The power of pictures... - Democratic Underground

Vektor

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Sat Dec-17-05 10:13 PM
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The power of pictures...

A few of us have been discussing this photo:

and the powerful message it sends.

Recently I returned to work after our Boston trip, and as you all may have heard me say in the past, I live in a RIGHT WING town. I work with about 60% Repugs, and 40% Dems. The ratio in the town is even less in favor of Dems, but this is the health care field, where you need to be a little more altruistic, humanitarian, generous, and liberal. Taking care of the sick, dying, disadvantaged and sometimes drug addicted and HIV positive is not a job for an uppity, holier-than thou-neocon. Many of the Repub nurses I work with, I often wonder why the hell they even took the job. But I digress...

The people in this town are not the upper-crust fiscally conservative "old party" Republicans whom you might find a few of in Massachusetts or Connecticut. They are hateful. Bigoted. Ignorant. Uneducated. Socially unskilled. Warmongering. Mean.

I'm sorry if this upsets anyone, and it probably should, but we had a cross burning on the front lawn of an African American family's home a year or two ago. The Aryan Nation recruits here. We had a homosexual couple murdered in their home by a white supremacist group a few years back. Everyone has guns, everyone's a gun nut.

So yeah...our Bush Supporters are not exactly "moderates." They are pure evil.

Every one of my co-workers, Dem and Pub alike KNOW how much I love John Kerry. Most of the Pubs accept it with little to no resistance. A few give offer some good natured teasing about it. Some don't mention it much at all.

All know NOT to give me any shit about it.

They are painfully aware that my love for John Kerry and my knowledge about all things Kerry is countless times deeper and more profound than any passion for policy or any politician they may have. I think this frightens them a little. Last year while they were all giving me pre-election shit about Kerry, I asked them what sort of volunteer grass roots efforts they were doing to support their candidate. None of them were doing a damn thing. They didn't even know where their local Republican office was. I told them of the extent of my activism and and involvement, my history with Kerry, his twenty year stint as my home state Senator, and all the research I'd done on him, and asked if they really wanted to get into a debate.

They pretty much shut up permanently.

For a staunch bunch of Bushies, they don't know jack shit about him, or politics.

After the the re-selection of Shrub, they treated me with kid gloves, and were amazingly decent about it.

Life went on.

As the year progressed, a few expressed amazement at my continued level of dedication, and how diligently I still supported Kerry and followed his activities in the senate. Many of them no longer paid a lick of attention to Shrub, or talked about him at all.

When I started talking about the Boston trip, a lot of the Pubs were a little skeptical, but also cautiously excited. I think they all wondered if it was possible I'd actually meet him. Many of them asked several times before the trip "When do you leave for Boston? How did you manage to get involved in an event like this?"

A couple of days after I got back, I returned to work, and pulled up this picture to show some of my Dem co-workers who were really supportive of my Kerry love.

They all stopped dead in their tracks, and stared. A collective intake of breath was heard, and suddenly all the questions and exclamations started flying out. "You really did it!" "What was he like?" "Were you nervous?" I suddenly noticed the din seemed a lot louder than what just a few people could produce...

I turned around and the whole department was gathered behind me, gaping, gasping, and slack jawed, They had these really exuberant expressions, pink shiny cheeks, glistening eyes, and were all just laughing heartily, and patting me on the back.

Republicans and all.

Then, as fate would have it, my biggest critic, Tim - Republican, conservative, Bush supporter, gun-toter, anti-choice, pro-war, right-wing as all get out - Tim, who had teased me for weeks preceding the party "I'm sooooo thrilled about your little party, soooo sorry I can't be there" strolled in in his street clothes to pick up his paycheck. He said, sarcastically, "So how was JOHN?"

I waved him over, and pointed to my screen, and said "Funny you should stroll in now... Get an eye full of this."

He looked at the screen, and his jaw unhinged like a snake about to eat a whole chicken. He leaned forward and craned his neck as far as he could gaping at the photo. And froze. And stared. He then got this huge smile on his face, and finally caught his breath, and said "OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD. OH HOLY SHIT!" He too, had that flushed look, like he was just SO EXCITED. He let out a hearty belly laugh and looked at me with total admiration and said, "I am really genuinely impressed. I admit it. I never thought you'd pull this off. My God." He shook his head and just kept looking at me like I'd laid a golden egg or something. After answering a barrage of questions about John AND Teresa from the whole staff (all respectful) I went back to work. (Or tried. All I could think about was how much I wished I was back in Boston where I might see the Kerry's again.)

The next night Tim and I worked together. He immediately asked me if I had more pictures. I showed him one or two more from the party, and though I kept the pub pics under wraps, I told him we all went out and had a beer with John, that Teresa had been kind enough to host. He freaked out all over again. "YOU HAD A BEER WITH HIM?!?" He wanted to know what kind of clothes he wore in a pub, as he could only picture him in a suit. He kind of trailed me the whole night asking stuff like "Is he nice?" "Does he joke around?" "Did he mention if he liked sports or anything?" "What teams does he like?" "Is he really THAT tall?" After a while, he admitted. "He's probably a cool guy."

I nearly shit my pants hearing him say that, but I seized the opportunity. I said "You know Tim, I realize that you probably have a lot of negative misconceptions about him because of what you see on Fox news. I have seen Fox news, and I have met John Kerry in person, and spent a good amount of time talking to him in person. I can honestly tell you that you cannot trust what the news tells you. I know for sure now, from personal experience. Kerry is nothing like the way he was portrayed in the media. I can guarantee, that if you met him, and had a beer with him, and your favorite channel ESPN was on, and you guys got to talking about sports, you would like him."

He sort of shrugged and looked at the ground and said - "Oh, yeah, well...I mean I probably would."

I then reminded him to be really careful about letting himself get caught up in letting the media make decisions for him, and to remember that things aren't always as they seem in the news. He said..."That's probably true."

Now, I don't expect that he's going to run out and change his affiliation to Democrat tomorrow, and become a die-hard Kerry worshiper, but this DOES scratch the surface. This does plant a seed.

Which brings me back to the Bush supporter shaking Kerry's hand picture. I believe it is REALLY hard to keep hating someone from afar if they get close to you and give you reason not to.

The folks in rural areas, in red states who DID vote for Bush likely want a better future and a Stronger America the same as we do. Yes, a few are hateful and unreachable, but most are not. They are ill-informed.

I believe it is IMPERATIVE for Kerry, if he runs in '08 to spend a lot of time in the red states, in rural areas, doing town hall meetings, front porch meetings, pot luck dinners at grange halls, VFW halls. A LOT OF THEM. Of course the rallies in big cities are great, but most of the people attending those know who they are going to vote for. They just want to go see John Kerry. Instead of JUST campaigning in swing states, which IS important, he needs to go to the smaller communities in the south, midwest, and rocky mountain states, and be brave and sit down with his critics, and TALK TO THEM. Show them, "I am not the man you see on FOX NEWS. Come meet me. Air your grudges. Let's talk. I'll cook a spaghetti supper - come on out. If you don't like my politics, at least come for the food and we'll start there." It sounds hokey, but hokey WORKS. I guarantee nobody like George Bush is going to do that. People love having a strong sense of community, and enjoy these sorts of events. Imagine the effect reaching out like this, in these areas, could have? Kerry himself could "be the media" by giving the people in these isolated, conservative communities a reason to get up off their sofas, away from the TV , and out of the house to see up close and personal, an alternative view of the man. I think that even if they are wary, most of the people in these tiny towns would show up, just to be part of something interesting and exciting. It's not often that prominent politicians known 'round the world show up in Soddy Daisy, Tennessee. Just the curiosity alone would draw people out. Maybe they'd be flattered he came to see them. Maybe they'd like a chance to be heard. Maybe they'd respond if Kerry said, I'd like to meet you, and let you judge for yourselves the strength of my character, my ability to lead."

Maybe they'd like free spaghetti! Or chili and cornbread. Or gumbo.

He needs to take them out for beers, and let them take a lot of pictures...that they can then take to the mill, the farm, the factory, etc...and show around. And plant seeds. Like I did here. Like I do everyday. One person at a time. Last year, I convinced eight people to either switch sides, or register for the first time and vote for Kerry. All still support him. All voted the Governator down last month.

I have a strong feeling about this. And a firm trust in the ability to win hearts and minds with honest to goodness human contact.