Had a nice day yesterday. Went to the Obama-Rama campaign kickoff at OSU with my D buddies Tom and Jerry. (Actual people, not cartoons.) It was impressive and fun.
Watched the Kentucky Derby. (A horse won. I had a couple mint juleps, so I won too.)
After that, we went to a party at a neighbor's house. As is typical at such affairs these days, the lovely Mrs. Gammons and I were the oldest people in attendance (by far).
Some folks we knew, some we didn't. Made the acquaintance of a friendly young man named John. At one point, we were talking one-on-one about something (his home-brewed beer, perhaps, which was very good) and for some reason, unbidden I swear, he trotted out the old standby that he was a "financial conservative, but social liberal", who considered himself a Republican. He then reeled off a list of progressive opinions covering Wall Street, taxes, abortion, drugs, military spending, gay rights and god-knows-what-all.
John checked the quizzical expression on my face and said, "Hell, I don't know what I am." I told him that, with all respect, "fiscal conservative/social liberal" is pretty much bullshit -- on a personal level, everyone is trying to be as financially responsible as they can. So if you're socially liberal, you're . . . well, liberal.
"For instance, John," I said, warming to the topic, "I happen to believe Mitt Romney is a plastic billionaire robot trying to buy the Presidency. Whadya think of Romney? You like him?"
"Oh man," replied John, "I could never vote for Romney!"
With that, I gave him a hearty handshake and told him he was the most peculiar Republican I'd ever met, seeing as he was a Democrat.
The question is, why would such a young man self-identify as a Republican? Call it the Confusion of Youth.
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