During the months of September and October my evenings were consumed at the Bowling Green Democratic Headquarters. The building itself was an almost all too ironic metaphor for the Democratic party: a small light blue, old, unimpressive, albeit quaint house located on the southern side of Main street. It was every bit American as any other headquarters for any organization, but it lacked a certain physical sense of purpose needed to carry out its well intentioned function. The headquarters for a major political party looked more like your grandmothers house than a venue of political action and activism. I was told there was an old lady that rented a room in the "attic." Other evenings I shuttled up to Toledo and worked out of the plumbers union. The experience was interesting at best, but didn't rack up a lot of points in the excitement department. I know this because I've forgotten much about the those evenings huddled over phone list, directing seventy year old women who had never seen a cell phone, much less used one, on how to make calls from the phone bank. The work was strangely similar to the house we did it in, unimpressive. Yet recently I stumbled on something I wrote while in the heat of the battle. It reflects a different time and reveals the only important thing I took from the experience. I never finished it and thus never fully developed the point I was trying to make, but as it stands it still makes sense.
I've spent the better part of eight weeks working for the Democratic Party of Ohio in the thick of one of the most important midterm elections in a generation. My evenings have been spent shuttling around northwest Ohio to various political activities on behalf of what is increasingly becoming the opposition party in this country of ours. I've called upwards of 1,000 local voters, attempted to contact every high school in Lucas County (Toledo) in search of young volunteers, and hit the ground spreading the word about the encouraging promise of Democratic candidates seeking a mandate to eclipse the one Bush proclaimed for himself after the '04 election. The election is in exactly two weeks and I have the privilege of watching it all unfold from a box seat. It seems like a win-win situation, but as the old saying goes nothing in life is free. What's it costing me? A comprise of my well manicured political beliefs that are rooted in hours of reflection and what I like to think is deep intellectual introspection. Am I a Democrat? I'm sure as you-know-what not a Republican and in our political system that makes me a Democrat. Am I a party loyalist? I'm more of a party crasher.
A friend that I work with, that I gather shares most of the views that I do, also shares a preference for international politics rather than domestic. While sitting at the plumbers union (local 50) one evening our boss was informing us of one of the issues on the ballot this year: Issue 2. Issue 2, which is to raise minimum wage, garners support from most people when you ask them. After she told us what issue 2 sought to raise the minimum wage to, my work companion belted out, "holy crap that's high," and I couldn't help but respond with laughter. Looking back the two of us laughing for as long as we did with such emphasis was probably a bit distasteful.
Our rather liberal boss, an extremely attractive female who only graduated from UT last year, replied with a look that seemed to undress both of our fake Democratic loyalist clothing......
Essentially I learned that I'm a political orphan. A believer in our political system with no place to worship. My kind?, we're not welcome here. The raising of minimum wage is something I fully supported, however I still like a pinch of practicalism with my politics. That instance demonstrated to me that there is little to no room for practical thought in politics. My laughter signified, not that I was opposed to raising minimum wage, but that it seemed a little high...as a matter of practical thinking. I still supported it (Issue 2 passed). However, my bosses reaction and the dissertation she gave us on minimum wage that followed, revealed that domestic politics is a tow-the-line game. At the very least its not a thinking man's game at the lower levels. But then what job is? Even still, you would think that issues concerning our nation, issues that effect all of us, would be debatable from the grassroots level up to the halls of congress. I guess not. In a strange way I understand what Bush meant when he said, "you're either with us or against us." While it may seem crude, lacking a certain poetic tack and brashly simple given the circumstances, Bush understood something that the average person doesn't however ever unfortunate it may seem. In today's world....that's politics.
