Can you stand another amazing convert story?

[grace0418]

I was at my in-laws' house over the weekend. My husband's sister was in town from Kentucky with her family, so we were having a BBQ. My husband's brother was there as well, with his family.

My husband's family is very traditional, very straight-and-narrow, very conservative. My husband's parents are a lost cause because they are uber-religious (to the point of being cultish), superstitious, and terrified of their own shadows. But I was AMAZED to hear the rest of the family start ripping into Sarah Palin over dinner! They think she's a total idiot. My sisters-in-law are exactly the kind of women the GOP was trying to appeal to with the choice: suburban soccer moms who think of themselves as fairly modern but are pretty traditional, and don't really take time research the issues. And guess what, THEY were the most vocal of all in their disdain for Sarah! They truly cannot stand her!

There wasn't too much discussion of McCain, but I'm pretty sure if McCain had picked a better VP candidate, they all would've believed all the maverick, straight-talker BS about McCain. Instead they ripped Sarah Palin to shreds and actually had several complimentary things to say about Barack Obama- which of course my husband and I reinforced with facts about his platform and his character. My husband made a special point of telling his family about Barack coming from a humble background and studying hard to graduate from a top-notch school, and generally working his butt off to get where he is. He knew how much his family would value that story, because good grades and hard work are everything to them.

We even stopped to turn on the beginning of Saturday Night Live so we could laugh at the Sarah Palin skit. I cannot tell you how pleasantly surprised I was. I never expected this in a million years from them. In fact, I was half-expecting my husband to ask that I not bring my messenger bag in the house (with Obama buttons all over it), because he really hates conflict. I would've ignored him anyway, but the coolest thing was his family actually commented (positively!) on my buttons!

At worst, I think they will not vote at all, but I actually have a feeling there will be some votes in Kentucky for Obama. My husband's brother lives near us in Chicago so his vote would just add to the landslide for Obama, but still, it's encouraging.