As the former president of a Democratic Club in suburban Kansas City, I thought I would share an analogy that I have been using for the last few years to keep our membership enthused.
As a youngster, I did a lot of day labor and construction type work. I always loved the times when I got to run a jackhammer. Many years later, it occurred to me that political activism is a lot like running a jackhammer. Here's why:
Say you need to take out some old busted up pavement. Well, that concrete was poured decades ago, and even though it has issues, it's still hard as hell. So you set the jackhammer bit on the pavement and fire that bad boy up.
Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Crap, nothing, not even a crack.
Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Crap, still nothing, not even a crack. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata.Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata! Finally, a tiny hairline crack.
The crack widens, about pencil width. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata.Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Crap, it's hot out here, damn, I just wanna quit and go home. Can't, got mouths to feed, people to take care of. You put the bit in the crack and squeeze the hand grip. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata.Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata.
The crack gets bigger and the bit sinks deeper into the concrete! Yay! Move the bit to a different place on the crack.
Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatata! and the entire section of paving begins to buckle. Then all of a sudden, boom! and that chunk of concrete is split in two. Then you do it over and over again, making each remaining piece smaller and smaller. Your muscles are tired, your hands are buzzing, but all that work is paying off big time. No way are you going to stop now!
So here's the analogy part: We Democratic activists are running the jackhammer, the GOP is the concrete, and that damn crack is getting wider and wider. We are working now, we will work through the 4th, and we will keep on working until the Republican party is nothing but a pile of concrete dust.
And that's the jackhammer analogy. Feel free to use it.