As per the title, I'm sitting in my math class. The teacher is a former Minnesotan who moved out to California after a decade of leading backpacking trips around the country. He says Senator Obama is the first politician he can remember who seems honest, who talks to the country like adults. As such, he agreed to let me use the computer in his classroom to blog during class. Of course, Minnesota voted for Mondale.
I'm seventeen, and I've lived in California all my life. My earliest political memory is of sitting on my parents' bed watching Bill Clinton heroically thrash Bob Dole in '96. As I drifted off to sleep, I felt safe, not realizing that sometimes the good guys lost. 2000 changed that; by 2004 I considered myself an activist. I didn't like the President, and I led my 350 kids from my school in a walkout a year after his re-election. That is to say, I had a lot of grand illusions and not a lot to base them on.
A year after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita I went to Mississippi and Lousiana for the summer, to work on relief projects. It was the first time I had been in the South, the first time I met members of the "religious right" so easily dismissed over my family table. I saw what it meant to be poor somewhere other than Los Angeles, I saw the bullet still stuck in Medgar Evers' wall, and I began to get a sense that politics was more than a vague contest of ideas, but an actual force for bettering lives.
I've been learning since then. In 2006, and this year on Super Tuesday, I missed school to work GOTV. I worked as a precinct captain for Obama; and although I don't always make as many phone calls as I ought to, I've learned that 10 calls are worth more than any grand philosohical arguement, unless you're Robert Novak, in which case you're damned regardless.
Last month my friend joined the Marines, and I began to understand what it meant to oppose a war. The reason this war is so unpopular is not because the country has come to a moral consensus that war is wrong, but because enough people have felt the nausea I feel every time I imagine my friend in Baghdad. I disagree with Tip O'Neill; Politics isn't local, its individual .
The point of this all was to introduce myself, to give some context for what I plan to write in the weeks ahead. I plan to keep the philosophical ramblings to a minimum once I have some actual happenings to write about. Until then, thanks for coming by. I've made contact with at least one other Fellow who might be writing here, and am hoping to hear from many more. If that's you, or you think you might want to give this blog a shot for a while, say hi in the comments.
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6 comments:
Hey, Ilan
I came over here from Rural Votes to support you. :) I think it's great that you have become so involved with the process. Keep up the great work.
Mille Bisous,
Shavon
I'm another field hand stopping by to say howdy. Will add you to my feed reader. Great intro post!
Dorey
Hey Ilan, another field hand here. I enjoyed hearing about your adventures thus far and can't wait to hear more when your fellowship starts. I'm a southerner, born in Virginia, from South Carolina, former resident of NOLA, and a current Georgia resident. I'm always interested to hear about what non-southerners see when they *y'all* arrive. My only time away, other than trips, was at grad school in Madison, Wisconsin. All of that to say, it's so interesting to see how politics works in different parts of the country. I've worked on elections in SC, WI, and La. When I was able to vote in Wisconsin by showing up at the poll on election day with just a piece of mail and my word, I realized that the registration process can be cumbersome where it's not that easy. In New Orleans, the unions are important in Democratic races; I had no first hand union exposure in SC. It's neat to see how grassroots and local processes add up to elect a leader. Obama has really shown how that works, how we can work together. Thank you for keeping it going!
helen
Another field hand here. Thanks for all the backstory! Looking forward to following your many adventures.
I'm also interested to hear what you learn from the experience. I'm a social worker, which is a lot about how to effect change. And I can see that Obama's learned some of the same skills I have. I'm guessing it's from his time as an organizer, and that you'll be building up the same competence (beyond what you already may have).
Kol tov--
Matt
Hey,
I saw you over on Rural Votes and followed your link. I am an Obama Fellow going to Colorado. I'm from Minnesota (and yes, Mondale is an icon to many Democrats in this state). I sent an email off to you this afternoon, too. You're a good writer, and I like what you have to say so far.
Thanks everyone for coming by and introducing themselves. Things might be slow around here until the program actually starts, but I'll keep everyone updated via The Field as to where things stand. Once again, if other fellows want to post on the front page, email me at ibenmeir@gmail.com and I'll gladly publish your piece.
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