Trivial Pursuits

I'm very excited because I just found out that I'll be able to vote early, as I'll be out of town during the primary. It's even easier than absentee voting, because I just go down to our village hall and, well, vote!

Of course, this means that I actually have to choose a candidate. In trying to be an informed voter, I checked out Project Vote Smart, a non-partisan site with all kinds of great info. I can check out biographical information, voting records, campaign finance information, interest group ratings, etc.

And in case I'm interested, I can also find out the candidates "additional biographical information." Being interested, I checked it out, and found out some, well, interesting info.

For example, did you know that Mitt Romney drives a 2005 Ford Mustang Convertible? Maybe he could give Rudy Giuliani a ride, because he doesn't drive.

Or that John Edwards earned his first paycheck as a Soda Jerk with the Tar Heel Drug Company in Robbins, NC?

Mike Huckabee must be a closet meteorologist, since one of his favorite websites is http://www.accuweather.com/. And although Hillary's not my girl for the Oval Office, we do share a love of crossword puzzles and the book, "Goodnight, Moon".

Many of the candidates are pet people, but John McCain wins the "Dr. Doolittle" award for his menagerie: Sam, the English Springer Spaniel, Coco, the Mutt, Cuff and Link, both turtles, a cat named Oreo, a ferret, three parakeets and 13 saltwater fish.

Look out Barack, Bobby Flay might challenge you to a chili throwdown! Of course, John McCain likes to grill, so being a grill man himself, Bobby might head that way.

Mitt and Hillary are both "American Idol" fans. I wonder if they would've voted Sanjaya off sooner than the rest of America?

I have to admit that knowing this information, while it may not affect my political choices, does prove that there are some normal Americans under all of that political gaming and grandstanding.