York County had their Democratic Convention last night. It was fairly crowded and raucous. Three candidates for Governor, Noble, Smith and Willis; one for Secretary of State, Whittenburg; and three for CD-5, me, Parnell, and a newcomer Mark Ali (seems like a nice guy. he is an immigrant from South America, worried about his kids in school, wages, etc.)
We had two minutes to speak...talked about my mom being 6 months pregnant with me when my dad died of a heart attack (he loved those Lucky Strikes...L.S.M.F.T.). The doctor told my mom that if she thought having 3 children was too much, that he could take care of it for her on the sly. (this was in ‘65, way before Roe). She told me later that since she had the power to make that decision (she discussed it with my dad before he died and they agreed to have me), that when times got tough, she remembered that it was her decision and that helped her get through. (This is similar to what I have read about people in “right to die” states...90-something % of them never take the lethal cocktail of drugs to end their own lives...but knowing that they have the option helps them bear the pain...knowing that they have control over their lives in some small way)
Tried out the campaign slogan that a clown classmate of mine came up with: Aim High, Vote Lough! It seemed to work pretty well, got some laughs.
Of course, I couldn’t run in Colorado because they’d chant “Aim High...” and play guitar for 4 hours...Hahaha!
Lots of people were shocked that I was a real clown in the circus...that got some big laughs...one very nice lady (all the candidates for Governor were kowtowing to her) laughed out loud and got me to put my contact info in her phone, so that was cool.
Lots of questions about the little car, the clown car...I said we’d save a lot of taxpayer money by carpooling to the House with 20 members of Congress in one Prius!
Got to explain to John King, state rep, that Single Payer also usually goes along with Universal Voter Registration, it’s a one-stop-shop to be efficient and save taxpayer money...I guess lots of people don’t know that...I think the Republicans might be afraid of that, but my question would be: Don’t you believe in a free market? Universal Voter Registration is the epitome of the free market. If you’ve ever bought a gallon of gas, or for that matter, anything in any store, you’ve paid taxes, you are a taxpayer. This whole notion of “people who pay no taxes” is such a crock.
We agreed voting is an unalienable right...something you automatically have, that only if you break the law, etc. is taken away from you.
All in all, it was pretty successful. The aunt of the Ringmaster when I was on the Red Unit, Jonathan Lee Iverson, was in the crowd! I had no idea until after! She called me over and told me and then texted Jonathan! What fun!
FIN