In The Bourne Identity, Matt Damon's character has amnesia, and to his bewilderment, also has a gun, fake passports, a Swiss bank account, and amazing marital arts skills. He travels from country to country with his beautiful co-star in search of his new identity. Last Tuesday morning, to my bewilderment, I managed to pack up diapers, bottles, a little sun hat and an extra onesie to travel with my beautiful 9 week old son to Brooklyn to campaign for a terrific grassroots candidate, Josh Skaller. I call my little adventure The Baby Bjorn Identity.
(I'm not sure how to embed the pictures here, but if you click on the links, you see them at my Flickr account.)
For those of you who don't know what a Baby Bjorn is, I will explain. (I assume, based on "Demographic Tuesday," that many or most Kossacks do not have kids.) It is essentially a baby carrier, comprised of some straps like a backpack which connect to a padded part that holds the baby against you, kind of like a pocket. It allows an adult to carry a baby and have their hands and arms free - for passing out flyers:
Photo: At the subway stairs
Photo: Next to the turnstiles
We got a good response! Several people already knew Josh, saw his picture in the neighborhood, or had a volunteer canvasser knock on their door.
My son Quintus arrived about 3 1/2 weeks early on June 25th (the day that Michael Jackson died). When I was pregnant, my husband and I were mentally preparing for the reality that this baby would change the nature of our political activism. I love flyering and canvassing, but I knew it would be difficult or impossible with an infant. And so my recent political activism has been limited to what I can do on the computer and the phone in between breastfeeding, diaper changing, etc. (And on the blackberry while breastfeeding, but that is not ideal.)
I realize the big benefit of blogs like Daily Kos is to use the power of the internet to provide in depth detail and analysis of politics and policies. And I have done that. But this time, I wanted to post something about the personal side of politics, as well as highlight a great candidate, Josh Skaller! (Please volunteer, or tell your NYC friends to volunteer.) The irony of being a political activist and having kids or another life changing event is that these events renew your passion for making the world a better place, but at the same time make it less possible to participate in grassroots activities.
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The candidate, progressive Democrat Josh Skaller understands my predicament well. In fact, he has become a good friend since we met in 2004, (being fellow Deaniacs), and although he is quite skilled at using his Jewish guilt to wear down my cold WASPy stubbornness, Josh has been completely understanding of my lack of ability to campaign for him. Josh and his wife Kelly have a 9 year old son and had a baby girl just 2 weeks ago. (The primary is on September 15! Great timing, you two!) There's a terrific video at this link where you can learn more about why Josh is running for city council and his vision for New York City. (BTW, Josh has been endorsed by DFA and Howard Dean, who also campaigned for him at a Brooklyn subway.) Meanwhile, here's a picture of Josh and me, taken by a friendly commuter/voter:
Photo: Josh, Tracey & Quintus in the Bjorn
Campaigning to commuters: To campaign at an NYC subway stop in the morning, one must get to the local in-district neighborhood when commuters start leaving for work (typically headed toward Manhattan), at about 7 or 7:30am. So baby Q and I had to leave our apartment in Manhattan at 6:30 to arrive in Brooklyn in time to catch the incoming commuters. We handed out flyers with Josh until about 9am when the foot traffic died down. It's always best for the candidate to have someone with them. Josh had conversations with interested voters, while I tried to get the word out to as many people as possible. "This is Josh Skaller, Democrat for City Council! The primary is September 15th! Here's some reading material for the train! A candidate for us, not the real estate developers!" I basically yelled the same thing over and over. And from the Baby Bjorn? Not a peep. Quintus slept through the whole thing, including all the "cute baby" compliments he received. I did a lot of grassroots activism when I was pregnant, so I guess he's not surprised that he's a Red Diaper Baby.
After rush hour, Josh and I went to a local diner to discuss the campaign and briefly catch up on our families before he had to rush off to his next campaign event. (Did I mention the primary is September 15? Please sign up to volunteer!) Those of you with kids have experienced the difficulty of actually eating when you take them to a restaurant. So I leave y'all with this. I just had to capture this moment of Josh holding Quintus, for the purpose of letting me eat my sunny-side up fried eggs while they were still warm: sign up to volunteer!
Photo: Josh holding Q at the diner