talking like a jerk except you are an actual jerk.
A TIMELINE OF KAREN'S ELECTION
October 20: went to a candidate forum at which this happened. It was astonishing. At the end of the forum, half the crowd stood up and chanted "Joe! Joe! Joe!"
Saturday: got up early (for a Saturday) to knock on doors of Democrats and remind said Democrats to vote. 76 doors, 35 contacts, one minor but bloody injury. Which: if you are going to put a deck walking up to your front door, WHY would you put two steps in that deck? Two steps eight feet away from each other and about six inches high? Are you TRYING to trip people? So I tripped, got laid flat out, and my left pinky took the brunt of it and lost most of the skin off its knuckle. And then the people with the stupid deck weren't even HOME, so at the next house I went to, I started the spiel off with, "Hi, my name's Karen, I'm a volunteer with a local campaign. Two quick questions! One: do you have a Band-Aid?" Then I gave the rest of my pitch while wrapping up my bloody hand. That poor woman. Anyway, when I got back to the canvassing location, I announced, "I BLED FOR DEMOCRACY." Because it's true.
Then on the way home I stopped to buy my dad cigarettes, and the clerk said, "That'll be five thirty-eight," and I said, out loud and to another human, "That's how many electoral votes there are!"
Sunday: got up early (for a Sunday) to do some more door-knocking but there wasn't anybody there, so I went back home because I was still achy from wiping out Saturday. Sorry, democracy.
Monday: mostly sat around flapping my hands nervously. Also convinced my brother to vote for the first time in basically forever.
Tuesday: went to work, harassed some coworkers to vote, voted, flapped my hands nervously some more. Especially since the ballot counter thing at my polling place was broken and I had to put my ballot in a cardboard box, like this is 1876 or something. And then. And then and then. So my Congressional district is represented by a woman named Melissa Bean, who is a blue dog but who voted for health care and Wall Street reforms and the stimulus and supports cap and trade. She's being opposed by a tea partier who wants to ban abortion, no exception, abolish the EPA and Department of Education, and lift bans on assault weapons, because said bans are "ridiculous". You might have gotten this sense if you clicked the YouTube link. And they're still counting the votes, but it looks like this completely reasonable Democrat, who I was volunteering for not because I love her so much (I don't) but because I find the idea of being represented by a tea partier humiliating, lost. And I know that's the story all over the place, I know half the blue dogs lost, but jesus. This guy had no party support, no endorsements other than the tea party, no idea what he was doing, no money (not even to pay his rent, water bill, or staffers), and 550 more votes. Apparently I live in a district with a bunch of fucking savages. A bunch of fucking savages who think that fiscal conservatism means tax cuts for rich people, global warming, privatizing Social Security, and exploding health care costs. How, how, how do the Democrats do such a bad job messaging this?
This is a recurring problem for me: I envision things going badly, but I fail to envision how. In 2008, I didn't think the Cubs were going to win the World Series, but it didn't cross my mind they'd get swept by the Dodgers. A couple months ago, we had a mediation for the lawsuit, and I didn't think we'd get $25 million or whatever, but I had never considered we'd actually go to trial (which we are). And I knew the midterm was going to go badly, and some terrible people were going to get elected and good people thrown out, but it had never crossed my mind that the terrible person and good person would be from my district. The world is terrible and I am frightened and that is all.
October 20: went to a candidate forum at which this happened. It was astonishing. At the end of the forum, half the crowd stood up and chanted "Joe! Joe! Joe!"
Saturday: got up early (for a Saturday) to knock on doors of Democrats and remind said Democrats to vote. 76 doors, 35 contacts, one minor but bloody injury. Which: if you are going to put a deck walking up to your front door, WHY would you put two steps in that deck? Two steps eight feet away from each other and about six inches high? Are you TRYING to trip people? So I tripped, got laid flat out, and my left pinky took the brunt of it and lost most of the skin off its knuckle. And then the people with the stupid deck weren't even HOME, so at the next house I went to, I started the spiel off with, "Hi, my name's Karen, I'm a volunteer with a local campaign. Two quick questions! One: do you have a Band-Aid?" Then I gave the rest of my pitch while wrapping up my bloody hand. That poor woman. Anyway, when I got back to the canvassing location, I announced, "I BLED FOR DEMOCRACY." Because it's true.
Then on the way home I stopped to buy my dad cigarettes, and the clerk said, "That'll be five thirty-eight," and I said, out loud and to another human, "That's how many electoral votes there are!"
Sunday: got up early (for a Sunday) to do some more door-knocking but there wasn't anybody there, so I went back home because I was still achy from wiping out Saturday. Sorry, democracy.
Monday: mostly sat around flapping my hands nervously. Also convinced my brother to vote for the first time in basically forever.
Tuesday: went to work, harassed some coworkers to vote, voted, flapped my hands nervously some more. Especially since the ballot counter thing at my polling place was broken and I had to put my ballot in a cardboard box, like this is 1876 or something. And then. And then and then. So my Congressional district is represented by a woman named Melissa Bean, who is a blue dog but who voted for health care and Wall Street reforms and the stimulus and supports cap and trade. She's being opposed by a tea partier who wants to ban abortion, no exception, abolish the EPA and Department of Education, and lift bans on assault weapons, because said bans are "ridiculous". You might have gotten this sense if you clicked the YouTube link. And they're still counting the votes, but it looks like this completely reasonable Democrat, who I was volunteering for not because I love her so much (I don't) but because I find the idea of being represented by a tea partier humiliating, lost. And I know that's the story all over the place, I know half the blue dogs lost, but jesus. This guy had no party support, no endorsements other than the tea party, no idea what he was doing, no money (not even to pay his rent, water bill, or staffers), and 550 more votes. Apparently I live in a district with a bunch of fucking savages. A bunch of fucking savages who think that fiscal conservatism means tax cuts for rich people, global warming, privatizing Social Security, and exploding health care costs. How, how, how do the Democrats do such a bad job messaging this?
This is a recurring problem for me: I envision things going badly, but I fail to envision how. In 2008, I didn't think the Cubs were going to win the World Series, but it didn't cross my mind they'd get swept by the Dodgers. A couple months ago, we had a mediation for the lawsuit, and I didn't think we'd get $25 million or whatever, but I had never considered we'd actually go to trial (which we are). And I knew the midterm was going to go badly, and some terrible people were going to get elected and good people thrown out, but it had never crossed my mind that the terrible person and good person would be from my district. The world is terrible and I am frightened and that is all.