This past Friday, my pal Steve DuBois and I went up to the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe. There, in that time-honored fair tradition, we perused the Republican and Democratic party booths (both of Snohomish). Being young, gullible, conservative types, we picked up a couple of Bush signs to stick in the windows of our homes. It was then that we hit upon an excellent idea: my friend would get a Kerry/Edwards sign, I would hold our Bush signs, and we would both gauge the reaction of the ordinary folks in the crowd. Steve went back to the Democratic booth, and asked the nice, red-beret-wearing (I’m not kidding) lady for a Kerry sign.
“That’ll be $2,” she said, somewhat haggardly.
“Two bucks, for a sign?” asked my incredulous friend.
“Yes, please.”
“But the Bush/Cheney signs are free…”
“Bush has all the money, so his signs don’t cost anything. We, on the other hand, need to buy more signs…”
So, being a good sport, my buddy produced the $2 and paid her. Wracked by guilt, I gave him a dollar to help defray the cost of out first political donation, ironically, to a party which neither of us will vote for come November.
Anyway, for the rest of the afternoon, we walked around the fair with our signs, producing a great myriad of reactions, with everything from “where can I get one (of the Bush signs)?”, to “uggh, a Kerry fan, let’s go this way (around them).”
I have to be honest and say that Monroe is definitely Republican-country. We did have one very interesting conversation, however, with a self-described, very polite, “nominal Kerry supporter”. When asked about how he felt about President Bush, especially with the Republican National Convention happening this week, he admitted to us that he had, at one time, been a “fiscally-responsible” Republican, of the Gerald Ford-ilk, but that he had switched parties after Reagan.
I found this curious, and pressed him for an explanation for his change-of-party. He explained that our current-day Republicans, and particularly our president, were irresponsibly spending huge sums of money on fruitless military actions, driving up the national deficit, and, in general, making a bad name for America everywhere. “Plus,” he pointed out, “Bush is as dumb as the dirt you’re standing on.” My reply was that he sure is down to earth (all right, that wasn’t too funny). And shouldn’t fighting a global war on terrorism cost money, as well as make a few people a little miffed at us?
We were pressed for time, and had to end our conversation there (amicably, as it turned out; he couldn’t believe my “democratic” friend and I got along so well). This man was a thoughtful, nice person, with real concerns. I respected him, and he respected me. We had a good little talk, in the middle of a bunch of farm animals and caramel apples, and shared a laugh or two.
I encourage all of us to discuss our differing political views, to dissect them, to think about them, and give each other the benefit of the doubt, especially during this week of convention coverage. Although you might not accidentally donate a dollar to your not-so-favorite political party (oops ;-), you might get an interesting discussion or two out of it. Just like here, on the Backyard Blog.
“Freedom is hammered out on the anvil of discussion, dissent, and debate.”
-Hubert H. Humphrey (1911–1978), U.S. Democratic politician, vice president. Speech, June 6, 1965, Syracuse University, N.Y
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