Politics by Greg

While not being the political junky I used to be before retirment I have started to follow the primaries more closely. Rumor has it this early morning that Edwards will withdraw from the race. He has been my candidate of choice and I was very pleased when the SEIU503 Board of Directors voted to endorse him. With him out of the race I would support Obama. His ability to motivate the youth vote is my prime reason for doing so. Living in a 55+ retirement community gives me little opportunity for contact with the youth other than my children but I did have a chance to talk to the son of the owner of the repair facility doing our work when he drove me back to the RV park after dropping off the car.

I also have had a chance to talk briefly with my two nephews about the presidential race. The common thread was that they really are not paying much attention to politics nor do they know much about the candidates, for either party. However, they do know about Obama and his candidacy does seem to capture their interest. Having done quite a lot of door to door canvassing in the last presidential election I know how hard it is for a traditional get out the vote campaign to reach them. The lists I worked were often so out of date as to be worthless even though we were contacting them only a couple of months after they had been identified as votes for the candidates I supported. They seem to move frequently and not re-register. The dynamic of having them be motivated by a candidate is very exciting to me.

We are so in need of dramatic change I am loathe to vote for Hillary. Should she win two terms we would have 28 years, 28 f’ing years, of Clintons and Bushes. Nearly three decades. A dismal comment on the state of our so called democracy.

During the half hour drive home with Alex, the shop owner’s son, I also piqued his interest in Unions. He knows next to nothing about them but on the other hand did not seem to be anti nor pro. He was just curious and asked good questions. It felt good to be “organizing” even to the small degree that brief encounter allowed. I hope I planted a seed. On the candidate front two issues he was most interested in were jobs and the war. I think when I told him about McCains recent statements about a hundred years in Iraq, more wars to follow and fewer jobs to be had that he may have become more interested in what happens on Super Tuesday. I hope so.

Greg