How I became Little Clarkie

[LittleClarkie]

I was just surfing around the old "Republicans for Kerry" yahoo group, looking for my old posts, when I happened upon my very first one. I hadn't found y'all yet. I still had my political training wheels on. I remember thinking how neat it was that a bunch of Republicans were putting their country over their party, so I hopped on in, despite my Democrat-ness, like that "Gorilla in the Mist" lady. (Can't spell her last name, and I don't want to make it sound like she does Broadway or something... Fose... Fosse?... fuck it.)

Anyway. This post is where I got dubbed "Little Clarkie". They liked that designation at the top.

Just thought I'd share this little blast from the past.

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"I'm just a little Clarkie for Kerry in the swing state of Wisconsin,
poking my nose in. Can a Dem join the fun if she promises to behave
herself and be civil?

I also wanted to pop in and see if any of you had read "The New War:
The Web of Crime That Threatens America's Security"
by John Kerry? What did you think of it? I've just glanced at it so
far, but I've been impressed by what I've read so far. I get the
impression that Kerry is a knowledgeable, thinking person. His
problem seems to be that he has trouble distilling all that he knows
into nice little sound bites. Thank God for Edwards.

I've also checked "Tour of Duty" and "A Call to Service: My Vision
for a Better America" out of my local library. I'm still checking out
the Chosen One, you see. So far I've found nothing that's changing my
mind.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I have my own Bush/Kerry story to
share. I've been volunteering down at Kerry HQ, the first time I've
ever done such a thing for any candidate. It's not the prettiest
thing you've ever seen. Dingy, home-made signs everywhere, rummage
sale-quality furniture, and staff that have to hand out bumper
stickers as if they were gold.

The Republican headquarters, on the other hand, is very nice. Clean,
plenty of buttons, t-shirt, bumper stickers, etc., nice old people
who didn't yell at me and my Kerry button. God, it wasn't easy
walking in there with that button on, but dagnabit, I refuse to take
it off any more. I used to, since I live in a mostly Republican area,
and was afraid of offending. But if I hadn't worn it to church, I
wouldn't have discovered the Conservative Republican for Kerry there
who now wants me to get him a yard sign. Those are nigh impossible to
get. Apparently Kerry doesn't believe in them.

But I digress.

At the Wisconsin State Fair this week, in the main expo building,
there are 2 Bush booths. Well stocked they are, just like the HQ. And
there's the Democratic booth, half the size of one Bush booth. An
over-abundance of Feingold stickers, a dearth of Kerry ones. I
couldn't take it. I drove the 10 miles to the Kerry HQ to see if I
could finagle some supplies. I found them putting together a care
package and wondering how they would get it down there. Enter me.

Back I go to the State Fair, where several happy folks get a few
buttons. The Veteran for Kerry buttons are in especially short
supply, and pretty good demand. So much for veterans hating Kerry.

But just today I got an email from HQ saying that the Dem booth has
been told they are not allowed to give out stickers, as they may get
plastered to the newly built expo walls. Fine, we say, we'll sell
them. Not allowed to do that either. "But the Bush people are handing
out stickers like fiends, why aren't you stopping them?," we ask. So
far, no answer. The volunteers have been asked to hand out supplies
outside the expo and on the street by State Fair next to a truck with
Kerry signs all over it. I hope we have enough.

Why is the Kerry campaign so undersupplied!!??

Geez. I just scrolled up. I'd better stop here.

Anyway, howdy!

Erica (The demublican. Or is that republicrat? I can never remember)"

[LittleClarkie]

1. Oh geez, found another one

Like a little campaign chronicle. What do you guys think. Can I get away with these in GD? This one was called: Kerry Fair Report, part deux

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I went back to the State Fair today, to see how the Democrat
Party booth was doing and to see if I could help. It was Veteran
Day at the Wisconsin State Fair, and the booth was full of
Veterans for Kerry. I'm happy to say that this time the Democrat
booth was quite stocked with buttons and bumper stickers, both
Kerry/Edwards and Veterans for Kerry. I bought $10 worth at 50
cents a piece. I wanted a t-shirt too, intending to add "Family of"
to the Veterans for John Kerry slogan, but they were in relatively
short supply, so I didn't press the issue. They should go to actual
veterans.

It was interesting to see the Vets for Kerry by the other veterans
booths in the middle of the fair. They hadn't been invited to set up
a booth, so they were congregated right by one of the booths that
had a ton and a half of anti-Kerry literature, mostly relating to his
anti-war stance and his work in normalizing US/Vietnam
relations. They were an enthusiastic and friendly bunch, happily
shaking my offered hand and talking about what Kerry had done
to save lives with his efforts to end the war sooner. Some were
older, some were clean cut, a couple others where quite the
psychedelic relics in action.

I also wandered over to the Republican booth, which was
stocked to the gills with all manner of yard signs, t-shirts, buttons
and the like. I picked out a "No Flip/Flops in the White House"
button and put it next to my Kerry one. Alittle later on, I wandered
over again to see if the booth had any issue papers on Bush. No,
not really. Just one brochure, which I took. The Kerry booth at
least excelled in that regard. They had literature on Kerry's
stance on veteran issues, health care, the economy and such.

On this second visit, the person manning the booth noticed my
buttons. "Hey wait a minute! You've got a Kerry button and a
flip/flop button! What are you doing, fence-sitting?" I commented
that Kerry was not the flip/flopper I was referring to. I wish I would
have had my list of Bush flip/flops to rattle off, but I didn't, so I left
it at that. I won't be doing that again until I'm more prepared to
back it up. Even so, I loved the reaction I got. Definitely an
attention getter, and using their own button, too. Hee hee!

In other news, anyone else feel like they're going to have an ulcer
by November? I do. I'm not used to this stuff. I'd better pace
myself, emotion-wise, or I'm never gonna make it.

Little Clarkie, reporting for duty

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[LittleClarkie]

2. State of the Pub address

(Erica's adventures in Campaign land continue -- August 2004)

Just for a bit of background, my local pub is Bush Country. I was
once told, when it became clear which side of the fence I was on,
to "get out of my bar." Another likes to point at me, tell me what
liberals like me believe, and then argue against that stance. Jokes
on him, though. If he'd ever ask, he'd find out I'm a moderate. I
only look liberal in comparison.

Even so, in this conservative suburban town, my local pub is the best
place to go to find people my age with whom I can have relatively
intelligent conversations. It is the proverbial "Cheers" pub, the
place where everyone knows your name. We even have a "Norm," except
his name is Chip.

The hobby of most of the regulars is Trivial Pursuit, and other
trivia games. These are in general not stupid people.

Even so, it was with some trepidation that I started wearing my Kerry
button there. In self-defense, I've been memorizing Bush's flip-flops
so that I might have some ammo ready.

You can only imagine my surprise when, this Tuesday, I found out that
Bush's appeal there wasn't quite as strong as I'd thought.

I never expected to hear "Bush is an idiot" followed by "And Cheney's
worse!" come out of anyone's mouth at my local pub. And yet that's
what happened on Tuesday. Not to mention that for the first time
someone actually listened to me talk about Bush's presidential
shortcomings without interrupting.

Several of the regulars were talking about the troop redeployment,
you see. So I piped in with my concern about a South Korean pullout
at such a critical time. To my surprise, got a few nods of approval.
Several had only heard about the plans for Germany and some vague
mutterings about Asia. The Korean deployment was news to them. I have
noticed since then that alot of the radio commentators are focusing
on mainly the Germany deployment as if that were the most important
part of the plan. It is at the very least the most popular.

And when I mentioned Bush's flip-flop on same sex marriages, the
person who'd only ever labeled me a liberal looked shocked and
said "I did not know that." At the very least, I think he may have
realized he wasn't as informed as he should be.

I'll probably never turn any of them into Kerry fans. One in
particular can't forgive the senator for his testimony and the medal-
throwing ceremony in 1971. And there's probably no talking to someone
who would wear an "If Democrats were smart, they'd be REPUBLICANS" t-
shirt in public. But if I can at least get some people to think
outside their usual model of the world, I'll have done some good.

Little Clarkie, reporting for duty


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And one about an email to my local DJ for dissing Max Cleland

I just sent an email to my local DJ

"This is what I wrote:

I'm upset with you Bob. I have been for a while, ever since you
started singing "B-Double-E-Double-R-U-N" at the mention of Max
Cleland's name as if he were some redneck instead of a veteran who
served our country.

We are supposed to support our troops. That should transend politics.
We support the troop in Iraq. And we should support the people who
fought for us in year's past, Democrat or Republican.

Neither of us know what it's like in Iraq. But neither do we know
what it was like in Vietnam.

I like you, and I like Brian. You've made me laugh through tough
times. But I get so mad when I think of what you said during the
Democratic National Convention when Mr. Cleland's name was mentioned
that I start crying. Please tell me you understand what I'm getting
at. I hope you do. I don't mean to make you feel bad. But that's just
how I see it. I'm the daughter of a vet, so maybe that's why it hurt
so much.

Max Cleland will be in Cutler Park at 321 Wisconsin Avenue in
downtown Waukesha on Saturday August 21st at 2:30 pm. That fact alone
made me feel like writing to you. I wasn't going to, though I had
thought about it. But that reminder brought up the hurt feelings
again.

Please, let's leave the veterans out of the political rhetoric, on
both sides. They served, we didn't. Let's just leave it at that. Okay?

Thanks for listening, if you made it this far.

Erica

What do you think? I kept having to edit the thing to tone it down. I
almost asked him if he'd like to go and sing his song in Max
Cleland's face. But in the end I decided to be more civil than that."

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Sigh. So young. So innocent. Me heart hadn't been ripped out and put in sideways yet.