By Carmine Santa Maria
I can understand why African Americans want to vote for Obama and it’s got nothing to do with his charisma. I can understand why women want to see Hillary as the first woman president and basically it’s the same biased reasoning as the African Americans wanting a Black American as president. Every candidate will court those who will give him or her, their vote…that’s politics. The most important question is can the candidate lead? You will be voting for the President of the United States. And the color of the skin or gender should not be in the evaluation. Whether you’re a die-hard Republican who supports President Bush and his policies or a whacky Liberal like Rosie O’Donnell, forget your party affiliation look at the candidate’s record, experience and accomplishments and then vote according to your own peculiar prejudices. You’re gonna do it anyway. What irks me is that if I want to vote for John McCain solely because he’s a white man, then I’m labeled as a racist as well as a sexist. But if an African American votes for Barak Hussein Obama simply because he’s Black, isn’t that racist? Or if Gloria Steinem votes for Hillary just because she’s a woman, isn’t that sexist? Who would have ever thought that a day would come when an African American and a woman would compete for the Presidency on the Democratic ticket. Eighty years ago, before John Kennedy became President there was thought to be a Roman Catholic barrier, when Gov. Al Smith ran for the Presidency. Some felt that as a Catholic he would be subservient to the Pope. Rudy Guiliani seemed to prove that some still fear the Italians and that barrier is yet to be overcome, guess some people still believe in the Mafia. Sounds absurd doesn’t it? Here Rudy gained his reputation as a US Attorney General fighting the mobs. As of this column’s writing Hilary just won Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island stopping the winning trend of Barak Obama’s juggernaut. I’m not a political analyst and I’m sure you were inundated by many political opinions from both sides of the Democratic camp. Everybody is going to throw their two cents in as to who’s going to become President. So let me throw my two cents in. As you know from some of the columns I wrote, I hate Jane Fonda because she betrayed our boys during the Viet Nam conflict, the same war that John McCain was held as a Prisoner of War for five and half years. John McCain is an American Hero and his history is too long to put in this column, all I can recommend is that if you have access to the internet, look him up in Wikipedia. Some may think McCain’s age is a setback, are these people to be considered as having Anti-Senior Citizens opinions? So all of the candidates have some heavy baggage to consider, whether it be race, gender or age. Now, here’s an interesting scenario that I came across on the internet. If Hillary should become president and somehow during her office gets her husband Bill Clinton appointed as Vice President, I’m sorry I didn’t save the e-mail for the exact wording, but it went on to say that if she resigns as President, then Old Bill as Vice President could become our President again. Lock up all the interns! It’s been a grueling time for all the candidates, and I admire the composure of Obama, who didn’t seem to appear none the worse for all the wear and tear of the campaign. Hillary started to look a little tired and hoarse but never defeated and McCain appeared pretty good for a seventy two year old. Hey, I’m 72 and I don’t look half as good physically as he does, although I do look younger. I envy the way Obama speaks and handles himself. He’s a beautiful speaker, but personally I don’t trust him…just a tad too smooth. Hillary I’ve met personally and sang the Star Spangled Banner with her on stage when she had visited Seth Low IS 96. And she came over to me and said “Mr. Santa Maria you have a beautiful voice.” This compliment was put in one of my columns at the time. So if she should become president I will tell and re-tell of her admiration of my singing voice. At this time I must confess that my entire family hates my voice and the way I sing. And I love to sing. Perhaps that’s why I voted for her in the Primary, to pay her back for her compliment. Now, I’ve met Hillary twice and unlike Rudy Guiliani who installed me as President of the Bensonhurst West End Community Council, in the same Seth Low IS 96 Auditorium when he first ran for Mayor, didn’t recognize or acknowledge me the next time we met. I still have the photo of him when he had hair. On the other hand Hillary not only knew me by name, but mentioned my conversation with her regarding PS 248 to someone else who brought up the topic several weeks later. She’s a smart lady. So my dilemma is this, should I vote for John McCain because I’d like to see a POW Hero as president or vote for Hillary because she liked my voice and whom I have a history with? It’s a hard call for me and I’ll be watching the news, reading the newspapers, and like you will hope that all the campaigning will finally yield a great president for our country. So this should be the theme song for us and for all the candidates. “Oh, it’s a long, long time from May to December and the days grow short when we reach September. And the autumn weather turns the leaves to flame and we haven’t got time for the waiting game. Oh the days dwindle down to a precious few… September, November…and on NOVEMBER 4th, history will be made! Screech at you next week!
