Like the rest of you, I get called all the time, from all over the country, on behalf of various campaigns asking for money. I've given the max already to Barack Obama, which may be why I get so many calls. Today I got one that knocked my socks off.
"Hello," the person said. "This is Ethan Berkowitz calling from Alaska, and I'd like to talk to you about my campaign for Congress." And, by golly, it was. To my surprised response, he said "I make all my own fundraising calls." Wow.
So we talked for what must have been fifteen minutes. To my frequent comment that I didn't want to take his precious time, he kept saying it was no problem. We covered a lot, and I had a chance to vent some of my concerns, about the weakness of all of Congress on addressing the budget, about energy issues, about Sarah Palin. The need both to address taxes and entitlements, and how impossible it is in the current political climate. Drilling. In response he was clear, smart, and knowledgeable. It was the most fun I've had on a phone solicitation, ever. Fact is, whereas I've given plenty of money to various political causes and politicians, I hate getting phone calls and much prefer online. I hang up early, more often than not. But this was different. And, of course, it worked. I'm kicking in. One weird thing: after the call I tried to go to his website, and it seems not to be working. Twenty four hours later, it still isn't.
He has the pleasure of running against Don Young, and is, so far, ahead in the polls. He listened to me, and responded well; I listened to him, and responded too. He even took down the address of my website.
How I'd love to get a call like that from other candidates! My point? Just that it was a great opportunity to speak to someone who has a good chance of becoming a Congressman. If democracy were really like that, it might even work. Meanwhile, I'm keeping off the phone in case Barack calls.