I did it.

I actually did it. I scraped the "Life is good" sticker off the back of the mom mobile. I scraped David's "God bless the people of EVERY nation" off from below my "COEXIST" sticker. (Sorry David. Maybe you can send me a new one post Nov 4th? ;-) And removed the READ sticker from Decatur's Little Shop of Stories. And I put my first EVER sticker endorsing a political candidate on my car. Obama '08.

Those who know my own personal leanings might not think that's so unusual. However, those who know the history of the political discussions in our marriage totally understand.

It is a monumental thing.

For the first few years of our marriage, it was because we often (always?) disagreed politically. And I didn't put a sticker for Clinton on my car the first time because I didn't want to ride in his car with a sticker for the opposing candidate on it. (Let it be said that I would not have put a sticker for Clinton on my car for his second term...I remember abstaining that year. Joel says I voted for him. Either way, we lived in SC at the time, so if I did vote for him, I knew it was a token vote, and that it would make no difference in the long run.) So we just agreed that stickers supporting particular candidates were off limits. Over the past few years, however, I have put "political" stickers on my car, just not any supporting candidates. It's been quite clear which way I lean. But they have been stickers that proclaim messages on which we agree, so it's been fine.

And we might agree on this upcoming election--I suspect we will. But Joel will still not openly declare who has his vote--not even to me--and given his position as pastor at Rehoboth, that's probably a good thing. He wants to see the candidates go head to head in debate and listen to what each has to say about the issues. And I respect that. He's a Myers Briggs ENTJ, and that's the way he rolls. I, on the other hand, am an ISFJ, and I roll differently. John McCain seems rather desperate, and I hated the way that he ended his speech the other night with "Fight, fight, fight, fight..." ad nauseum. (Uh, John--have you ever heard of Jesus? Put down your sword, Peter?) Sarah Palin reminds me of a south Georgia redneck, only she's dresses nicer and sounds different. My gut tells me that we differ dramatically when it comes to ideologies, and I don't need to hear them go head to head with my community organizer of choice, Barack Obama. I've supported him from day one, because I like what he says and I like how he says it. I like how he presents himself, and I trust that four years of Obama will be far better for our country than four years of McCain. It's as simple as that.

I sent for a "free one" from MoveOn.org, and it sat on the table in our kitchen for a while. (I cut the little "moveon" tagline off the bottom because I do know and respect that Joel doesn't care for that group.) Then I casually asked him if he'd be okay with my putting it on the van. He seemed nonplussed by it, and muttered something like "Sure." And it sat there through both conventions, just as I sat through both candidates' speeches. And when the balloons and confetti were all swept away, when I had heard bits and pieces of both conventions, and listened in full to both Obama and McCain, I did it.

I put the Obama sticker on the van. And it feels good.