I realize the last thing anyone wants to hear from a former supermodel is political commentary. Having been a guest on Parker/Spitzer twice and noting the speed with which my comments sunk, I can't help but understand this is not my element. But likewise, bombarded by political commercials and information, I can't help but to form an opinion, and since HuffPost has given me the license to voice it, here's my current one.
This morning I watched a commercial about a young man who's campaigning on the strength of his fiscal competence; he's an economy expert, hence the right man to fix the financial problems. I entertain the idea of voting for him until the ad ends and the next one begins, since this next one showcases the same man and explains that he failed on Wall Street and now he wants to be a politician. Now I do not want to vote for him. Briefly I consider checking the facts on the Internet. Then I get sidetracked and do nothing. Almost every political candidate on TV right now follows the same template, one commercial for and one against, played, if not back-to-back, then at least in the same time slot. It leaves me confused, overwhelmed and ultimately, uninterested.
I will go out on Tuesday and vote, not so much because I have an individual I want to vote for as much as I have an idea I want to vote for. Also, because I once was a citizen of a country with no votes, I take my right seriously. But mostly because I believe I am so commonplace -- meaning like everyone else, not second rate -- that if I decide to vote, scores of people like me will vote too for the same reason. Together we can change the world, I still believe.
I don't mind admitting I was a Hillary girl when the wave of Obama fervor overwhelmed land and sea. I liked him a lot; I thought him an intelligent man but with little seasoning in politics. An eloquent dreamer; a man I'd like to date. Not someone I wanted to fix my house when it's falling down around my ears, I tried to point out to my husband, who was firmly entrenched in the camp of 'the Messiah-Obama has arrived to change the world.' Now Hillary, she had been around houses for a while, probably even knew where to go to get hold of some spare parts two weeks early.
When, predictably, Obama's messianic powers faded during the early days of office, I was unfazed but my husband was devastated. We both voted for Obama's vision of our house and home. The difference was: I realized it would take some time for this man to get oriented before he could get stuff going, but my husband thought that Obama's mere presence would change the way houses were repaired. Reality -- the promises of a great big bay window over here, a marble bathroom with a heated floor over there, and walk-in closets over there -- had to take a backseat once Obama moved into the wreck he inherited and discovered he might first have to just affix a cheap toilet in the hallway so we can go to the bathroom. And we don't rejoice in the fix, no siree! We were promised a marble bathroom with heated floors! While Obama is dealing with all the contractors and subcontractors and plumbers and electricians, we reluctantly use the toilet in the hallway and mutter about incompetence. But may I remind you folks; it was not competence we voted for.
Now our house is cold and missing windows and plumbing and light and it's a scarce comfort that one day in the future it will have a big bay window. That crazy guy out on the lawn, the one that kept telling us he could have gotten us two marble bathrooms for the price of one, imported, cause he's got connections -- something to do with his cousin's-brother-in-law's- father -- that guy is now starting to look appealing.
As I brave the polls tomorrow, all I can hope is that since I am going out there and voting, so will all those other people I identify with. And that like me, they will vote with an understanding that quick fixes and shortcuts are always destructive in the end. That even in this greatest country in the world, realizing a dream takes time.