but only farted"
At least I feel like my vote, my efforts were nothing more than "farts in a windstorm" to make a reference not only to classic bathroom graffiti, but also to Vonnegut's excellent book "Jailbird". Maybe that is what I need to do. Spend some time reading Vonnegut.
I put in a long day yesterday, the final day of months of work that started, for me, back in March when I decided to run for office. Unfortunately, or not, I got defeated in the August primary, but after that I started working about twenty hours a week at the local headquarters. I was still optimistic. I thought surely we would win in the 40th district and the 41st and win keep the State Treasurer, the Attorney General and hopefully the Secretary of State. I also thought that people like Stephen Moore and Robin Carnahan would win, and, although I never cared for the guy, that Raj Goyle would win as well.
Yesterday I put in a long day. After working until almost midnight on Monday, I got up at 7 a.m. (which is ridiculously early for a guy who usually goes to bed at 3 a.m. and gets up at 11.) and did poll-watching for seven hours. Then I made twenty or thirty calls, mostly talking to answering machines, trying to get Democrats to the polls. Then I tried to help with the election watch party at headquarters before again going to work at 8 p.m. until midnight. After that I picked up some of my things from headquarters - my space heater, my plunger, and my pictures of Ted Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Thomas Jefferson and FDR (and now I realize that I forgot Truman.) and the party's laptop and some of my books that I kept there to entertain the other workers. I also grabbed a big stack of Steve Six yard signs thinking, optimistically, that we could use them again in four years.
Then I got home to look at results. The blood-bath was worse than I thought. Fortunately, our anti-choice, pro-gun, Iraq veteran won re-election in the 40th district, apparently by a mere 41 votes. That is about the only bright spot, although I am personally happy that Raj Goyle lost because it shows that even a million dollars and a quasi-Republican message are not enough to win an election. Ultimately, neither Raj nor Stephene did any better than Cheryl in the 2nd district who ran a nothing campaign with no money and still pulled about 33% of the vote against an incumbent. I was hoping for about 40% myself, but I would have done much more leg work.
In some sense though, I guess I can be happy that I did not win the primary, otherwise my own anti-Reaganomics war on poverty message might have been blamed for this bloodbath, maybe it was me dragging down the rest of the ticket.
Anyway, after surveying some of the carnage I zonked out in my la-z-boy for a few hours and then got up and tried to go to sleep. But I could not sleep, so I finally got back up. I am pissed off and I am full of despair and heart-ache and sort of at a loss about what to do.
I doubt if I will find much comfort from DU, where already n00bs have put Ralph motherfucking Nader's name on the front page again, even as the motherfucking Green party has apparently cost us a Senate seat in Colordao. There's no electoral disaster so bad that Ralph Nader and the Greens cannot make it worse.
So, any ideas DU now that it is two a.m. and the bullet has hit the bone?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1sf2CzEq0wor maybe this video is just as appropriate since I am Thunderstruck and the war party has just won a big electoral victory.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f1cwycSWq0