Becoming textually active with Obama

I've been textually active for about a year now. Everyone my age is doing it. And, now, Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama is too -- and he wants to be textually active with me.

Sure, he's intelligent and good-looking. And he seems nice enough. But do I really want this relationship with him?

I gave him my e-mail address, but apparently, that wasn't enough -- now, his campaign wants permission to text me too. If I give in, it is only because of his great pickup line. He said I'd "be the first to know" when he announces his VP.

But, does he really only want to text me just the one time? Or is he a clinger? Judging from the constant e-mails from his campaign, he's probably the latter. With such easy access to my cell phone number, the temptation to text me will be too high. First, it will be the VP announcement, then the location of yet another speech and maybe even a policy clarification or reversal.

I know he will take it too far and I'm not ready for that.

I can see it now: My phone "dings." It's him. I dump out my purse looking for my phone -- only to realize it's on my hip -- and frantically open it, thinking he's announcing his running mate. But, instead, it reads:

"Barack Obama is sleeping."

Great. I already have friends who text me random announcements about their lives. I don't need Barack to tell me he's drinking Kool-Aid or watching television. Plus, now we have network news for that, like the  time when Wolf Blitzer interrupted a panelist discussion to give us some breaking news: "Obama's plane has just landed."

What next?

"Barack Obama is looking in the mirror."

"Barack picked his nose."

"Barack left the 'residue' on the mirror."

Besides, what type of relationship will this be, anyway? Should I expect a phone call down the road or is this strictly textual? If I let him text me whenever he wants, is he going to let me respond? When he texts me the name of his VP, can I reply, " LMAO!!! R u cr8zy?" Or will I get some error message letting me know that this textual thing we have is totally one-sided? 

Even if he doesn't get the permission to text me, he's still getting textually active with other people my age. My friends got the same e-mail I did and they're excited about it. This is revolutionary, they say. No presidential nominee has ever wanted to text us before. So it's a tempting proposition to enter into -- a textual relationship with a presidential nominee.

So, in the end, I gave in. I gave him my number.

Mostly I just wanted to see how it will be. What will the VP text say? How will he fit that major announcement into just one text message? And will that be a one text stand?

From the looks of it, the campaign is not interested in a textual fling -- they want a full-fledged relationship, minus the part where I talk to them. Since I gave the campaign my phone number, I have already received a text asking me to sign up to be alerted when he's in the area. I opted out.

While continuous textual activity would probably prove to be fantastic, let's not move too fast. I'm only interested in the VP announcement for now. And once I get that, more than likely, I'll opt completely out of this relationship.

Alissa Griffith is a former columnist for The Post and a senior at Ohio University.