So I was in Provincetown, MA, this weekend. I had a real fun time, as did most there, I suspect. One thing happened, though, that got me a bit bummed.
Now, the 7-8 o'clock hour tends to be rather festive. And, since the crowd at that point is largely gay and gay-friendly, I do mean "festive" for real. People are happy and laughing and generally having a very good time.
During this time, a few friends and I are walking near the center of town, passing by a couple of handsome guys handing out "Vote Obama" stickers.
Now, you can see from my past entries, I've had problems with the excesses taking by some Obama supporters, and by some of the recent swings to the rightward moves, but I'm all in now and happily took a couple of stickers.
As he took a couple of stickers, one of my friends said, and I can quote, "well, he wasn't my choice, but he's the nominee, so sure!" and was hoping to get a sticker or two.
Now, you only have me to tell you this so believe it or don't: This was said in as friendly a way as I could imagine. It was a real reconciliation gesture for him.
Which is why the response from the Obama volunteer was so surprising:
"Well, you can vote for McCain then."
Hmmm... cue the record-scratch and shut off the music. Although it was just a heartbeat and all was normal again.
Until, apparently the volunteer told his partner the same thing.
Cutting off any assumptions you might have, I'll reiterate: the conversation had not been cranky, nor catty, nor bitchy in any way. I mean, we were all still wiping tears of laughter from our eyes when we met the volunteers.
Knowing how my friend felt and yet seeing the good way this had been said, in fact, I almost felt a warm alcohol-infused glow that the knitting together of the frayed edges of the Democratic party was working forward. It was like he said, "ok, I had my preferences but screw it it's onwards and on to the Presidency!"
It wasn't a "Oooh, I'll hold my nose" moment.
I can't stress enough how un-confrontational this had been.
I mean, of course, my approach is often just don't bring up the last lingering issues when it's all working itself out. But most people take time to work out the kinks. If you're handing out pamphlets for someone, you're going to run into people who may not be totally in bed with the candidate but are pretty willing to give their support.
The worst thing you, as a representative of the candidate, can do is tell people, almost in a petulant way, to vote for the other guy.
It's so gods-damn important - more so, considering the bumpy period now - to treat these final moments of reconciliation with care and respect.
It really took what should have been a "Thank you for working to pull us together" moment and turned it into a somewhat sad event.
Basically, my friends just wrote the volunteer off as a complete a-hole and we just walked on by.
He may have been a dickhead, sure.
But, what kind of boneheaded behavior is that right now?
You'd think the Obama campaign would be training their volunteers about this.
Especially if you're actually representing the Obama campaign.
Or is that just wishful thinking on my part?