Dates 24, 25 & 26, and the Writer

Politics make for strange bedfellows. One of the first places I look on a man's profile (after his picture, of course) is his political orientation. If it says liberal or left-wing, I look further, and if not, I usually delete. These 3 guys had a decent profile but had all checked middle-of-the-road as their political stance. Usually this means that they are secretly conservative but will say what they think the woman wants to hear in hopes of getting a date. In cases like these men, if they have enough going for them elsewhere in the profile, I'll carefully screen them via email, giving them a chance to redeem themselves and prove their phoneworthiness. Sometimes this backfires, as they can see upfront that I am oriented to the left, so they'll assume I'm voting for Obama or Nader and pretend to support them as well. It's also true that some of them will actually identify themselves as "undecided" so as not to have to explain any of their political views. Little do they realize that *undecided = not too smart* in my book. David Sedaris describes them this way:

". . . To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. 'Can I interest you in the chicken?' she asks. 'Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?' To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked."

None of the last 3 dates made it to the phone stage with me because they were unable to pass my email screening. When I wrote bachelor #26 and asked him his thoughts, he responded with this:

"My political affiliation? First, let me say that I hope I do not offend you with what I am about to say, as I noticed in your bio that you have very liberal political inclination. Well, in the past I have been quite liberal. However, I don't believe in total socialism. The democrat's programs of entitlement without fiscal responsibility is an issue with me. On the other hand, I am not in favor of the republican's conservative approach on the economy. Unregulated capitalism doesn't work...that's how we got into the economic mess that this country is experiencing. So, I believe in middle-of-the-road politics. That is, there needs to be a balance between capitalism and socialism. We need highly regulated capitalism that permits a free entrepreneural [SP] spirit but also need to take care of those who are in need of help. Who am I going to vote for? Well, that is a question that I don't know the answer to yet. That is, I am struggling with all the issues. In the past 2 elections, I voted for "W", mainly for national security issues and a reduction in taxes. Prior to that, I voted for Clinton. This year, I was leaning towards McCain. However, the economic crisis, and how we got into this mess, has swayed me towards Obama."

What is this, a High School essay for civics class cut and pasted from a magazine article? Pathetic. I stopped reading after the part about voting for W twice. I wrote him a note saying adios and good luck in your (uninformed/wishy-washy) search, and he wrote back:

"Well, I'd have to say that this is a first...I've never been rejected by anyone based on who I voted for in the past! Fascinating...it certainly must be quite important to you...too bad because I really felt a close connection with you. Oh well, such is life!"

So, Romeos #24, 25, and 26 are history before they even became dates. I really should just take their numbers off the blog anyway, because I am now officially "going out" with Writer. It's amusing to define it that way because our kids use those words but it's as good a way as any to explain what we are doing right now. In short, we are exclusively dating, and yes, the sex is very nice. Stay tuned for more details.