We Made It!

Election day 2006 was a crazy one for me.  I found a local Democratic candidate running for state senate.  This was my first job on a campaign.  The work seemed endless; not enough time in the day and not enough hands to get it all done.  No matter how many people were there, we still needed more.  I knew it would get crazy as we got closer to the big day, but I had NO IDEA it would get as crazy as this.

Novemeber 5th was a 10 hour day for me, and I got  home late but had to be up by 5:30AM to get ready, get out and vote and head for the office by 6:30AM.  I voted roughly after 6:00AM and got into the office about fifteen minutes later.  

Chaos immediately.  Campaign workers started calling my cell while I was still home actually.  Phones ringing, people in and out, questions to answer; flyers to be delivered, press calling and one nervous pacing man also known as the candidate right there making me even crazier.  The pace was fast, but my coffee kicked in.

There was one crisis after another to fix all day and night, but we all got through it and lived.

Finally, the polls closed by 9:00PM, and the numbers started rolling in.  Now this was the fun part.  Very exciting.  Calls were coming in like crazy and they were all asking what we knew about the outcome, but we wanted to know the same thing that they wanted to know.   The place was packed.  No where to stand barely.  Paychecks to campaign workers to cut, at a time like that!  Somehow, the secretary managed to pay some 35 people amid the chaos; some of those people, I later learned, went upstairs and found booze stored and started drinking, without me mind you.

Then, we has some sneaky Republican from the opponent’s side barge in.  What the hell was that about?  Because at this point, my guy was winning, and we were all dying to get some closure.  Did this strange man with the funny tie know something that made him come over? Should I sneak near the back office and listen?  Can’t I just ask him directly?  Of course not.

Hmmm.  Call the local news station, they are posting results online too slow for me.  “Uh, nothing on your district yet.”  Call the opposing side and pose as a supporter from outside so they won’t hear the noise and catch on – they are clueless as well.

Call the news station again.  Some bitch answers that doesn’t want to tell me anything.  Hey, I want the nice guy back on the phone!  No use, she’s cold and she’s staying cold.

Put someone else to call this time, someone with a different voice, a man, and YES, the nice guy picks up! I talk to him.  Still close, nothing new or final yet.

It is midnight.  I am delirious.  I am hungry.  I need a shower, a pillow, and my bed.   I have a child at home that will not sleep until I get back. Finally, without knowing the outcome, I leave the office.    In the taxi, I realize that in 6 more hours, I will have been awake for 24 hours.

About an hour later, I see the results online.  They are some 600 or 700 votes apart with my candidate losing.  It is two days later, and paper ballots have not been counted yet.  I do believe he will be seeking a recount. 

What an experience.  It was hard, but I knew I wanted to support my party, and it felt GREAT to be a part of it.  I think that we all did good, we being Democrats, this year.  We had all had enough of Bush and the Republicans, so we fought back.  And we DID IT!  One by one,  step by step.  I think it was a massive effort made on the part of so many people across the country that worked even harder than me.

I don’t know all of these people individually, but how can I thank them?  To all of you that got out there and invested of yourself to make this change happen, feel proud of yourself.  Feel proud that we’ve restored faith in checks and balances; we’ve put Bush and company in their place at last.  I don’t know anything else – at the moment - that can make any of us more proud.  We made it happen!  And now the real work begins.