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3 AUG 04: CLIFF-HANGERS

Instant Message to the friend of mine who said last week she "never, ever" wants to appear on this blog: It's pretty easy, really. Don't run for political office, and your odds seem to drop by more than half.

The remaining Democrats in the Georgia U.S. Senate race held a televised "forum" in Columbus Monday. I'm not sure what made it different from a debate -- perhaps because there was no big stoplight to tell the candidates to shut up.

Democrats Denise Majette and Cliff Oxford tried their best to get you to vote for them in next Tuesday's runoff. We may find out today how effective they were - if people storm the Government Center, and demand to change their advance votes.

Denise Majette is the Congresswoman who knocked off Cynthia McKinney two years ago. This year her road to the Senate may be more difficult - as her opponents actually are careful about what they say.

Cliff Oxford is the self-made businessman who was encouraged to run for Senate by former President Carter. But son Chip Carter bailed out of the campaign and supported Denise Majetre last week - and that flip by Chip could mean a big dip.

During Monday's televised forum, Cliff Oxford said he was "attacked viciously" over the weekend by the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, for his views on Iraq. Perhaps there's a hidden reason for this - the Republican already knew John Kerry's poll numbers were dropping.

Cliff Oxford puts the Iraq question on a personal level: would you want your children to serve in the military there? I suppose I wouldn't - but then again, I'm not sure I'd want them cleaning hog pens for a living, either.

Denise Majette was not afraid to say she wants the U.S. military out of Iraq A.S.A.P. That can mean "as soon as possible" -- or "As Shiites Advance Politically."

(Denise Majette said this as Fort Benning's Third Brigade prepared to head for Louisiana, to train for a second tour of duty in Iraq. If she wins the Senate race, leftover soldiers might storm into the Memory Lane nightclub and demand asylum.)

. Cliff Oxford made perhaps the most interesting comment at the forum, by saying he's discovered there's a "Third Georgia." I thought for a second, he might accuse Denise Majette of taking a tax-wasting junket to that country....

You may have heard about "Two Georgias": metro Atlanta and the rest of the state. Cliff Oxford says there's now a third one -- the "working poor" who have trouble surviving. I think in Columbus, this refers to everyone living south of
Manchester Expressway.

Denise Majette says she's been fighting over the last two years for federal money to retrain workers. This allows many people to use their own money to buy lottery tickets, and hope they won't need that training anymore.

Denise Majette was never asked about that pricy trip she supposedly took to India during her current term in the House. Maybe someone reminded both candidates Columbus had just held an International Festival....

(BLOGGER'S NOTE: This concludes the humor for today - but you're welcome to read on and reflect with me if you desire.)

BUT SERIOUSLY: I was saddened by the news from Utah Monday -- not to mention a bit confused. I suppose Mark Hacking will plead an insanity defense, in the killing of his wife Lori. And that's what this entire story is to me - insane.

If Lori Hacking ever gave a bad picture, I have yet to see it. As a single man, I can truthfully declare she was a "babe." And as a member of the Latter-day Saints denomination, she may well have been as beautiful inside as out -- certainly a woman worth giving up caffeine for, if you know what I mean.

So how could a husband like hers possibly do what he's accused of doing? Mark Hacking had a life-sized jewel in his hands - and he at least devolved into a life of lies and deceit. But to kill a woman like that? Yeah, I guess only an insane
person would stoop to that.

As a single 40-something man who's never been married, I puzzle over all this. If only God had allowed me to meet Lori Soares (her maiden name) somehow. Certainly I could have treated her a whole lot better than this. I certainly never would have lied to her about my job, my future, my habits -- or so I say to myself.

But then I stop and ponder it. Has God kept me single all these years because He knows I could NOT handle it -- that some way, somehow, I'd foul up a marriage just as badly?

I think of Bill Clinton's classic line when he first became President - that he was for the people who "work hard, and play by the rules." Whether or not he met those standards personally is not my point. Those are standards I've tried personally to meet - and what's resulted from it? No dates in quite awhile, to be honest with you. I even toyed with becoming close buddies with Bobby Peters for a while, to learn his secrets of success.

Where is the Lori Hacking for my life, I wonder. Of course, I've made it this far without one. Maybe I'm supposed to walk a lonely road on purpose -- while around me, marriages struggle and collapse for reasons ranging from violent deaths to
much smaller things.

On the one hand, it all seems unfair. On the other hand, maybe it's fair in the eyes of Someone planning things bigger than any of us can see. It's almost enough to drive a thinking man -- well, insane.

COMING WEDNESDAY:< We're expecting an event that's six figures big.... while trying to confirm a media rumor.....

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