I’ve been getting comments on my political identity lately.

The first time that I remember it standing out in my mind was at a dinner party with some close friends.

The crowd at the table was fairly liberal. Somewhere in between the exquisite pepper martinis with home spiced vodka, the mussels and the lasagna; the conversation turned to the then recent Presidential election.

Comparisons were being made between the newly elected Obama and former President Clinton. Some of the five other people at the table seeming to be surprised that I wasn’t expressing as much enthusiasm for the subject as they would have supposed someone with an interest in politics such as myself would be.

My dear friend who was sitting across the table from me ripped the neutral carpet out from under my Clinton-ista ass. Not only did she say I was a big Bill fan but said I would have preferred either Clinton to Obama.

The Liberally-Correct shit hit the fan then I’ll have you know. Damn. NAFTA, DADT, the acronyms were flying. How could I prefer this horrible centrist to the almighty Oprah -err, I mean, Obama?

(Easy mistake to make, right? Campaign Obama seem to sync up with the word the O pretty nicely. A liberal wet-dream. He was going to fix everything. Pardon me, I diverge.)

So then I’m explaining who I was with in the Primary and why. My part of the conversation went something like this:

“Edwards.”

“Because I liked his ideas on the economy, the environment, poverty and education.”

“No, I’m not OK with his fling there but before we discard any validity to his campaign I want put a few things out there. The thing is, if he was right about the things he was saying, then he is still right after doing something completely boneheaded. It doesn’t make him less right. It makes him a bonehead.”

“I’m saying boneheaded instead of stupid on purpose. Smart people sometimes do boneheaded things.”

“It’s different than stupid because they should have known better. It’s just really poor judgement.”

“No, I’m not talking about morality either. This goes to some of the stuff you were starting to say about Bill. First off morality and immorality really have to do with people’s individual values. I think they have the right to follow whatever code they want. I have my own sense of right and wrong. I definitely think there are lines out there but I don’t want to start telling people where they are. It’s a slippery slope.”

“No, I’m not saying cheating on your spouse is OK. Just because I am not condemning it does not mean I’m endorsing it. I really believe it is between the people involved and whomever they seek counsel from. Besides, to be honest, I’m not particularly interested in a politician’s sex life.”

“Well for starters, I’m voting for them; not marrying them.”

“I didn’t know about his cheating at the time anyways.”

“No, I still very much stand behind the reasons I had for supporting him. He had the best ideas. He was way ahead of the game of what was happening to the economy.”

“To be crass; I supported him because of the same reasons any voter picks a candidate. I preferred his campaign rhetoric, his campaign promises and what I could glean from them about what he might actually do elected to what I heard from the others in the admittedly highly qualified field.”

“It goes back to the bonehead thing. It’s also another key difference between President Clinton and Edwards. It was different media back then. When Clinton was on trial for impeachment the absolute volume of coverage for a political sex scandal was really unprecedented. In the end Clinton got exposed but he seemed to gain more popularity as the thing went on.

Edwards did this in the post-Clinton era of the blogosphere and cable news repeating themselves every fifteen minutes. There are seemingly millions of media outlets out there, just feasting on this sort of thing already, waiting for the big kill. It doesn’t seem like anyone in their right mind, with sound judgement, who was running for President and had any idea of or capacity to fulfill the job of President could possibly think that getting busy with an Aide is a sound decision. …Let alone when your publicly beloved wife is serious-type cancer-diagnosed.

In this post-Clinton political media climate that’s just boneheaded. You want the President to be able to make good decisions, even in a super-energy-charged situation. Edwards wasn’t showcasing his ability to make good decisions and employ sound judgement.”

“I still think he had the best ideas but clearly he’s his judgement is flawed and he’s not the right person for the job.”

“Yes, Obama had some of those same ideas. I just heard them from Edwards first.”

“No, I was listening to Obama. I was listening to him stand in the middle of a field the summer before the NH Primary and answer every question with, ‘That a good question. we’ll work on that problem together.’ I was listening when he started having ideas that I like. I just remembered where I heard those same ideas first.”

“I respect an energetic campaign. Driving around Election Day was a really cool, really intense experience. I loved seeing Obama’s army in actions. I love seeing engaged voters. It was beautiful.”

“No, he still wasn’t my guy. I volunteered. I supported. I just didn’t drink the kool-aide. I’m waiting for my worst suspicions to be proven wrong. He had a habit of voting ‘present’ on controversial votes in both the state and US Senate. That’s good campaign strategy perhaps, but it doesn’t set me on fire with enthusiasm.”

“I am glad he won. I wouldn’t support a Republican for anything other than a local office.”

“I don’t know what I would have done if I’d known about Edwards.”

No, even after Edwards dropped out I didn’t support him in the Primary. I supported Hillary.”

My friend was right, I really would have preferred another four years of Bill Clinton to any of them.

“Why? Bill Clinton put teeth in the EPA and had women and minorities in senior positions in his Cabinet. Programs to make education more accessible. Balanced budgets. Seemed like we spent our money on defense more wisely. Scaling down the ridiculous amounts of tax-payer money being sucked into the black hole that the War on Drugs as we currently know it, I can go on.”

“Don’t Ask Don’t Tell wasn’t his idea. It was a compromise. Oh? You think your man Obama is going to have to compromise? It’s going to be a rude awakening.”

For the record this was a very friendly discussion conducted through laughter and the shine of candles reflecting off of wine glasses.

The husband of my friend who had originally stated that I would preferred Bill to Barack was silent for most of the discussion. He was sitting down at the end, enjoying sipping on his glass of wine and, by all evidence, thoroughly entertained by the discussion unfolding in front of him. Towards the end though he spoke up and said in my direction, “You’re a Republican.”

“My voting record says Democrat.”

Later on in the weekend he came over to where I was sitting and clicking away on my laptop.

“You’re a Republican.”

I knew what he was saying, and saw the validity of it, but I was inclined to disagree. This is how I tried to explain it to him,

“I am fiscally conservative in the sense that I am frugal but I do believe in the value of social programs. It’s the right thing to do. For an added bonus tends to save the state a lot of money they would have otherwise spent on prosecution and incarnation.”

Bemused, he shook his head and said, “You’re a Conservative.”

“I’m not a quote quintessential fiscally-conservative, socially liberal yankee. I’m all for spending, I just want it done right. We need quality education accessible to everyone. It’s a good investment and creating taxpayers is cheaper than housing prisoners. I’m not anti-government. I think we need regulations to protect the environment and the economy but there’s a limit. I have a Mom and there is no need for the state to be taking on the role of parent. When the state thinks it has to control, rather than to protect, we don’t have a Democracy anymore.”

“You’re a Republican.”

“I’m an Episcopalian who is nonplussed by the fact that the Bishop of my diocese is gay. I like science and I don’t want creationism in academic classrooms. I like knowing that the country is made up of all kinds of people. I’m not going to support a political agenda that is driven by the Christian Right. Those guys suck. I’m offended that they seem have to have co-opted the meaning of the word Christian.

Even if the Republicans got rid of there separation of Church and State problem I still could not support that platform in its present form. Old-school-Yankee-mind-your-business-and-don’t-interfere-in-mine-Republicans maybe. These guys? No way.”

“They might not be Republican anymore but you are.”

“Huh. My voting record says Democrat. Can’t see that changing anytime soon.”