Hillary calling...

The telephone rings.

I get up from the couch and walk over to the phone. I pick it up. I look at the caller ID screen.

A chill crawls up my spine. I think: Could it be? Is she personally calling me to ask for my vote next month? What if she wants to get together - what would Bill say? What do I tell The Wife - "sorry, Honey, I can't have dinner with you and the girls tonight - I have to meet with a presidential candidate"?

I answer: "Hello?"

A woman responds: "Yes, I'm calling on behalf of Senator Hillary Clinton. Can we count on your vote in the primary?"

I breath a sigh of relief. It's not Hillary, unless she's prone to referring to herself in the third person, and she's trying to affect a Hispanic accent. I answer: "Well, I haven't really made up my mind yet."

The woman says, "Okay, well.... I wanted to tell you that President Clinton will be speaking tomrrow at Perry Meridian School. Did you plan to attend?"

I respond, "Yes, I knew he's be speaking. Unfortunately, I can't go because I have a class at that time."

She says, "All right. Thank you for your time."

And, that was that. My first political call. No statements about how Hillary was so much better than Barack, or how my vote is important to the Clinton campagin machine. Just a finishing "thanks for your time."

The phone rings a half hour later. Is it Barack calling to court me to his side? No such luck - just a friend of The Wife's.