My mother, the wingnut

There's a reason one button on my laptop bag reads, "My parents are Republicans ... but I still love them."

My mother, a staunch Republican who will turn 76 next month, is a resident of North Carolina where, recent polls show, Barack Obama has moved into a flat-footed tie with Huggy Bear. Although I'm loath to discuss politics with her normally, due to the fact that we don't agree on, well, anything, I couldn't help but note Obama's recent success in Mom's home state.

"Why are you so surprised?" Mom asked. "There's all those blacks here!" Taken aback a bit, I sputtered, "I don't understand, Mom. Are you saying the African-American population there is voting Democratic more than usual?". "Of course," she replied matter-of-factly. "They're all turning out to vote for the first black candidate!" As though this should be a shock, I guess ...

She went on: "They're even using buses to get black teenagers -- since teenagers can vote now -- to the polling places!" I responded, "Well, yes, that's 'Get Out The Vote' efforts. Democrats historically are better at that than Republicans, but there's no reason Republicans can't do that, too."

"I still don't see why it's such a surprise," Mom finally muttered. "We have a large black population ..."

I love my mom, but boy, is she short-sighted.