Snippets from the front lines, aka peoples' homes:

A report from Pennsylvania, a suburb west of Philly.  My brother-in-law is a diehard Fox-washed Bush supporter who has been contributing to McCain, calling him a "Democrat" who he nonetheless sees has the best shot at winning this fall.  Despite voting for B Clinton twice (!) he feels in retrospect that was a big mistake and he despises both Clintons.  He thinks the Democrats would be making a big mistake to nominate Hillary, that Obama is the much tougher opponent. 

His wife, my sister-in-law, who is about 45, is an independent who leans Dem.  She has been highly critical of recent Dem nominees such as Gore and Kerry.  She was supporting Edwards.  She's now supporting Obama.  She says this country's morale is in the pits and that we really need the kind of lift an Obama win would give us.  She is someone I consider a strong, smart, tough-minded independent woman who has been very successful in her work life as an environmental state government official and now consultant.  She intensely dislikes Hillary and feels that if Hillary were elected it would be tainted, as she believes Hillary would never have walked into the US Senate from New York over Nita Lowey had she not been married to a very powerful man.  She wants the first woman president to be "untainted" in this way.  She said if Hillary were nominated she would not vote for her but would probably vote for McCain, who she both likes and respects. 

She feels too many of the actions Hillary has taken over the years have been about preserving her political viability for the presidency--about her fortunes, in short, not about what might have been best for our country.  She questions whether Hillary at this point sees any difference between what is best for her political fortunes versus what is best for the country.

You can imagine we have some spirited holiday dinnertime exchanges.

My wife, although she has growing doubts about Hillary's electability versus McCain, versus Obama's, will be voting for Hillary today in Virginia's primary.  She is feeling a bit glum about Hillary's chances at this point.  Also a  strong woman with a successful work history she is drawn to Hillary as a woman who has endured a heap of abuse over the years. 

This morning I read her a snippet from EJ Dionne's column.  Writing about some Hillary supporters in outer suburban DC (northern Virginia) EJ wrote: "They also rebel against the idea that they are not part of the cool, privileged masses for Obama. One of the signs at the Manassas rally defiantly touted 'Well Educated High Earners for Hillary.'

My wife smiled.  "That's me," she said.  After earlier supporting Edwards, I voted for Obama, and hope he is the nominee.  But I smiled, too.  Having felt uncool, or at least feeling more an outsider than an insider my whole life, I seem to identify more with uncool people.  The other day when I referred to myself as a nerd our 11 1/2 year old daughter said to me "Daddy, you are not.  You don't look like a nerd."  I smiled back and said to her "Yeah, you have to get to know me a bit."