What beast might I be speaking of? What giant of politics, what hugely insurmountable hill have I climbed, and traversed the crevasse to lay to waste a beast so sought out by both parties?
I converted an independent today.
Below the orange squiggle, I'll relate my experience today with that amazing beast that is the independent.
So I made the decision today to take out a short term loan to pay off my car. I know it sounds odd, but really my estimated tax return for this year would allow me to pay it off. However, as all things mechanical being mechanical...they tend to break. So I have things to fix on my car that are of immediacy. So I called a short term loan institution to arrange a loan, that I plan to pay off come tax time.
Sure its an exorbitant interest rate, but its a necessary evil as it will allow me to pay off my car now, fix the dang thing and really I'll be paying this off come February. So really I'm really not that screwed financially. One of those calculated financial decisions those of us in the working lower middle class have to make sometimes.
In any event, I am in the process of finalizing said loan and the gentleman servicing me starts with small talk. We talk of how the economy is going and we speak of how things seem to be looking on the up.
He makes mention of the recent debates, and how Obama seemed to not do that well. I...being a volunteer for Dems and GOTV efforts..begrudgingly agree. Up to this point I have already detected a slightly polar ideology in this guy , so I temper my rhetoric when speaking to him as well. In my reply regarding the debates I say "Yeah, Obama really didn't do as well as he could, but to some degree Jim Leher really let it go off the rails". And here is the amazing thing, he states and I do not kid you "Yeah, things really got out of hand five minutes after it started. It seemed like no one got a message across"
I told him that yeah, the Prez didn't come across as strong as he could have but really these last four years he has tried and tried REALLY hard to get things moving. He echoed how come things didn't move forward when Dems had control of the house and senate those first two years right? I had to remind him of how the Dems really didn't have control as long as you think, because of the death of Ted Kennedy and the delay in having Al Franken take office. That really the dems only had a very very very small window to try and get things done and that republicans took every opportunity to take every procedural action to delay EVERY motion.
I felt like I was opening common ground, as every time I mentioned that the GOP took a stance of obstructionism, I continually got a head nod. The kicker, or rather the winner, was when I mentioned how the GOP killed the Veterans Jobs Bill. Even he agreed that how hard would be to take the money we were spending on these wars, to then redirect it towards jobs programs for those who served their country.
We continued to talk about deficits and taxes as well. How difficult might it be to return to say even Clinton era tax rates, where by the 'well to do' perhaps pay more and even those at the bottom rung might pay a very slight more once things are back on track. I mentioned that there seems to be only one party that wants to look at things rationally and even he agreed. We laughed over the analogy of the current GOP proposal, that being as if you bought a Lamborghini and drove it home to which your wife would ask "How can we afford it?" and which you would say "I don't know, but I quite my job!"
I felt an opening really, right then...right there
I asked him if he was registered to vote. He said that he thought he was. I asked him, "Hey do you guys have internet connection here, Indiana allows online registration"...."Yeah we have it, why?"..."Well why don't we get you registered to vote"...."So you want to guarantee Obama?"..."No, I want to make sure you come out November to voice your opinion because it matters and this nation cannot afford for you to let it go unheard."
So I got him registered.
We talked a bit more, about the mortgage crisis and how both of us feel we really haven't seen the bottom end given how banks are still slow to lend and because of that they might have impending liabilities still looming on the books. We also talked about how the bailout on the banks went in the wrong direction and how had we invested said money in home owners we could have turned this economy around already.
In short, amazingly this far leftie progressive came to find consensus on many points with what appeared to be a very moderate slightly right leaning voter. Who really up to that point had not planned on voting. But in our discussion, we continually found consensus on many, MANY points...especially when I pointed out that the GOP has done nothing but obstruct progress and have abandoned bipartisanship. Eventually time found its end, and I had to progress to my next destination. We said our goodbyes, shook hands and said our parting words.
And you know what he said as I shook his hand and left this afternoon?
"See you on election night for Obama!"
So I walked out to my car this afternoon with a smile on my face. Happy because I had 1500 dollars in my pocket, but that was a small amount compared to the fact that I think I just convinced a sideline voter to make this country a little better.
Sure I live in Indiana, and the chances are high that Romney will take this state. However because I think I just convinced a sideliner, which means there is a chance he might also vote for Mullen and Donnelly, which increases our chances of keeping the Senate and taking control of the House.
We have a month left folks, don't be afraid to open up and open those lines of conversation. We need every able bodied person to be working as hard as we can to win the White House...the Senate...and the House.
Let's get Fired Up
And Ready To Go