From time to time I will write a quick note to Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo. I don't know how much attention he pays to them but he is always nice enough to respond. Today I wrote him this note that I share with you now:
While trying to understand the reasons for such large support for Bush after the last four years I keep coming back to our duty as members of a Democracy (OK, a Republic). I know there will be (and I have already heard from friends) a good deal of finger pointing to people or strategies within the Democratic party but I believe we should look in the mirror before looking to the top of the party.This is the first time I have ever sacrificed my time and my confortable life to work for a Presidential election. What I came away with was that every member of the party makes it work. This does not all come down to the few in the front lines who are plotting strategy. In my own state, NC, I saw almost no presence of Democrats in everyday life. To a person, when I talked to an undecided voter (or not so solid Bush supporter) they took a second look at the issues. It takes personal contact.
When studies like the PIPA report show such an ignorance to the truth in the general public we know that we have work to do for our country. To complain to the TV or to our loved-ones is not enough, we have to be involved. We have to make phone calls, we have to canvas, we have to write letters, we must be involved. If we don't want to be involved we lose. As we see today we aren't just losing one election, we are losing the country.
I don't say any of this as some sort of bragging rights for my work with the Clark and Kerry campaigns, I only share it as it is what I have learned through this work. Too many people I know (and no, I am not just speaking of local friends) take in loads of information but never share it outside of their circle of friends. And we are talking about some really smart people too.
My feelings today are passing from the "I'm giving up, its time to be a hermit" to a sort of "Steven Seagal movie where the man is near death then goes into intense seudo-Asian-philosophy training for the great battle -mood"
Mostly I am devastated as I feel like my whole value system was soundly invalidated by my country. That is a very hard thing to take.
Posted by dmason at November 3, 2004 01:53 PM