Everyone on the planet seems to know Christine O’Donnell’s thoughts on masturbation. She headed an “Anti-masturbation campaign” and spoke about it on MTV in 1996 on the television show “Sex in the 90’s”. Christine – who is running for Senator in the state of Delaware – has been a “gift” to comedians across the country as they debate on stage whether or not she was a “witch” (as she proclaimed on Bill Maher’s “Politically Incorrect”). As a comic, I am grateful to Christine for all that she has done to create laughs for this great country, but Christine is not the only political candidate in this mid-term election who appears to be more fiction than substance.
Sadly, most candidates are lacking in substance and their campaign ads are more likely to tell what is wrong with their opponent instead of where they stand on the issues. I live in Los Angeles where the airwaves are full of campaign attack ads throughout most of the day. All the commercials show an out of focus bad picture of the opponent with horrible music and a few sound bites with a cheesy voice-over. Missing from all of these ads are the candidates’ platform and their stance on real issues.
The most important issues to voters in these elections are the economy, healthcare and the deficit. Large numbers of Americans are still out of work and it is a daily struggle to put food on the table. People are losing their jobs, their homes and their healthcare in one fell swoop and sometimes it seems like Washington, D.C is “printing money on demand.” I share these concerns with voters but I also have another worry – the wars.
Soldiers in Iraq are packing up their rucksacks, turning in their Kevlar and helmets, cleaning their guns, and piling into C-130 aircraft to fly home. On the long flight home many of the soldiers will pass the time on the flight talking about all the things they are going to do when they get home. Some will get married, many will start a family, go back to school, lay on the beach. Soldiers will salivate talking about grilling a steak with corn on the cob and washing it down with an ice-cold beer. There will be as many “when I get back home plans” as there are soldiers.