Election 2008

In 2004 and 2006, I was a responsible citizen. I volunteered full time for political candidates (in addition to my full time school psychology internship in 2004 and school psychology job in 2006).

In 2008, not so much. This year, I spent the months leading up to the election in a self-centered/reflective state in South America. On election day, I woke up late, ate a large breakfast over the course of 2 or so hours, and then swam the breast stroke for 2 full hours in one of the two beautifully maintained resort pools at my brother's Florida condo complex. When I finished with my leisurely swim, I walked over to the hot tub and spent the next half hour watching the clouds move slowly by while contemplating how much my life had changed in the past 4 years.

I had the best intentions. My plan was to fly back to the states, meet my brother's new baby Nick, and then try to volunteer for Obama as much as I could before the election and on election day. To my credit, I tried to contact the Obama campaign previous to flying to Florida and did not receive any sort of response. However, I know from working on campaigns that if you really want to help, you have to physically go to the office and jump in. No one is going to waste the time to roll out a red carpet. So the onus was on me. I got lazy and let election day come and pass without doing anything save wearing my Obama/Biden shirt during my bus and train trip from Miami to Deland, Florida.

So while I let the jets of the hot tub massage my shoulder blades, I considered the vastly different place I had come to in my life. Not too long ago I had been an obsessive and tireless volunteer for progressive political candidates and election day was therefore like Christmas only filled with work until the polls closed. 2 years later, I had burned out maybe? I considered it...How could I have changed so much in only two years?

As I look back on it, I had always planned to stick around in Ohio for at most one more election. I suppose what happened is that I decided to cut my plans short. As I've said, I never really liked politics. I only got into it because I felt an obligation. For a long time, there were far too few people speaking out against Bush, opposing him in general, or working to elect progressive leaders. At the time, I felt a personal call to action.

When I travelled to Argentina the first time, something changed. I stepped back from the U.S. political scene and felt for the first time like a citizen of the world instead of just the U.S. And so, all of a sudden, the squabbles between the Democrats and Republicans seemed ridiculous as viewed from afar. The content was not ridiculous. Far from it. But the way in which the conflict was carried out, with talking points, soundbites, and a lack of critical thought on both sides....was moronic. This is not to say that I quit my involvement in politics because I felt smarter than politics or better than politics. I think I instead suddenly realized the futility of my passion. And I became more interested in the bigger picture. I started to think more about Argentina and South America than I did the states. I began to pay more attention to Argentine newspapers than I did to papers in the states. I spent most of my spare time chatting with my online conversation partners in Argentina. Last year, in my head, I was already in Argentina, though my body was unhappily in the states.

When I moved down here, after a few months, my heart and mind moved in the opposite direction. I began following the election and most of the news in the states very closely, realizing through the financial crisis the importance of the states: we're the dog that wags the tail. I lost interest in the politics of Argentina. And I felt a renewed passion for politics in the states. But a quiet passion this time. Maybe a more grounded passion.

I felt ok with the idea that I would not be in the states to help with the election. Sure, I was shirking my civic duty. However, I packed many years worth of civic duty into 2004 and 2006. This was my election year off. Further, it was clear that Obama had almost all of the fervent support he needed. So many young people had stepped up to help him. My sense was that if he could win, he would have the money and volunteers to do so. My fear was that he couldn't win because he is half African-American. Or, the election would be rigged so it wouldn't matter.

So I think this time around, I didn't feel the pull or call to volunteer. And I'm in a selfish but necessary place in my life in which I'm powering up for my next stage, my next move. I'm physically and spiritually renewing myself to be involved in some type of new cause or project, whether it be a new job, family, house, business or all of the above.

In the end, the aforementioned is more than anything a big excuse for why I did next to nothing to help Obama become president. I needed to explain it to myself, to see it in words, and to know how I could be in such a different place in my life this time around. Nevertheless, to all those who did pour their hearts out and literally damage their health (Thanks Ed!) to get Obama elected, I thank you heartily. I'm thrilled about the idea of returning to a country led by such a thoughtful, inspirational, and intelligent guy. A truly sincere thank you!! More to come on my thoughts on an Obama presidency in the next post.