In addition to its current endorsement of John Kerry, this week the New Republic is also posting online its endorsements from the last few presidential elections. They’re putting up a new one each day. So far you can read their endorsements of John Anderson in 1980, Walter Mondale in 1984, Michael Dukakis in 1988, and today, Bill Clinton in 1992. Each gives an interesting snapshot of the nation and the prevalent issues at a different point in time.

Howard Dean Screams for Yahoo!

My grandma doesn’t know I’m gay.

I mean, she has to know. She’s 91 and she’s in a nursing home, but she has a mind like a steel trap. She never forgets a name or a face. She has trouble hearing, but as my parents say, she hears when she wants to. I’m 30 years old, I’ve never had a girlfriend, and I’ve long been interested in theater. She knows what’s going on.

But my parents and my aunt don’t like to tell her certain things. There are a couple of other family mini-dramas she doesn’t know about, either. I guess they don’t want to go through the trouble of explaining all the details and then having her constantly ask for updates.

It offends me only sightly — not enough to make it a big issue — but last night I realized how problematic it can be. She and I spoke on the phone last night for the first time in many months, and it was difficult to give her her updates on my life without mentioning the most important person in it. I mentioned that my job is going well and that I’m singing with a chorus (although I left the word “gay” out of the chorus name). That’s about it. My life must sound so boring to her.

I’m proud of the fact that I have a boyfriend, a special someone, and yet I can’t tell her about it. I don’t know what her reaction would be, but it would be better than her thinking I’m eternally single and lonely.

I barely talk to her anyway, but I’m just saying.