First may I extend my heartfelt sympathy to the Obama family at the loss of Barack’s grandmother.  It must be good to know that the election process is finally drawing to a close so that there will be more time with family, time to honor her.

Please know that because my husband and I are not Democrats, and do not agree with many of the things on the Democratic platform, we do not let this come between us and the people around us.  Oh we talk back to the commentators on television, and make a nasty comment or two at something that is said, but the bottom line is that we care about family and friends no matter what the party or who they vote for.

That is something that is concerning me with this campaign…people are so passionate about it, that I’m concerned about what kind of reactions there will be when one candidate wins, and the other does not.  I do like how Obama always speaks of us having to come together, no matter what our differences are, and trust that will be what happens.

Still, as is almost always the case, tomorrow we will be voting Republican, for John McCain, Sarah Palin and those on the ballot in our State and local government.  I guess that is quite obvious from this blog.  At long, long last, it’s the night before election day.  My husband has gone to get his challenge papers (he’s on the local town committee for our party), and we have reviewed our sample ballots.  The yard is “decorated” with signage of his favorite candidates, and we were able to get ahold of a McCain/Palin sign a little while back, better late than never.

For me, election day and evening is almost like watching the Super Bowl, or the World Series, a game with a winner and someone who doesn’t win, but the far reaching consequences are so very much greater.

Get out and vote, everyone, and whatever the outcome, remember, we live in the greatest Country in the World…God has blessed America, don’t forget to thank Him for that, and lets come out of this excessively long campaign season, and the election, caring for one another, no matter what candidate we voted for, and no matter who wins.

Today I saw an ad on TV done by Hank Williams mentioning how Americans like him love their God, and their guns, but not in the violent sense of the word. He referred to the gun that was handed down to him by his grandfather, much like my husband had a 30/40 Craig Cavalry rifle handed down to him by his father a couple of years back.

I’ll be danged (as hubby would say) if I can find that ad now to post for you, but I do want you to stop on over and visit Hank Williams official website, where he has some info about his support of McCain and Palin…as many know he’s been traveling and singing with the Palin team lately. At his site provides a link to something I’d never heard of before, Sportsmen for McCain.

Now if you’ve read my posts before on guns and hunting, you’ll know I have a love/hate relationship with the whole thing.  I get a little uncomfortable when hubby takes his gun out of the case to admire it even though he tells me that it’s not loaded and the bullets are hidden in another room far from the gun.  And I hate coming up behind a car with a deer carcass tied on the back.  But bring me some prepared venison, and my mouth waters thinking of the recipes I can make from it.  So I guess you could say I’m just a bit conflicted.

Here’s Hank William’s video about his gun & Obama wanting to take away his freedom to keep this inherited treasure…is he right? Is that what Obama has said? Let me know if he’s wrong, but knowing Hank, who says it like it is and nothing more from what I’ve seen of his interviews lately, I’d say he is.

Florida is one of the “must win” States on November 4th, and with only 12 days to go it’s one of the States the candidates have been spending time in, making the rounds, talking to prospective voters, getting the word out on their economic plans, and more.

After months of campaigning, I’m sure they could use a little down time. I’m not sure that McCain, Obama or Senator Biden would be interested, because the place I have in mind looks like it’s geared toward women. It would be a nice treat for Sarah Palin. So, Sarah, or any of you women reading this, if you find yourself in Florida, how about some skin care Sarasota FL style. You can choose from a nice hand/foot treatment, a soothing facial massage, complete massage therapy, and many other treatments…can’t go yourself but know someone in the area? Send them a gift certificate!

Relax, feel pampered, and ready to face your next challenge. Even if you’re not a candidate, or part of the political scene, just keeping up with the latest events in the news can make you feel a little tense, stimulate the economy by spending a little money to pamper yourself at The Little Day Spa.

Where we live, voting at any election is easy, we just go around the corner, but for others, it’s easier to vote by mail for various reasons.

I received an email with a link to can get an Absentee Ballot, it came from my preferred party, but anyone can use it I’m sure, just click here and fill out the form.  The only thing I’m not sure of is whether you will start receiving emails from this website party when you fill out the form.

Update 10/20/08 - As you can see from a post I did today, I don’t encourage voting early except in the case that you must vote absentee, then you want to make sure your ballot reaches it’s destination on time.

The debate is over, I thought McCain did better this round, but don’t know whether he’s made much of a dent in the polls yet. I’m still stuck on the VP debate, and though I don’t watch Saturday Night Live, had heard about the routine they did on the Vice Presidential Debate, tracked it down online, and couldn’t resist posting it…except for a couple spots that crossed the line (at least my line) I thought this was hysterical…and so is Joe Biden’s reaction in the video that follows it, enjoy!

SNL Vice Presidential Debate:

Joe Biden Reaction:

I really enjoyed watching the Vice Presidential debate so much more than the Presidential Debate, both Candidates did a good job.  I was concerned for Palin, but she did an excellent job.  As people, both candidates for Vice President are personable, nice people.

For me, I don’t know that there was a winner or loser, I’m going to think about that a bit more.  Clearly from the type of posts you see on this blog, I’m a McCain supporter, and I hope he takes some pointers from his running mate…I appreciated how gracious she was to Biden, that she looked at him when she spoke.  When McCain debated, even when asked to engage in conversation with Obama, I don’t recall seeing a lot of that.  Hoping for better in the next two debates.

Finally, what a beautiful ending, the families cordially greeting one another on the stage, I don’t know whether things like that make one a better candidate, but I sure did like it.

Now it’s time to watch…and watch out…as the press does it’s “spin” thing.

Here’s the debate:

Earlier today, I listened to Joe Biden give what he stated was an important foreign policies speech while I put away our groceries.  It was quite a good speech and set my republican-leaning mind thinking about a few things.  He did the expected bit of bashing of the Bush administration, but he also shared quite a few things that the he and Obama would like to accomplish if they are elected.  I think I take back what I wrote two posts ago.

I was in a bit of a discussion with my sister,  as we try to sort out specific issues, and frankly can say that after I hear a speaker, it’s hard to remember each issue and address it.  I suggested that it’s times like this when commentators are helpful, even if I don’t like all of them.  At least by listening to them, whether liberal or conservative, I come away with a clearer idea of what the issues are, whether the speaker was correct in what they shared or stretching a point, so I do rely a lot on what those in the media say, on both sides of the aisle to help me sort through the confusion.

As for Obama, he’s spending some concentrated time preparing for the debate on Friday, can’t wait to see that, and while Biden is giving speeches on foreign policy, McCain and Palin are meeting with World Leaders at the UN, something they have been doing this week.

With fairly good candidates in both parties, it’s no wonder that the polls are almost a 50-50 split, not including approx. 18% of voters who remain undecided.