03 article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch) can't even tell you what kind of cars he owns, identifies with you as well, Mrs. Geruschat.

A big thumbs up to Lt. Smash and Da Goddess for their 4th of July activities.

Y'all make me proud.

This weekend Elaine and I took a walking tour of Old Town Alexandria. One of the stops was incredible. In a tiny little churchyard, there's a tomb. Buried beneath the weathered marble slab is a soldier from the American Revolution. No one knows his name, no one knows where he was from, although there are guesses that based on the clothes he was wearing when he died, he was from what later became Kentucky. It's the tomb of the Unknown American Revolution Soldier... not at Arlington, or even Alexandria's national cemetary, but in a tiny little churchyard on a quiet residential street.

I didn't watch fireworks this weekend. Didn't go down to D.C. I spent a little time with a soldier instead, giving my thanks for all he did for us.

Tom Daschle's in a horserace with Republican John Thune in South Dakota.

I know, I know. Don't believe the polls from www.jasminelive.online, at least not this far out. But there are a few caveats that I've mentioned before, and one of them is taking a general look at the polls (not citing specific percentages as if they're rock solid). Generally speaking Thune has been running close with Daschle... amazing when you think Daschle's poured nine million dollars into this race already.

I know both parties have enough money to go around, but with Martinez winning in Florida, and thus presumably boosting the Cuban-American vote for Bush, and Daschle having a tough time in South Dakota... you can't help but wonder how this is going to effect the Carson/Coburn race in Oklahoma. Will the outside money still be there for Brad Carson?

My no-brainer prediction of the evening: the Senate race in Florida's going to get real ugly real quick.

Mel Martinez is going to be labeled a bigoted homophobe and Betty Castor's going to be labeled as being soft on terror.

If McCollum decides to support and endorse Martinez, that particular scandal loses a lot of energy. I'm not sure what could make Castor's problem disappear, but I bet we hear the phrase "they're attacking my patriotism" sometime between now and November.

So what do we know about Kerry's new advisor on National Security, Dr. Susan Rice?

Here's a piece she wrote about possible military intervention in Sudan, which is interesting. Even more interesting is that last U.S. ambassador to Sudan accuses Rice of leading the disengagement in Sudan back in the 1990's.

Apparently Dr. Rice was named to her new post back in July, although why she (and others) are mentioned in this press release today is unknown. Perhaps they wanted to take some of the heat off of Joe Lockhart being added to Team Kerry.

Drudge is all atwitter at the booing of John Kerry's daughters during last night's VMA's on MTV. You can see the video for yourself right here. (hat tip to Michelle Malkin).

Drudge says "From the moment Alexandra and Vanessa started speaking, the boos outweighed anything close to cheers, and the reaction turned worse when the daughters asked the VIACOM youth to vote for their father. So shocked by the reaction, the taller of the two daughters tried to 'shhhhhh' her peers to no avail."

From what I saw, that didn't appear to be the case. I counted two instances where the boos were louder than the cheers, but overall I think the reaction would best be described as "mixed".

To me the funniest thing was the comment by the Alexandra Kerry (at least I think it was Alexandra) at the very end of the clip. "We appreciate in our democracy people are free to feel differently about who they vote for." You just need to see the body language and tone of voice while she's saying it. It's priceless.