A year like no other.
Wed Feb 20, 2008 at 06:34:26 AM PDT
I have been voting, volunteering, and electioneering for about two decades. I remember my first Presidential vote back in 1984 for Walter Mondale. My best friend and I walked across campus and both did our civic duty and when we talked about it on the way back to the dorm, he said he had voted for Reagan.
This guy is still my best friend twenty years later and he is still a perfect model of how politics and peoples attitudes perplex me.
Since that time I have went through periods where I was too self-involved and busy to vote (Dukakis v. Bush I) - although these were VERY short lapses - to being hugely involved and spending massive amounts of time pounding the streets for a candidate (Tsongas, Clinton, Kerry). I even found time to work on local issues like preservation of the central Texas aquifer, just west of Austin. It has all been good.
But to me, this has been a year/season unlike any other for a few special reasons. Firstly, Barack Obama is unlike any major Presidential candidate I have ever had the pleasure to witness. I wasn't yet born when Kennedy ran. I've heard about that feeling of being called to a greater purpose that people talk about in reference to JFK. I admit to being inspired - not blinded or fawning toward - just moved and inspired by, Barack Obama. I live in Iowa and have been lucky enough to meet Biden, Dodd, Edwards, Clinton, Richardson, and Obama. I really felt a responsibility and a privelege to be a part of the winnowing process we enjoy in this state.
I am also a new teacher, and fall of '07 was my first extended time lesson planning in the classroom. I teach American Government and it was wonderful seeing the electoral process unfold through the eyes of my students. They were overwhelmingly supportive of Obama.
My fourteen year-old daughter takes after her Dad, and she is a bit of a political junkie. I was able to enjoy campaign events with her in tow; listening to the stump speeches and shaking hands. She went from being proud and uplifted by Hillary Clinton, to having a crush on John Edwards, to being a believer in the message of Senator Obama.
The revelation I had was that the candidates were all excellent - Senators Dodd and Biden were so impressive, Governor Richardson was personable and well-rounded (he called me on my cell phone in person and I saved the message for over a month!), and Edwards seemed like he was on the mission of a lifetime. But I wanted to choose my candidate not just for myself, but for those who will steward this country and planet when I am dust. Barack seems to me to be the candidate for today AND tomorrow.
And the final piece in this mosaic is today my politically vocal, yet uninvolved Mom, is right now on her way to Reunion Arena in Dallas to go see Senator Obama. The person who I could talk politics with all of these years; the person I sometimes chided because she didn't do more; the person who I love and respect so much is giddy with anticipation to see the man I have come to admire and support.
What a year!
As a proud Dem who lived in the Congressional districts of Dick Armey, Newt Gingrich, and Bob Barr in successive years, I am truly savoring this experience.
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