Political Junkie that I am

As usual, I found my own Christmas present and presented my family with the bill.  I pre-ordered Love and War by Mary Mataline and James Carville from Amazon and finished it last night.  I wanted to read it to understand how two political polar opposites could live together as I will affirm, I could never envision myself doing and have actually checked potential mates off my marriageable list for such a divergence.

Maybe meeting each other so late in life, definitely sharing the same career, and eventually figuring out that a home base and raising kids is more important than most other things has kept them together.  I was also surprised at the fact that they were actually married three times:  first in a raucous NoLa wedding on a Thanksgiving when everyone assumed it was some kind of political stunt over 20 years ago; a vow renewal on their 10th anniversary; and finally in a small Catholic church, exactly 100 years to the month of when James' grandparents were married after Mary converted.

It is the latter part of the book I loved the most.  Granted, political junkie that I am, I loved the insights of both campaigns and their friendships with the powers and wannabees from both parties, but the reconciliation and comfort of a home in New Orleans, a commitment to to rebuild this wondrous city to what it was pre-Katrina, and the flavor of partying that pervades NoLa was what I enjoyed the most.

I cannot fathom how the managed to avoid each other during the Gore/Bush Florida recount and the visceral hatred and accusations that ensued.  But on the other hand, I cannot appreciate Mary's idolization of Dick Cheney.  In fact, I am strained to even understand her devotion to Poppy Bush.  I just cannot idolize any particular politician of either party.  To me, they are all flawed and bear no resemblance at all to Founding Fathers and 18th Century political philosophers.

I was surprised to find quirks about Mary that even I would find impossible to live with:  a menagerie of cast off feral cats and rag tag dogs, and even pet rats, her preference to run the air conditioner while opening all the windows and lighting a fire in the fireplace would drive me to distraction.  Here I only expected to find James' traits annoying.  Towards the end, he acknowledges there are certain basic family concerns that tend to make a father and husband a tad conservative.

Yes I have plenty of dogeared corners of quotes I wanted to lard my review blog with, but perhaps another day.  Other readers are in the queue to read the book and I am fried from my own political intrigue lately to write much more than this.  So I will revisit this blog another day to add those wonderful religious and personal slants that resonated.

By the way, the one slant that I will cede Mary won hands down, is the book alternates with sections, in different type fonts, of Mary's and Jim's view of what is happening in their lives.  Mary writes better, more humorously, more cleverly, but just as politically extremely.  I agree with the final tally:  Democrats love humanity but hate individuals, Republicans favor doing favors for individuals rather than pontificating about mankind.