The Exercise of Democracy

[xiphias]

At the Lefton’s Hot Foods Party, folzgold shanghaied me into collecting signatures for Mike Festa’s re-election campaign. It’s basically a formality -- I think we need something teeny like 150 signatures to get a state representative on the ballot for re-election. I got like thirty, in two hours.

A lot of the people who signed were very enthusiastic -- one guy, who set off my gaydar some, asked me where Festa’s office was so he could write a check; a bunch of elderly folks mentioned that they just love Festa, because he really helps out senior housing, one big blue-collar guy signed saying, “I know Mike -- he’s a great guy, isn’t he?”

I think that the people that are horribly offended by his stance on gay marriage were mostly the folks who just walked away without making eye contact; nobody felt particularly confrontational. Probably because I had jellybeans. I took a TV tray out with me to the spot in front of the grocery store that I’d staked out, and put a bowl of jellybeans on it, because jellybeans make people want to sign things!

I mean, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from science fiction conventions, it is that if you want to get people to read your literature, have M&Ms, jellybeans, or Hershey’s Kisses on the table with it. As I explained to Dave, our tenant, as I was getting the TV tray, “Hey, bribing people with candy worked for class president elections in sixth grade, I don’t see why it should be any different for statewide office.”

One person complimented me on being dedicated enough to stand outside and collect signatures. I pointed out that it was like sixty degrees farenheit, sunny and beautiful out for the first time in MONTHS, and it was absolutely no hardship to be standing outside on such a nice day.

One other person came up to me and said, “Ian, right? You used to work at the Shell down the street?” I was amazed he recognized me, and we chatted for a while. He started working there shortly after I left for the Harvard Club job.

At five, I drove downtown to where folzgold was collecting signatures and dropped off my 30. He’d gotten 60 or so, and there was at least one other person who was out collecting signatures. And we have until the middle of next month to get this done, so that’s not too bad.

I picked Lis up from work, and we went to vote in the primaries. The Democratic ballot was pretty boring -- there was NOTHING going on besides the presidential primary. I mean, it was the presidential candidates, followed by “State Democratic Committee Chairman, Vote For No More Than One,” with one candidate listed, “State Democratic Committee Chairwoman, Vote For No More Than One,” with one candidate listed, and “State Democratic Board, Vote For No More Than Thirty-Five,” with NO candidates listed. They did give you enough lines that you could do 35 write-ins, if you really felt like it. I didn’t.

Comments

Getting signatures for Mike Festa

[(Anonymous)]

Hey Ian, I'm Mike Festa, and I want to thank you for helping me in my reelection campaign for state representative. Jacob is my field coordinator and we both know how persuasive he can be...!
It looks like you had an interesting and enjoyable few hours collecting signatures...I really appreciate your kindness.
Hope to meet you soon.

Sincerely,

Mike

Re: Getting signatures for Mike Festa

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

And thanks for your hard work over the past few weeks on the amendment. I always expected the amendment to pass this Lege easily -- and the difficulty it's had getting this far is largely due to your efforts.

Re: Getting signatures for Mike Festa

[(Anonymous)]

ummm am I reading this right? Was that a slam or a positive compliment? I got lost -- were the difficulties because of this guys roadblocks, or despite his efforts? Thanks for all your work in not getting this thru ...

Re: Getting signatures for Mike Festa

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Compliment. This is the anti-gay amendment. He's been doing a lot of neat stuff to tie the thing up, and has tied it up for several weeks longer than I thought possible.