How To Charm a Freeper

I figure if Ann Coulter can charm freepers, so can a blue moderate. Here's an exchange I posted on OAC about an encounter with two men in Columbus, OH, yesterday. My heart goes to Dem Debbie at OAC and JREG. Setting: over lunch at Nancy's Home Cooking Diner on High Street. Great burgers, cozy booths. Two men engaged us in a conversation, and learned we were from Illinois. We asked for a few pointers on locating a place we wanted to visit while in town.

Here's the conversation after 15 minutes of evolving about Iraq, Iran, NK, and securing our borders after 9/11. I kept my political beliefs to myself until I was asked.

Man, it was an event to behold. I decided to take the JRE approach and listen to what they had to say. Then my DH asked them who they saw for a Republican candidate in 2008.

Answers: "can't spot one" or "maybe Newt, since he's an ideas man. Just so it isn't MCain."

Benny: "I don't like McCain. He has no principles."

Freeper1: "I agree with you. I hope the Dems don't pick Hillary either."

Benny: I don't care for Hillary". She doesn't have principles either."

Freeper 1 reaches over and gives me a slight hug): "Bless you. I think she and McCain can hold hands."

Benny: "I agree."

Freepers: "Well, perhaps you can turn Illinois Red."

DH says: not in her book.

Freepers: "Oh?"

Benny: "Nope, I'm blue moderate"

Freepers: "Well, who do you think will win?"

Benny: I don't know who will win, but I like one candidate.

Freepers: "Who?"

Benny: "John Edwards"

Freeper 1: "Breck Girl"

Freeper 2: "You like a trial lawyer?"

Benny: "Common response about Breck Girl"

Freeper 2: "He lied in those trials"

Benny: "I don't think so. He knows the law, do you?"

Freeper 2: "He couldn't be re-elected in his homestate, and he didn't help Kerry win it either."

Benny: "Au contraire. He chose not to run for re-election as he felt he had a chance to win and put his eggs in one basket. Moreover, unlike some others, he thought it dishonest not to relinquish his chair. About Kerry campaign, Edwards wasn't allow to spend time in the south. And moreover, he's ahead right now above Hillary and others in the Iowa polls."

Freepers: "Iowa polls mean nothing"

Benny: "I think they do, whether one agrees about their being first in all, but they do matter. And, Edwards has crossover appeal with swing voters, according to several polls."

Freepers (no comment to that one).

Freepers: "Well, he's a light weight".

Benny: "He's got more backbone than most. Did you hear he was in Israel meeting with the heavy hitters early in June when the first outbreaks occurred..." and explained Edwards' position on it.

Freeper 1:" Well at least we will know where he stands, which is more than I can say for the rest of them [Dems]".

Benny: "What do you think of Wes Clark"?

Freepers: "Loser"
(that caught me by surprise since Clark is a contributor to Faux News and both of them are Faux News kool-aid drinkers)

Freepers: "We think it will be Gore or Kerry."

Benny: "I don't think so, at least with Kerry. He's a good man, but he had trouble with the Swift Boaters, and they would re-emerge to the surface if he ran again. "

One common ground with Freeper 1 was that I didn't want government in my way at all. (what I didn't say was that I'm willing to invest as necessary), but that included my home. The government has no business interfering with what I do personally unless I commit a crime.

Freeper 1: "Well, the election will come down to Ohio again."

Benny: "Gosh, I hope not. I'm hoping for Nevada this time. " (big grin--alluding to West Wing, but I don't think the Freeper got it).

So, encounter could have been volitile, but I chose not to let it be. The only sting I perceived was how "I needed to be worked on" meaning towards a conservative agenda (and I told them Bush was not a true conservative either the way he spends money--they agreed)...as though I didn't have enough of my own opinion, but admittedly, the freepers were sort of kidding me and my DH on that one.

We left Nancy's at the same time, with DH and I pulling away in our Toyota Prius, and they in a mini-van. We stopped at a bike shop along the way, and they waved to us.

Sweet.

Note: as details from my memory continue to surface, I will be adding them. This post is written in a Faulknerian fashion. :-)

For more debunking, check out Nan's diary "The Debunker" at the OAC Blog.

Tags: John Edwards, freepers, debunking, Benny's World, OAC Blog, Presidential Race 2008