End Game

The Long Campaign ends tomorrow. Election day will produce a result and America will move to the next political stage. Traditionally, the Transition begins after election day. The nation’s politics slow dramatically for about a week as everyone catches his or her breath and studies the new landscape. Then the politics of transition begin. The 2000 Election also featured the Wrangling stage, where the votes are contested. Living Americans had never experienced this stage although it occurred several times in the 19th Century. Some voters may remember the long counts in 1960 and 1968 but those were resolved within a day. The conventional wisdom is that the 2004 Election will involve several close states on which the balance hangs. Both sides are prepared for legal combat across the nation.

The 2004 Election marks my return to active campaigning. I’ve not been this energized on behalf of a candidate since Barry Goldwater in 1964. That year I was a Young Republican, passionate in my belief in Goldwater and conservative politics, fighting against the liberal socialism of that turncoat Texan, Lyndon Johnson. Maybe I’ve not been active since then because I am naturally embarrassed by my politics and beliefs at that time. I was a racist asshole. My support blossomed when Barry Goldwater voted against the Civil Rights Bill of 1964. All the rest was rationalization. And it all crumbled when I went to college and found a much more open world.

This year I am a foot soldier, making phone calls and walking neighborhoods. Which translates mainly to recording messages on answering machines and leaving literature on doors. But I do get to speak to actual voters at times and their support renews my energy. Drivers honk enthusiastically and constantly when we parade around a busy intersection at rush hour. How can we lose with all this energy? The reality of Arizona politics should tell us that we are engaging in a futile effort, no less so because the Republicans are mounting similar efforts. But this year may be different, though. John Kerry has at least a chance of carrying Arizona, so our effort is worth it. It’s what we can do.

And it’s been fun. I meet and talk to many good people. I am serving my country. And I am fighting for the values I believe in. John Kerry may not be everything I want in a president but he shares many of my values, far more so than George Bush. I know he will not correct all of America’s problems and shortcomings. He is unlikely to change the hegemonic corporate militarism of the last half century but he well knows its consequences and dangers so he may be more cognizant of the need to mitigate those consequences and dangers.

With one day left to Election Day, I will canvass and phone. I think back to 1964 and try to recall what exactly I and my fellow Young Republicans did. I remember meetings at the Chamber of Commerce building, selling cans of Goldwater (a lemon-lime-ginger ale soft drink; think what a case that would bring on the memorabilia market) and handing out literature. We argued with Democrats a lot. There weren’t many but they were supremely confident. And we ignored the polls even as they predicted a crushing defeat for Goldwater. They were just part of the Liberal Media’s propaganda for LBJ. Reality set in early on election night in 1964. The networks pretty much called the election for Johnson by 9:00 pm. My hoped for Goldwater victory evaporated in that evening’s darkness.

So I sit here on election eve wondering how it will come out and can’t offer anything more than the same hopes I held as the votes were counted in November 1964. Other elections since have brought real disappointment: 1972 when Nixon crushed McGovern (I had no illusions that year but the loss was particularly sad), a narrow loss in a the hard fought 1973 Virginia gubernatorial election and, of course, 2004. This year could be more of the same. The signs are better. The pundits say it will all depend on turnout. Guess it’s time to go canvassing.