I rarely get comments about my husband’s job as a journalist, although I have a feeling some of our more conservative friends think it’s an unsavory job.  Kind of like lobbyist or community organizer.

On Monday, the boys and I attended a homeschooling function, and Caleb immediately gravitated toward a group of boys that he knows from his bowling league.  I had a suspicion that some of these families were a little redneck (after all, their kids are in a bowling league), but we had never really talked about anything other than homeschooling and kids.

After a few minutes, two of the moms cornered me and started questioning me about something my husband published in his paper (yeah, because he’s the publisher, snort).  There was an article in the paper (picked up by AP) about a 106-year-old woman who voted for the first time in her life.  She is an African American, and she voted for Obama because, “She never thought she would see a black candidate for president.”

The women from the homeschool group were upset with the voter (and the newspaper and subsequently, me) for two reasons: (1) they didn’t understand why “all black people think they have to vote for Obama” and (2) they didn’t think “this woman had any business voting since she had never voted before.”  I’m serious.  They actually said she didn’t have any business voting.

The whole conversation about why blacks (whispered) vote for Obama was prefaced with the typical statement, “I’m not a racist, but…”  Then they launched into a racist diatribe about everything from why black Obama supporters have so many signs and bumper stickers to why their sons won’t be able to get jobs because white males don’t have any rights in this country (again, I’m serious).

At first, I tried to reasonably argue that I perfectly understood why a 106-year-old black lady would be excited about voting for Obama.  I’m sure she had lived her entire life thinking that there were some things that African Americans would never be able to do in this country because of racial stereotypes.  She grew up as a sharecropper in Mississippi and later worked as a seamstress in Memphis.  She had been oppressed by racism in ways these women (and I, for that matter) could never imagine.

After a few minutes, I realized that they weren’t interested in talking reasonably, so I started trying to back out of the conversation.  Then I realized that these women teach their children at home.  They are passing on their values to their sons, and their sons play with my son.  So I opened my mouth one last time.

“You know,” I said, “I already voted for John McCain last week.”  Tennessee has early voting.  “But if I was on the fence about who to vote for, listening to you would make me vote for Obama.  I don’t want to be identified with you or your politics.”

I voted for McCain because I am a social conservative, especially when it comes to abortion.  I also think his economic policies are more viable than Obama’s, although the part of me that knows Christians should care more about those who are poor and suffering than they should about their own wealth makes me question whether either candidate is a great Biblical model.

The bottom line is that there are good reasons to vote for John McCain that have nothing to do with voting against Obama.  I didn’t hear one word from either of these women about how much they liked McCain.  His name didn’t even come up.  This election has become all about voting for or against Obama, and that makes me sad.