I think I've mentioned this on Josiah's blog, but at some point this week I shifted from being a nervous undecided voter to being a resolutely undecided voter. It feels like there's too much at stake in this election, on too many fronts, for me to make up my mind without giving George and John a chance to make their respective cases. Does Kerry have an original foreign-policy thought in his head? Has Bush realized how completely he's alienated most of the world and vast swaths of his own countrymen? I don't know, and I'd like to. So I'm going to handle this thing old school: I'll watch the conventions and debates, and see who comes across with even a whiff of statemanship.
That said, I had a conversation this morning that will factor into my decision, if only a tiny bit. I was breakfasting at 2 Squares with my boss, a perinatologist who I'll call "Dr. C," both of us dining on biscuits and some wicked Louisiana red gravy. We were plotting out advertising for a conference on premature birth and physician liability -- and that second topic reminded me of a question I'd been mulling.
"What do you think of John Edwards?" I asked. "I know he started his career as a trial lawyer, suing obstricians, and I was wonderi--"
Dr. C, as is his wont, didn't let me finish the question.
"I hate the bastard," he said, with the confident certainty of someone with a long-held dislike. He sounded like he was declaring his hatred for okra. "He makes out like he's a self-made man, a poor kid who pulled himself by his bootstraps. But he made his money suing every doctor he could get his hands on... I'm a liberal Republican, or an extremely conservative Democrat. There's not really a party for me. But when I heard Kerry picked Edwards, that was it for me."
Now, I know there are bigger issues in this election than medical malpractice. There's a war on: an ugly, misbegotten war, costing American and Iraqi lives, setting stunning precedents in our attitudes toward the world. I don't expect anybody's vote to be swayed by Dr. C's disgust toward a former lawyer -- actually, I'd be worried if it were.
But in some small way, Edwards' history sticks in my craw. Call me one of the five people in this country who really believes in the American medical establishment, at least the OB/GYNs. The docs I work for are heroes. They save lives, a lot of them. And suing obstetricians for birth defects, as Edwards has done, often, is like suing a firefighter because he was hosing down your house when it blew up. Bothers me.
Posted by mesh at July 15, 2004 08:13 AM | TrackBackMesh, this was a great article!
Posted by: JosiahQ at July 15, 2004 09:25 AMI personally can’t imagine anything more fun than what you call “handle this thing old school.” For me the conventions are a can’t miss. They are right up there with other must see activities like: the Olympics, Tour de France, Super Bowl, and election night coverage. My guess is that these are going to be the most high spirited conventions since the conventions that took place in the late 60’s. From what I hear, the protest that will take place at the Republican National convention will be a mess.
Posted by: gid at July 15, 2004 09:48 AMI've decided to vote for the two Johns because a) I want to "Help Build One America" and b) I feel like my vote is just gonna be thrown down one John, so why not throw it AT two?
Posted by: Bill Colrus at July 15, 2004 10:11 AM