Some stuff I found that I'd written during the campaign

[LittleClarkie]

Posted it in the Lounge.

What do you think. Does it belong in there or out in GD?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=4096536&mesg_id=4096536

I kind of enjoyed finding that stuff.

[TayTay]

1. Sorry Erica, I could get it to load

It's probably my machine. I have been having problems lately.

[LittleClarkie]

2. No probs. I'll just recopy it here

I just thought these were an interesting blast from the past.

The first:
How I became Little Clarkie

I was just surfing around the old "Republicans for Kerry" yahoo group, looking for my old posts, when I happened upon my very first one. I hadn't found y'all yet. I still had my political training wheels on. I remember thinking how neat it was that a bunch of Republicans were putting their country over their party, so I hopped on in, despite my Democrat-ness, like that "Gorilla in the Mist" lady. (Can't spell her last name, and I don't want to make it sound like she does Broadway or something... Fose... Fosse?... fuck it.)

Anyway. This post is where I got dubbed "Little Clarkie". They liked that designation at the top.

Just thought I'd share this little blast from the past.

--------------------

"I'm just a little Clarkie for Kerry in the swing state of Wisconsin,
poking my nose in. Can a Dem join the fun if she promises to behave
herself and be civil?

I also wanted to pop in and see if any of you had read "The New War:
The Web of Crime That Threatens America's Security"
by John Kerry? What did you think of it? I've just glanced at it so
far, but I've been impressed by what I've read so far. I get the
impression that Kerry is a knowledgeable, thinking person. His
problem seems to be that he has trouble distilling all that he knows
into nice little sound bites. Thank God for Edwards.

I've also checked "Tour of Duty" and "A Call to Service: My Vision
for a Better America" out of my local library. I'm still checking out
the Chosen One, you see. So far I've found nothing that's changing my
mind.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I have my own Bush/Kerry story to
share. I've been volunteering down at Kerry HQ, the first time I've
ever done such a thing for any candidate. It's not the prettiest
thing you've ever seen. Dingy, home-made signs everywhere, rummage
sale-quality furniture, and staff that have to hand out bumper
stickers as if they were gold.

The Republican headquarters, on the other hand, is very nice. Clean,
plenty of buttons, t-shirt, bumper stickers, etc., nice old people
who didn't yell at me and my Kerry button. God, it wasn't easy
walking in there with that button on, but dagnabit, I refuse to take
it off any more. I used to, since I live in a mostly Republican area,
and was afraid of offending. But if I hadn't worn it to church, I
wouldn't have discovered the Conservative Republican for Kerry there
who now wants me to get him a yard sign. Those are nigh impossible to
get. Apparently Kerry doesn't believe in them.

But I digress.

At the Wisconsin State Fair this week, in the main expo building,
there are 2 Bush booths. Well stocked they are, just like the HQ. And
there's the Democratic booth, half the size of one Bush booth. An
over-abundance of Feingold stickers, a dearth of Kerry ones. I
couldn't take it. I drove the 10 miles to the Kerry HQ to see if I
could finagle some supplies. I found them putting together a care
package and wondering how they would get it down there. Enter me.

Back I go to the State Fair, where several happy folks get a few
buttons. The Veteran for Kerry buttons are in especially short
supply, and pretty good demand. So much for veterans hating Kerry.

But just today I got an email from HQ saying that the Dem booth has
been told they are not allowed to give out stickers, as they may get
plastered to the newly built expo walls. Fine, we say, we'll sell
them. Not allowed to do that either. "But the Bush people are handing
out stickers like fiends, why aren't you stopping them?," we ask. So
far, no answer. The volunteers have been asked to hand out supplies
outside the expo and on the street by State Fair next to a truck with
Kerry signs all over it. I hope we have enough.

Why is the Kerry campaign so undersupplied!!??

Geez. I just scrolled up. I'd better stop here.

Anyway, howdy!

Erica (The demublican. Or is that republicrat? I can never remember)"


The second:
Kerry Fair Report, part deux

----------------------
I went back to the State Fair today, to see how the Democrat
Party booth was doing and to see if I could help. It was Veteran
Day at the Wisconsin State Fair, and the booth was full of
Veterans for Kerry. I'm happy to say that this time the Democrat
booth was quite stocked with buttons and bumper stickers, both
Kerry/Edwards and Veterans for Kerry. I bought $10 worth at 50
cents a piece. I wanted a t-shirt too, intending to add "Family of"
to the Veterans for John Kerry slogan, but they were in relatively
short supply, so I didn't press the issue. They should go to actual
veterans.

It was interesting to see the Vets for Kerry by the other veterans
booths in the middle of the fair. They hadn't been invited to set up
a booth, so they were congregated right by one of the booths that
had a ton and a half of anti-Kerry literature, mostly relating to his
anti-war stance and his work in normalizing US/Vietnam
relations. They were an enthusiastic and friendly bunch, happily
shaking my offered hand and talking about what Kerry had done
to save lives with his efforts to end the war sooner. Some were
older, some were clean cut, a couple others where quite the
psychedelic relics in action.

I also wandered over to the Republican booth, which was
stocked to the gills with all manner of yard signs, t-shirts, buttons
and the like. I picked out a "No Flip/Flops in the White House"
button and put it next to my Kerry one. Alittle later on, I wandered
over again to see if the booth had any issue papers on Bush. No,
not really. Just one brochure, which I took. The Kerry booth at
least excelled in that regard. They had literature on Kerry's
stance on veteran issues, health care, the economy and such.

On this second visit, the person manning the booth noticed my
buttons. "Hey wait a minute! You've got a Kerry button and a
flip/flop button! What are you doing, fence-sitting?" I commented
that Kerry was not the flip/flopper I was referring to. I wish I would
have had my list of Bush flip/flops to rattle off, but I didn't, so I left
it at that. I won't be doing that again until I'm more prepared to
back it up. Even so, I loved the reaction I got. Definitely an
attention getter, and using their own button, too. Hee hee!

In other news, anyone else feel like they're going to have an ulcer
by November? I do. I'm not used to this stuff. I'd better pace
myself, emotion-wise, or I'm never gonna make it.

Little Clarkie, reporting for duty

----------------------------------

And a third:
State of the Pub address

(Erica's adventures in Campaign land continue -- August 2004)

Just for a bit of background, my local pub is Bush Country. I was
once told, when it became clear which side of the fence I was on,
to "get out of my bar." Another likes to point at me, tell me what
liberals like me believe, and then argue against that stance. Jokes
on him, though. If he'd ever ask, he'd find out I'm a moderate. I
only look liberal in comparison.

Even so, in this conservative suburban town, my local pub is the best
place to go to find people my age with whom I can have relatively
intelligent conversations. It is the proverbial "Cheers" pub, the
place where everyone knows your name. We even have a "Norm," except
his name is Chip.

The hobby of most of the regulars is Trivial Pursuit, and other
trivia games. These are in general not stupid people.

Even so, it was with some trepidation that I started wearing my Kerry
button there. In self-defense, I've been memorizing Bush's flip-flops
so that I might have some ammo ready.

You can only imagine my surprise when, this Tuesday, I found out that
Bush's appeal there wasn't quite as strong as I'd thought.

I never expected to hear "Bush is an idiot" followed by "And Cheney's
worse!" come out of anyone's mouth at my local pub. And yet that's
what happened on Tuesday. Not to mention that for the first time
someone actually listened to me talk about Bush's presidential
shortcomings without interrupting.

Several of the regulars were talking about the troop redeployment,
you see. So I piped in with my concern about a South Korean pullout
at such a critical time. To my surprise, got a few nods of approval.
Several had only heard about the plans for Germany and some vague
mutterings about Asia. The Korean deployment was news to them. I have
noticed since then that alot of the radio commentators are focusing
on mainly the Germany deployment as if that were the most important
part of the plan. It is at the very least the most popular.

And when I mentioned Bush's flip-flop on same sex marriages, the
person who'd only ever labeled me a liberal looked shocked and
said "I did not know that." At the very least, I think he may have
realized he wasn't as informed as he should be.

I'll probably never turn any of them into Kerry fans. One in
particular can't forgive the senator for his testimony and the medal-
throwing ceremony in 1971. And there's probably no talking to someone
who would wear an "If Democrats were smart, they'd be REPUBLICANS" t-
shirt in public. But if I can at least get some people to think
outside their usual model of the world, I'll have done some good.

Little Clarkie, reporting for duty


------------------

Plus, one about an email to my local DJ for dissing Max Cleland
I just sent an email to my local DJ

"This is what I wrote:

I'm upset with you Bob. I have been for a while, ever since you
started singing "B-Double-E-Double-R-U-N" at the mention of Max
Cleland's name as if he were some redneck instead of a veteran who
served our country.

We are supposed to support our troops. That should transend politics.
We support the troop in Iraq. And we should support the people who
fought for us in year's past, Democrat or Republican.

Neither of us know what it's like in Iraq. But neither do we know
what it was like in Vietnam.

I like you, and I like Brian. You've made me laugh through tough
times. But I get so mad when I think of what you said during the
Democratic National Convention when Mr. Cleland's name was mentioned
that I start crying. Please tell me you understand what I'm getting
at. I hope you do. I don't mean to make you feel bad. But that's just
how I see it. I'm the daughter of a vet, so maybe that's why it hurt
so much.

Max Cleland will be in Cutler Park at 321 Wisconsin Avenue in
downtown Waukesha on Saturday August 21st at 2:30 pm. That fact alone
made me feel like writing to you. I wasn't going to, though I had
thought about it. But that reminder brought up the hurt feelings
again.

Please, let's leave the veterans out of the political rhetoric, on
both sides. They served, we didn't. Let's just leave it at that. Okay?

Thanks for listening, if you made it this far.

Erica

What do you think? I kept having to edit the thing to tone it down. I
almost asked him if he'd like to go and sing his song in Max
Cleland's face. But in the end I decided to be more civil than that."

--------------

Sigh. So young. So innocent. Me heart hadn't been ripped out and put in sideways yet.

[TayTay]

3. Remember the old adage that it's the mended parts

of broken things that are now the strongest. It is interesting to see your evolution politically through the course of last year.

Question: As a moderate, what drew you to Kerry (or better yet, what keeps you with Kerry, now that the election is over?)

[LittleClarkie]

5. What drew me was that he was the nominee and Bush increasingly repulsed me

What keeps me is that as I turned myself from ABB to someone who could convincingly campaign for Kerry, as I believed was the only way to campaign effectively, I found a man who had integrity. I think it was the picture of him crying in "Tour of Duty" that finally cracked though my ABB shell, and the realization that his "personally pro-life/publically pro-choice" stance was very near my own.

I also loved his old self, the way he handled O'Neil back in the day. And as I found out about BCCI and Iran/Contra, I became more impressed with this person. The debates helped.

Then I went to see "Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry" in a theater empty except for me, and that was all she wrote. Bawled like a baby when I saw a Vietnam vet strike almost the same pose as Englund, thumbs up, and realized how similar the two wars are.

It also didn't hurt that he was Navy, like my dad. Sometimes I realize I have to separate my feelings between the two, as they get mixed. I'll think how much I want to tell Kerry I love him, then realize it's really my dad I want to say that too. But then, Kerry is what I did to occupy myself right after dad died, so I guess that's normal. It might explain why I like hanging with the vets on our side as well. And I got protective when those Smear Vet bastards went after Kerry's medals. Don't tell ME that the Navy doesn't know how to hand out medals. My dad had a chest of them. I take it as an insult for the Navy as a whole really. Only chickenhawks who've never been in the service would not see that such a smear and "Support the Troops" don't go together.

All in all, what keeps me is the realization that under that reserved exterior there beat the heart of a really good man who was very qualified to be president. Realizing why he was reserved (picked on in school, as was I) made me feel for him even more.

I'm only Moderate, actually, when looked at by the DU filter, I think. Here in Freeperville, I'm a flaming liberal. I'm moderate in that I'm still trying to be open-minded, I think. So it depends on who's lookin' at me.

[ray of light]

4. Looking at your letters and your growth is beautiful.

But to be frank, I would not put it in GD because I don't think they would be as appreciative as they should be. Instead, I think it would be cool if you had your own blog-maybe with all your letters (like a diary) and you could ask your friends to send theirs too. (if they have them.)

You could think of a great name too.

What do you think?

[LittleClarkie]

6. It's a possibility

I have an unused message board. But maybe a blog would be better. I have a LiveJournal account, if it's still active. So maybe...

Here's what probably could be the latest entry. You're right, I barely got three posts for this thread. Folks aren't that interested in positive things I guess.

Erica at her first peace rally

There is a place right outside the library of a nearby city where I'd noticed folks protesting on a Sunday afternoon about a year ago.
I'm told it's also where folks used to stand to protest the Vietnam war. A year ago there were some veterans for peace there and other folks, but not alot. Well, after watching folks talk about their problems with ANSWER at DC, and commenting myself that it was more a matter of grassroots, and why did we need such groups anyway to lead us when we could do it ourselves, that I decided the next time I had a chance to join those folks down at the library, I would.

So I did. Today.

It was interesting. There were about 20 or 30 of us, each with pre-painted signs and some stuff that was made by the partipants. The intersection by the library is a T-intersection, with us at the top of the T. We got beeps, and thumbs up, more than you'd think in the middle of Sensenbrenner's district.
I got the feeling I was sorta like Kerry in 1971, a bit too moderate for the rest of the crowd, but that's okay. I found a nice spot next to a vet for peace who described being over in Vietnam. We talked about chicken hawks, and he said it was his impression that most of the military voted for Kerry. Hmm. I'd like to believe that. But I haven't see stats.

Across the street there was one lone guy with "I support the troops and our president" on one side of his sign, and "Stay the Course" on the other. He got some beeps too, but not as many.
One girl from a disability home next door came over and said "I'd beat you all up but I'd get arrested." She was missing some teeth, and wearing a tshirt about doing something nekkid (I didn't quite catch it.) I muttered something about knocking out the rest of her teeth, except that we were peace people, so she was lucky.

That scandalized the nun to my left, but the vet chuckled. I was reminded that the protest was sponsored by a PEACE group. Yes, ma'am. I'll be good if I go again. (mutter, mutter)
Our one man counter protester was joined by a couple of able bodied youth. Maybe I'll bring recruitment forms next time. The veteran to my right liked that one too.

We ended up the hour long protest with getting our picture taken, so that we could give them to family and friends to encourage them to join us. All in all, they say their numbers are slowly growing.

And thus ended my first real experience with peace protesting. Ta da.