A political newbie's hard lesson learned

[politicasista]

I never really considered myself a political junkie, even though I voted in a high school mock election when Bill Clinton ran and won in 1992. I was excited then that he won, but I remembered the ugly side of his presidency. His treatment of Lani Guiner, ignoring genocide in Rwanda, losing control of Congress in 1994, and of course, Monica and impeachment.

I started following native son Al Gore when he won the nomination, but couldn't vote in the GE. I saw him and Lieberman one day up close at my college. Lieberman waved (believe it or not) in our direction while Gore looked the other way (students thought he was cooler than Gore. LOL!) I was so mad election night 2000 when, in the pouring rain, it was announced that Gore was going to concede, but held off until December after the SC stopped the Florida recount and selected the election to Bush.

Fast forward to 2004, like some, I was hoping that Gore would give it another run, but he bowed out, and now has found his calling as an advocate for global warming.

I didn't follow the primaries in 2003 (other than hearing the name of Howard Dean), but I was flipping channels watching super Tuesday and saw the "Dean Scream" and another celebration. And it was a man named John Kerry. I remember he was on Gore's short list of VP candidates, but he ended up picking Lieberman instead. Anyway, to make the long story short, I didn't know who Kerry was until the primaries made it to Tennessee. Finally, I had registered to vote, and my first vote was for Senator Kerry, and he ended up winning the primaries here by a comfortable margin.

By the time the 2004 DNC Convention came around, I read and heard a lot of criticism about how the campaign wasn't diverse enough, and others who were Anyone But Bush. (In hindsight, that did more harm than good and I feel it's the main reason why Bush is still in the WH). I enjoyed Barack Obama, Al Sharpton, and B. Clinton's "Send Me" speeches. Edwards' speech was ok, but when they showed the grand entrance of Kerry, it was so unique and presidential. Though people liked Tavis Smiley criticized him for leaving out civil rights lines from the likes of Fannie Lou Hamer, the speech was good. After that, I started watching the rallies, listening to the speeches, and lurking at the Kerry/Edwards blog/posting at the form.

We all know what happened when the Swifty Liars made their rounds, it made me (and still does now) angry to hear the urban media treat Kerry when they asked him about not fighting back and using Clinton as an example. Though the campaign made mistakes, I was hopeful that Kerry would still win the presidency. And the debates, just wow. Everyone I heard from was impressed (except from a women in the hair salon) how Kerry acted, looked, and sounded presidential.

On November 2, 2004, I arrived at the polling place around noon to cast my first GE vote for Kerry. I was feeling very hopeful after seeing him, Teresa, Vanessa, and Alex voting in Boston. The exit polls were looking good, but that night, something was very wrong. Then came Sour November (aka the Concession). I didn't like it, but I figure, Kerry didn't have much of a choice but to concede. He didn't have party support, and a weak DNC infrastructure. It was very sad, but he would continue to keep the good fight and help the Democrats take back Congress in 2006.

I didn't find DU until November 2004. I started hanging out in the election fraud forum, hoping that there was a smoking gun so that the election would be overturned (yes, I thought that) and that Kerry would be inaugurated in January 2005. I found the Kerry group in February 2005, a place of sanity where I could discuss Kerry related issues in a Kerry friendly environment, not to mention finding a support group of people that worked hard, voted for and supported the man without being attacked by people either bitter about their primary loss or the election. I was so tired of the bashing that I took refuge in this group. :)

On January 24, 2007, I have learned a hard lesson about politics. Like 2000 and 2004, we had good, honorable men who were viciously smeared and cheated out of the presidency. But today brings back those painful memories, and I feel I may have jinxed him the last week or so.

Like all of you, I was saddened that Kerry decided to bow out of the 08 presidency, but I don't blame him for not wanting to go the the meat grinder again. He did it for the sake for helping get our troops out of Iraq, putting his family and the needs of the country first above political ambitions. That's integrity right there.

Part of me wanted to see Kerry run again to not just say, "I told you so," but to let the people that didn't get to know him and Momma T in 04, know them again. The comments from 04 still make me angry and sad because if we had just STFU and voted, Kerry and Momma T would be in the WH. Like Fire, and other Kerrycrats, I wanted so badly to see the chronic Kerry haters, bashers, pundits, and other naysayers with eggs on their faces when they thought that Kerry was "finished" after the "botched" joke. This is so painful because it feels like Kerry was purposely set up, so that Hillary and others could run, and that Rove, the Clintonistas, 08 candidates, the lefty freepers, blogsphere, and pundits have won and Kerry has lost. Basically, it feels like the bad guys have won, and the good guys have lost. I know right will always win in the end and Kerry will get his, but it's not fair. It's painfully obvious that the 08 candidates are all about power and helping corporate interests rather than helping the little people.

As far as 08 goes, I don't know who I will support although I am leaning towards Gore (though he may not run), Clark, or Sharpton. If they don't make it that far, I may sit 08 out. I know there are plans to support the nominee, but I am not excited about any of the candidates. (Obama is still too green). Unlike many minorities, I will not support Hillary because of what she and other Dems did to JK and as a person that "grew up" during the Clinton years, we don't need anymore political dynasties.

The hardest lesson I have learned is that politics is cruel, dirty, vicious and unfair, but one thing Kerry has that the others don't have is integrity, integrity, integrity.

I haven't cried this much since the 04 concession and the death of my aunt a month ago, but I remain very hopeful that Kerry can continue to speak the truth and keep up the good fight in the Senate because we will need him more than ever. And I hope Momma T stays in the public eye. She is a cool lady and it's really sad that America will never know what kind a president he would have been and a genuine first lady she would have been.

Thanks to the Kerrycrats for the honest and civil discussions. Despite our sadness, I hope the group can stay together and Kerry on the good fight.

Peace

[beachmom]

1. Thank you for your story, Politcasista. I didn't sleep well last night

as I was thinking like you -- why do the bad guys always win? It is actually a question pondered throughout human history. Sometimes there is no good answer, and civilizations decline because they chose unwisely. But we can be heartened that Kerry is in the Senate with quite a bit of seniority, and I am hoping that his fellow senators will listen to him, because he is very wise, and has always been wise. Perhaps without the "oh, he's just running for president" talk, they'll come to listen to his ideas of what to do about Iraq.

[wisteria]

2. You are not alone in your feelings.

It would be nice for just once that the good guy wins. My daughter turned 18 after the 2004 election but that did not stop her from being proud to support him. She took a lot of harassment from others at school who supported Bush. (we live in a very Republican area). She supports him still, and is just devastated over the events that have been playing out. Her short time involvement in politics have been unhappy ones for her. She fights a good fight only to lose in the end. She cried all night as well as myself. I don't know what to tell her, I raised her to believe if you work hard enough at something and you really want it,you will eventual get it. Bur, loss, after loss, after loss, is too much for any young girl to take. Her heart breaks every time and she becomes a little more cynical- not unlike me. I harbor great resentment right now against our party and the Clinton's, for no one will every convince me otherwise, that they had nothing to do with all of this.
My family has been involved in politics for a long time. My father and uncle ran for offices in our state. My parents have been both Republicans and Democrats- changing parties with a election year promise of a certain level of support that didn't materialize after the election was won. They warned me that the fate of Senator Kerry would be no different than all the others they had watched and supported in the past. My mother specifically, told me, "you know, if they don't want you to run, they find a way to stop you". She said, don't get so involved, don't set yourself up for a heart ache. Well, guess what, I didn't listen.
Politics hasn't changed at all. That is the biggest disappointment for me.
You have to decide what you want to do yourself, what is best for you. As for me, I don't think much will be accomplished by trying to move the current party stature from the inside. I intend to say to hell with the party for now, hoping that this is the Clinton's last stand and work with groups for change out side the party. As for my daughter, she hasn't wanted to talk very much. But, if she is tired of the heartbreak, I don't blame her, she is to young to be as cynical as I am.

[TayTay]

6. Wisteria, no, please, don't do this to yourself or your daughter.

It would break my weak little heart. Tell your daughter that the bad guys win when the good guys give up. Tell her that because it is the truth.

It is far easier to be a conservative. They have the task of zealously guarding what already is. It is so much harder to be a progressive and to be for change. So very much harder. This is because the risk of the unknown, the idea of asking someone to take a step into territory that is unknown and unexplored is diffcult for most people to do. Eventually, they get there, but with fits and starts and a lot of bumps in the road.

There are people in American history who never gave up, even though the tasks at hand broke their hearts from time to time. Where would the rights of women, the promise of a more equal society in terms of race and the very ideals that we cherish of religious liberty and the right to a public education and so forth be, if the ones who fought those battles gave up because it was too hard to fight the system. Yes, it took years, in some cases it took lifetimes and the passing of a cause from one generation to the next to get it done, but, ahm, change happened. The bad guys lost, things changed because the good guys never gave up.

No one can promise you an easy path to any kind of victory. The ones who do promise you that are lying to you. But remember what you are doing and why you became interested in politics in the first place. You did so from your heart, because you can see a better way. It's right there, over that horizon. Yes, there are obstacles, big ones, ones big enough, at times, to break your heart. But the only way to get there, to achieve something, is to try and to not give up.

You know, I ask you to read again this speech that Sen. Kerry made at the Rosa Parks funeral. I know it's hard to do so, but do it and take some comfort. Because, my dear, that bus is coming round again. I intend to get on it. I know in my heart that you do too. I know that because you never would have come here if doing things for the greater good wasn't in your heart too. I suspect it's also in your daughter's heart.

“When I met Rosa Parks, I was overwhelmed by this graceful, small woman’s quiet strength and humility - her conviction in taking on the army of power that was deployed before her - her courage to dig in, knowing full well the power of the courthouse, the power of the sheriff’s badge, the power of the vigilante, the power of the establishment - knowing that on dark country roads or after a knock on the door in the middle of the night, people still disappeared and died almost anonymous deaths except for those who loved them. So many killed just trying to be citizens in the land of the free.

“Rosa Parks reminded many and taught even more how to talk truth to power. In an era when these words are thrown around too easily, she lived the words ‘courage’ and ‘patriot’ - she loved the dream of our country more than herself and she was willing to risk it all to live the dream.

“In the struggle for civil rights, some were called to stand up to Bull Connor’s fire hoses and police dogs - some to stand up to Klan terrorism - and some to stand up to state sponsored acts of violence. But some were called simply to sit down - at lunch counters in Greensboro and Nashville and Atlanta - or on a bus in Montgomery.

“Rosa Parks was about progress, not memory. Yes, she sat down so we could stand up, but not so we could stand still.

“The bus still comes by again and again and each time we have to decide whether to go quietly to the back, or by simple acts of courage and conviction change the direction of our own country’s journey.

“If she did that, then how much greater is the responsibility of those of us with privilege and power who pay tribute to her today. The life of Rosa Parks demands deeds, not epitaphs. For the final words cannot be spoken or written while her cause is still unfinished. Nothing we say here can match what she did in that sacred moment on a municipal bus in Montgomery, Alabama. What matters now is what we do after the casket is gone, the candles are quenched, and the next bus comes by.

“For Rosa Parks and for America, it is our own time to answer ‘no’ to those who would deny or degrade equality in the name of states’ rights, or with the false claim that our history is color blind. When she sat down on that bus it was affirmative action; now we must stand up for affirmative action, for Rosa Parks and for our country.

“It is our time to demand that every vote be counted and no voters be discounted because of the color of their skin - for Rosa Parks and for our country.

“It is our time, now more than ever, to defend the right of women to live in a world where the mountaintops are no longer reserved for men. Our time to remember that after the Pope blessed her and placed rosary beads around her neck, Rosa Parks wrote to him in gratitude. She said ‘my lifetime mission has been simple, that all men and women are created equal under the eyes of our Lord.’

“For Rosa Parks and for our country, it is our time to oppose prejudice not appease it; to dispel the fear of some towards others, not exploit it; to lift up the many - not the few, and to uphold the true patriotism that does what is right, not which justifies injustice or past errors.

“Sometimes the days seem heavy and the odds seem high, but that moment on a bus in Montgomery always comes. Someone gets on that bus, refuses to equivocate or yield and changes history. Today, that someone must be us, for Rosa Parks and for our country.”

You see, my dear lady, we do it for the future, for our kids, our beliefs, our own precious consciences and, oh yes, for our country.

[karendc]

8. Momma T.

could use some help, if anyone is interested. There's a book coming out. And her reputation has been slimed as well. If anyone here wants to help out there, let me know.

[k j]

13. I would

do anything for MT. Please let me know how I can help.

[sandnsea]

16. Absolutely

I'm so excited about that book. It's right where my heart lies, there IS good stuff going on and we have got to start focusing on it. Not to mention that I just plain adore that woman!

[karynnj]

17. I would be honored to help

She is an absolutely amazing person

[k j]

14. This is probably going to sound silly...

and way too abstract, but from my own experience, I know that success doesn't necessarily look like I think it will look.

Success, in 2004, didn't look like winning the White House.
And personally, success, in my adventures in Rural Red, looked very much like failure, rejection, and loss.

But those follow the better angels of their nature, who attempt to live the principles thet believe, I think know success deep in their souls. Those who keep their idealism, their humanity, their optimism, their sense of hope and their integrity... in the face of the mud, heartbreak and loss, have something that can't be taken away and can't be sullied. They have their heart.

I'm gonna go to my grave with my heart, aches, bruises and all... with the knowledge that I valued its promptings while I lived.

[politicasista]

3. Thanks guys,

I know I typed alot of this before, but it just how I really feel right now.

:grouphug:

[Blaukraut]

4. Dear Sista

It is things like these that cause people to become disillusioned with the political process and lose interest in any sort of involvement beyond casting their vote in the General.
When a good man like John Kerry gets torn up not just by the opposition - that is expected to some degree - but also by his very own party members, you have to wonder if there is any integrity left among these people, or if it is all about clawing their way to the top spot.
Senator Kerry chose the path that might be less glorious, but much more effective in bringing forth changes for the better. He chose the people, the troops, the country, and its welfare over trying to get the top spot.
Such a sacrifice is easily made by someone with as much goodness and compassion as John Kerry.
Let's salute him for it and pledge to stand by him and help in whatever way we can.

[politicasista]

5. Thanks K,

"Let's salute him for it and pledge to stand by him and help in whatever way we can."


:patriot:

[k j]

7. {{{politicasista}}}

The places, times, people and issues might change, but Never Give Up, Never Surrender. :patriot:

[politicasista]

9. Thanks k j

:hi: :grouphug:

[k j]

12. back atcha

:grouphug:

[ProSense]

10. Very nice statement!

Thanks Sista. We're still here.


:grouphug:

[politicasista]

11. Thanks Pro

Thanks for the good company. Kerry and Momma T are lucky to have us on their side. :grouphug:

[MarjorieG]

15. Many of us just wanted fair.

As a I wrote in the feeling energized thread. Thank you for sharing what so many shared in this election, of seeing a quality candidate undermined by his own. Continuing, and by the media and net roots, who I feel really know better manners and the same truth we see, but agitate because they can. Wonderful post.