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Edited on Sun Oct-26-08 10:46 AM by crispini
It's pretty clear to me that whatever happens Nov. 4th, I will be online less, because I desperately need a break from politics and need to take care of a lot of job and house related duties. So on this beautiful Sunday morning I just wanted to pause and reflect a moment on the last four years. Apologies in advance for the long and very self-indulgent rambling. :hi:
I was always the kind of person that voted reliably, in every single election, and kept myself sort of moderately informed, but no more than that. However, four years ago, Howard Dean changed all that when he told me that if I was only voting, I got a D. LOL. Being the consummate perfectionist student that I am, I couldn't stand that. :D And I absolutely could not stand four more years of the horrible Shrub presidency. So I started going to Meetups and got involved.
I found DU after the primary wars had settled down. Although a Deaniac at heart, I wasn't that hung up on the primary since we in Texas have a late primary, and ultimately, it would be decided before it got to my state. I loved Howard, but I liked our other candidates as well. DU got me completely sucked in with the conversations and the news while I got involved with my local grassroots Kerry organization. Many of those Dallas for Kerry folks are good friends to this day-- we got out, did voter registration, printed our own flyers, and blockwalked all on our own. There were no more than 30 of us and in hindsight our efforts really smack of Don Quixote tilting at windmills, but by GOD we were going to get out there and try. We had our own yard signs and our own slate cards printed. I will never forget when a couple of us journeyed to Arkansas (supposedly "in play") to work the week before the election -- and wow, there was actual PRINTED full color campaign literature. We'd never seen that. Oh, and I became an election judge and a precinct chair to boot.
After the election, you guys and Keith Olbermann and the KOEB were my number one solace. Oh, and the fact that we elected the first ever Democratic sheriff in Dallas county, who happened to be a gay woman, and a few Democratic judges. I was really sad about Kerry and the horrible mess that it all was. Honestly, I was depressed for WEEKS. It was me, the couch, the computer, Olbermann, and the DU'ers. It all culminated in Boxer's historic moment. I was so low, I couldn't believe we were going to have to put up with four more years of this mess. At least I had my local friends and a county that was looking just a little bit purple. That was some consolation. Oh yay, and Howard Dean our DNC chair -- that was definitely some consolation.
Two years later, gubernatorial elections rolled around. I went to the state convention and we had a big fight over the election of the Texas Democratic party chair -- ex-Deaniacs and reformers vs. everyone else. Also, of course, I got to meet heaps of lovely Texas DU'ers who are absolutely the best activists EVER. Anyway, we lost the race for the chair, but the fact that the election was contested was a big deal, since it hadn't been contested for 20 years prior to that. Plus, it was kind of fun, and a political education.
And, the off years are also judicial election years here. We had a coordinated campaign and we elected 42 out of 42 local Democrats on the ballot. Then, nationally we took back control of the House. That was an absolutely amazing and historic night which I will never forget. For WEEKS after that I was going around gloating saying, "Speaker of the House NANCY PELOSI." Hee. I made sure to watch the entire swearing in on TV. I was so pleased so see Pelosi up there, and of course, all of our local judges and county officials -- well, that was absolutely fantastic and proof that we were definitely purple now.
This year -- well, I got to experience the full glory of the primary wars, online and offline. I was an early Draft Gore person, switched to Kooch more out of perversity than anything else, but by the time the primary rolled around to my state, I was definitely an Obama girl. And what a surprise to see that this time Texas was going to make a difference. Holy cow, people turned out to vote by the zillions! I was so nervous about our precinct convention ("caucus" -- remember the Texas two step?) ... I went to the training three times. Luckily my hyper organized nature paid off and I managed to get my convention conducted, quickly, fairly, and with very little bloodshed. :D That seems like it was ten years ago but it was only March.
Then on to our Senate District and State Conventions. Boy, everybody was ON EDGE and suspicious of each other. That was the weekend that Senator Clinton suspended her campaign. We tried our best to be friendly but there were still some raw nerves which have, in the months since, mostly, settled. Oh -- and Denver -- wow. I managed to get to go hear Obama's acceptance speech through a lucky coincidence -- and it is something I will definitely remember vividly for the rest of my life. How fortunate we are to have this amazing man as our party's nominee.
And I took a job as a campaign manager for a local candidate. That right there is a whole 'nother story which I won't recount here because it's still going on and it's an entirely new level of crazy which I am right in the middle of, phew. Let's just say it's a LOT easier to be a volunteer. (I really need to get dressed so I can go into the office, but I'm taking a few more minutes with my coffee on this lovely Sunday morning, heh.) But there are so many more Democrats here than there were four years ago -- Obama people, local candidate people, coordinated campaign people -- we are everywhere. People are getting canvassed that have NEVER been talked to before. It's amazing, the level of energy that is going on, here in this bright-purple-about-to-turn-blue county. We are excited for Obama, for our local countywide candidates, for our State House candidates, for all of these people who are going all-out to win. It is wonderful.
Anyway, so here we are, on the eve of this election. What a long, strange trip it's been. And how happy I am to have been a part of it all. I feel like I've been living history. This post seems long, but it doesn't have a tenth of the stories that have happened along the way, the people, the campaign offices, the conversations at doors and on phones, the meetings til 1 am, the parties and the hotel rooms and the late nights. How weird, how strange, and how amazing.
Here's to you, DU, and here's to the Democrats and activists who get out their and do their bit. :toast:
God (or Deity-of-your-choice!) bless us, every one. :hi:
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