Along with the many fantastic memories I have of the speakers, programs, parties and social encounters with fellow Kossacks at YearlyKos last June in Las Vegas, one tiny non-convention vignette has repeatedly come to my mind during this election season. It occurred while waiting in line for the $9.99 Prime Rib Dinner at the Circus-Circus across the street (and yes, I'm embarrassed to admit that).
It's a bit too long to fit on this side, so I hope you'll join me on the flip...
In front of me in the line was an older couple, 60-ish I'd say, and as the hostess approached them, the man leaned slightly forward and said "Is the $9.99 Prime Rib Dinner still available?"
A simple question, sure...but you should have seen and heard the way he asked it. His voice was filled with such yearning mingled with fear, and his body had the attitude of a whipped dog being teased with a meaty bone. Everything in his voice and attitude betrayed his expectation that it was too good to be true, that there was some trick, that he and his wife were going to be deprived of this small pleasure. When the hostess said "It Shore Is!" they began to beam and their bodies straightened up
Am I reading too much into his voice and posture? I don't think so. Because at that moment it became so clear to me that Las Vegas was filled with people like this couple, people who came to Las Vegas just so they could feel important, respected, prosperous...so they could feel hopeful.
Las Vegas is successful because it offers a balm to that sense of unease that so many people are carrying around in this country. In Las Vegas, they can afford to go out for Prime Rib Dinners, they can see the Wonders of the World, they can be treated like VIPs with attractive men and women smiling at them and bringing them drinks on the house. In Las Vegas, they believe that if they just apply themselves a little more, they can have a shot at blessed financial security. Las Vegas gives them the illusion that they can have all this, even while their experiences back home make their guts churn with the anxiety of falling further behind financially and being treated with ever less respect by their government, their jobs, their schools and their medical providers.
That anxiety and disillusionment is palpable. If Las Vegas can tap into that to lure millions to the desert with illusion and fantasy, can't we also tap into it to lure millions to the polls? If they can be convinced to take a chance on a slot machine, can't they be convinced to take a chance on a Democrat?
People want to feel hope. They want to feel that they are listened to. They want to feel respected enough to be spoken to with honesty. They want to feel secure. And in the end, they want it to be real, not just phoniness and lies. Our candidates across the country have so much to offer, so much that so many are ready to embrace, if only they could be convinced that it is real.
That's why over this next week, every GOTV phone call, letter, elevator conversation, email, lawn sign and bumper sticker are so important. Our passion can be what makes them take a chance and believe.