I'm watching the candidates sweep through the midwest while I sit at a coffee shop in the midwest and look around.

My cousin and I were just chatting about how she rarely sees her husband, who's working in another state. He had to go where where the work was, and it wasn't here in Michigan. He comes home a few times a month and his kids and wife go about life here in Metro-Detroit as though it's just normal for Dad to work out of town.

My other cousin, a teacher and administrator, has nothing on her mind but budget cuts.

Neither cousin wanted to talk politics, nor cared to talk about who they would cast their ballot for in November. Both shook their heads at me when I asked.

It didn't stops a few guys the other night at the bar though.

They laughed as they joked about Senator John McCain's comments from Sturgis, and remarked on why it "wasn't a big deal" and "why is it in the news?"

Then they spent an hour comparing which potential First Lady was hotter.

Jen at MOMocrats writes, "I mean, it's bad enough that you view your partner like this, but when you do it publically it's just plain gross. As in needing a shower gross. And if the MOMocrats private email thread today is any example of what women are saying across the country, I'd say this kind of shit has everyone going ewwww. This isn't the kind of "experience" our country needs.

You know what IS sexy? Sexy is standing up for your wife not pimping her out."

BlogHer Contributing Editor Morra Aarons-Mele writes, "I've written before about McCain's risque line-towing, but I'm wondering if new campaign advisor Steve Schmidt (who helped foster the "I'd rather have a beer with Bush" phenomenon in 2004 and made John Kerry French) has been taking McCain out to Hooters in Virginia Beach as part of message training.

Between the belligerent yodeling --"We have to drill here and drill now"--and offering up his wife for a cash prize I'm wondering if this is McCain's attempt to channel the elusive white male voter he so needs to win?"

Morra is right and I'm starting to think the John McCain camp functions much like the guys at the Michigan bar.

While my family took great interest in Senator Obama's promise of $4 Billion to retool the auto industry (and then debated if it would work) - I had to tell them McCain was touting Nuclear Energy at Fermi II in Monroe.

There were then many jokes about fish with three-eyes and stories of the reactor that had a partial meltdown back in the 60's.
It's hard to convince people around here nuclear power is safe, regardless of the number of years between "accidents."

Martina Stewart blogs, "John McCain's call for the nation to make a big push into nuclear power to become more energy independent can certainly be met, if the country is willing to pay more for power and tolerate the safety risks.

Earlier this week McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, said he wants to build 45 more nuclear power plants in this county. That would add significantly to the nation's current fleet of 104 active plants, which produce about 20% of the nation's power."

My cousins laughed and yelled toward their kids,

"Hey guys! Do you want to glow in the dark??!!"

A confused second cousin looked at his mom and said "what?" and then asked when Dad was coming home again.

Contributing Editor Erin Kotecki Vest also blogs at Queen of Spain blog