1972 vs 2008 – full circle, in texas

typing this on my flight to texas. before i boarded the flight, i read a cnn article about how bill and hillary clinton (before they were married) started their political careers in texas in 1972, working on george mcgovern's presidential campaign, who lost the race to richard nixon. and now, more than three decades later, the irony of the state that clinton's campaign finds itself in is palpable:

sen. clinton's lifelong political journey has come full circle in texas. with the march 4 primary just days away, the place where the new york senator got her first job in presidential politics may become her launching pad to the white house -- or perhaps one of her final battlegrounds.

i just can't help but smirk, who woulda thunk it? texas—home state to the village idiot president—on the verge of becoming the clintons' last stand. the young clintons in 1972--newly in love and determined to change the world--now find themselves on the other side more than three decades later...cynical, bitter, devisive, running a fear-mongering, race-baiting, hope mocking campaign like it was still 1972. and here in 2008, young people from all over america are rising up to say “enough!” and throwing their support behind a new generation of leadership, symbolized by obama, resoundingly rejecting what the clintons (and the republicans) are pedaling. at the backspace cafe in pdx, there was an art installation a while back showing middle-aged men in suits and in huge bold letters it read “dying to become what we once despised”. and so it is today with the clintons—they have become what they once despised. in 2008, at 37, i'm older now than the clintons were in 1972. but i recognize the fire they once had in their eyes and bellies, because i feel it too. will obama's message win out on march 4, or will hillary's? this weekend, the lines are drawn, and thousands of us volunteers in ohio and texas are fighting for the former. if obama's message suceeds, we spend our next 30 years fighting to transform america.

and will things again come full circle in the 2040s in texas? will that future generation be rejecting the era of generation x and digital native generation leaders? if we have sold out and become what we once despised, and if we have failed them, leaving a future world of scarcity, climate catastrophe and suffering, then they SHOULD reject us. but in the meantime, i'll do my best to make those young political activists of the 2040s proud.

call and response - barack obama

wow, it has been 15 months since my last post. i have been considering jump-starting my blog again, and given that the majority of my non-work time revolves around politics these days, now is as good as any. so i expect the majority of my posts to be politically oriented.

so, i will come right out and say it: i have been bitten by the obama phenomenon. early on in this presidential race, i found myself undecided, with aspects about edwards, kucinich, and even ron paul that i found interesting. i have long had strong reservations about hillary clinton, and was very disappointed to see afscme international endorse her candidacy so early back in october 2007 (i will write more about this disaster in a future post). i attended a rally for obama in september 2007 with a large group of afscme members all in our green shirts, and he certainly got our attention. so many of his points rang true to me, but i had not done my homework yet. then in november i read an article about how obama--at 46 years old--is largely a product of the views and realities of generation x (my forgotten, largely invisible generation). i then researched his policy positions and his background, and downloaded "the audacity of hope" audio book from our kick-ass county library, and i was completely and totally hooked.

and now a couple months later, i find myself increasingly involved in the obama campaign. i don't know how to describe it, other than that his campaign has made the "call" and i am "responding". a week ago i received a broadcast email from the obama campaign, with an invitation to come down to texas to volunteer before the march 4 texas vote. and yesterday i booked my flight to houston on 2/29 to stay for the weekend in beaumont, tx and volunteer around the clock for 72 hours. we will be reaching out to latino voters, and i have never been more thankful for my ability to speak spanish.

there have been several times in my adult life when a pivotal event was about to happen, and i knew that i needed to be there. the seattle anti-wto protests in 1999 (which got me to move out to portland from colorado), the anti-wto biotech ministerial in sacramento in 2003, the anti-wto protests in cancun in 2003, the anti-ftaa protests in miami in 2003, the labor delegation to venezuela and colombia in 2006, and others... at all of these, i made an instant decision to "show up", and ended up playing a key role. and my trip this weekend to texas feels like one of those times. next weekend, there is no place on the planet and no activity that feels more important to me than to be helping the obama campaign make history. i am not "running away with the circus", and will be back to work on tuesday, march 4th, but like the other events above, i expect that part of me will be changed forever.