coolmite

Today, I was driving back to my office from a meeting thinking about two chicken, spinach and mushroom Lean Pockets sandwiches I was going to scarf for lunch when a millisecond from my business’ parking lot, I had an undeniable urge to drive straight to Taco Bell for a number six combo–two chalupas and a chicken soft taco.

This doesn’t seem that out of the ordinary, except for the fact that I’m on Weight Watchers and just lost fifteen pounds.

“Relax,” I told myself. “You have 35 extra points to soak up the damage of that feast.” WW afficionados know what I’m talking about. The points program has a built in 35 point addition in case you blow your points for the day in a ridiculous meal like I did.

I had to stop and think for a minute about how familiar that split second felt. I’m reeeeeeally too comfortable and familiar with that feeling of:

Doo-do-do-doo…la-la-la…staying the course and becoming successful…hmmm…think I’ll do the exact thing I’m not supposed to do.

By the time I’ve come to my senses, I’ve come within an inch of ruining any progress I’ve made at setting a goal and find myself in a deep hole, thinking, “OK, NOW I can continue.”

WTF?

In college, I did this with relationships, term papers, and tests. Before I met my wife, I did the same with those relationships and my work. It wasn’t just envelope pushing around procrastination. I’ve come to believe that I have an unshakeable urge to set myself back so that if I fail…well, I was in the hole to begin with, so I’m impressed that I’ve actually come this close.

I wonder if this is what President Bush feels every waking moment of every day.

I’m not as disastrous as a self-inflcted foot assasin these days. But if you were to ask anyone who knows me today and knew me then, they’d say, “yep, that’s Hall…good ol’ ‘Six Shooter’ strikes again.”

In the case of my OCD fiesta, I actually can make up for lost calorie discipline with exercise and better weight manageent. I need to make sure this doesn’t slip back into the rest of my life as well.

I jumped on the Barack Obama bandwagon somewhere before I got to vote for him in the primary here in Ohio on March 4. I decided that while Hillary is a fighter, our country could really use a doer who can win. Obama’s done enough in my book to be that guy. Now, all he has to do is move here to Ohio for the next five months to let our undereducated populace know that he’s willing to go to bat for them.

Why does he have to move here? It’s pretty simple. In 2004, President Bush beat Senator Kerry 2,859,764 to 2,741,165 in the Buckeye State–roughly 51-49 % and 286-252 in electoral votes. The only upside here is that 59% of the independents went for Kerry, but even that was not enough.

In 2000, Bush beat Gore 2,294,167-2,117,741–roughly 50-46 % and 271-266 in electoral votes.

Even if you look at this as progress with the larger turnout in 2004 and the show of independents, you can’t argue that Ohio isn’t primarily a red-leaning state. It has three blue areas: Northeast Ohio (where I live), the Toledo area, and Franklin County (where Columbus is). I say red-leaning, since Gov. Strickland rode to power on the incompetence of former GOP Gov. Bob Taft and his connections to Tom Noe and the Coingate fiasco. So far, Strickland’s done OK; however, he now has the noose that former attorney general Marc Dann fitted for the both of them with his terrible Eliot Spitzer impression. Let’s not forget that the legislature in Ohio is Republican in both Houses.

Sen. Obama is going to have to work like a dog to win the Ohio vote from former Hillary Clinton supporters. I’m of the opinion that unless he recognizes her historic run in some fashion that he can then carry for the party–and convince the Hillary supporters that he can actually do it–he will lose them and the state in grand fashion.

Bush won by two percent in Ohio. Two freaking percent! Just because we earned a Democrat governor and senator after 2006 does not mean this state is in the win column. Gov. Strickland is a HUGE Hillary supporter.  Sen. Obama needs to get him on board yesterday. The same goes for Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, whose wisdom holds a lot of weight in Cuyahoga County with the African American community. She is also a Hillary supporter.
In 2004, Kerry’s 46% of the state was 93% of the Democrats in the state who voted. The 49 % of Republicans who voted was comprised of only 66% of the Republicans in the state. I know that makes the independents argument from up top seem in error, but that’s what I’ve got here from CNN. This tells me that the independents are all pretty much in play. They had to have voted Republican to make up for the 33% of Republicans who didn’t vote for Bush in ‘04.

Ohio is in terrible shape. We have the largest mortgage foreclosure numbers in the country (right in Cuyahoga County not three miles from where I work). Graduates of universities and colleges leave skidmarks on their way out of the state. No worries there; they only comprise 21 percent of the population. Whichever candidate can imbue hope with a plan that will have tangible, immediate results for the state’s economy will win. I’m not sure that Obama’s message of hope alone is enough. He needs to be stronger here. It would help if he picked Gov. Strickland as his VP. Strickland is liked throughout the state as governor and as a retired Methodist minister. If he’s not, Cincinnati and the lower two-thirds of the state will lean toward an American war hero. That’s what McCain will be seen as–not as the third term of George Bush.