Off the Political Wagon - DONALD RAY POLLOCK

[BridgeTheGap]

Op-Ed - NY Times
MY city, population 22,000, sits on the northern edge of Appalachia and is the only big town in Ross County. Because of the paper mill, a Kenworth truck plant, the V.A. hospital and two prisons, we’re not nearly as poor as some of the counties that surround us. We do have all the requirements for hillbilly culture: trailers, coon hunters, meth labs, mammoth pickups, illiteracy and OxyContin overdoses, but we also have good schools and manicured subdivisions and decent, hard-working people. Oh, and churches galore.

I realize it sounds like a weird mix, but with the Wal-Mart Supercenter and the Sam’s Club and the Kmart Superstore and all the fast food joints, Chillicothe looks pretty much like every other small city in America. For a little contrast, there’s the Easy Rider Rodeo on Labor Day weekend and a blond woman who walks around downtown carrying a cardboard sign reading, “You are living on Indian land.” I love this place.

In past elections, Republicans have held an edge, and President Bush drew a huge crowd when he swooped through here in 2004. With three other men, I protested the Iraq war in a cornfield outside the fairgrounds where he was speaking and got cussed more than any other time since I quit drinking. Still, even with all the people heckling me that day, I thought for sure that he would lose the election. When John Kerry was defeated, I sank into a depression that nearly ruined me. By the spring of 2005, I was popping Lexapro and gorging on “C.S.I.” reruns and Dairy Queen Blizzards. When I could no longer button my jeans, I tossed the pill bottle in the trash and swore off politics forever.

Well, until now; call it a relapse. Even many Republicans seem sick of the current administration, and I’ve begun to get my hopes up, reneging on my vow never to think about candidates or issues again. At the same time, with many people predicting that Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee, I’ve been more than a little worried. I’m perfectly fine with a woman in the White House, but what about the average voter in Ohio?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/opinion/09pollock.html