It would be...it would be so nice, if we took a holiday

I return from my posting vacation, and my real vacation. I come back to an office full of insanity. I'm mentally fried and it's Tuesday of my first week back. I'm also wicked tired, and beginning to get sick. Though Jen is considerably more ill than I. She was running a solid fever and since we returned to the Great Northwest...well she's been fighting a nasty bug. So that's the bad stuff.

The good stuff. Thanksgiving was great. I was able to meet Jen's folks. I liked them, and was told that the feelings are "mutual." In less than a month Jen gets to meet my folks, I trust they will love her as I do. While in Boston I got to see Mark and Stacy and Brian. We (Mark et all) went to the North End and I ate a canoli for the first time. I have but two questions. Why have these tasty Italian delights been kept from me all these years? On whom should I unleash my gourmandic rage? Walked on the beach with Jen and her family. Cold. Seriously cold. But the sun was setting and the moon was full and out. There were photos taken, and hopefully they'll capture the beauty of the moment. After that it was time for fried squishy clams. These are clams in direct contrast to my normal choice of strip clams. Another first, squishy clams, are not nearly as good as canoli, but good nonetheless.

Went with Mark and Brian to hear Ben Ginsberg (he of the SBVFT and the chief lawyer for BC04). Trippi is a visiting fellow at the Kennedy School. And he (Trippi) invited BG to talk to students. It was fine. Ginsberg mentioned mandate every few sentences. He also seemed to receive erotic pleasure from uttering the words micro targeting. It's like something in his scrotal sac just tenses with glee whenever he got to say those words. And if psych 100 taught me anything (and that's questionable) its that animals will repeatedly push levers (say words) if it gives them pleasure. So in short we got to hear a lot about micro targeting. Except Ben never said what it was. Just that they (Republicans) had used it and that it helped them to get their mandate. I asked a question and was misunderstood. Then sorta ignored. Hooray! I wish I'd asked about Ken Mehlman and his man dates. But then I'd have been rude.

Work is maddening. I'm not sure if I'm going to make it till the summer. In fact some days I wonder if I'll make it to lunch. My boss is dead set on doing things his way and is convinced that he is smarter than me, than everyone at ACT, than everyone at EMILY's LIST, than everyone at MOVEON. He compared himself to Bill Gates last week. Explaining that I should believe his claim that we'll raise 2 million dollars this year (though we only raised 199K last year) because like Bill Gates he has a plan. Asked what the plan is...he stammered and changed the subject. I believe he may also have a secret plan to get us out of the war in Vietnam. Not certain about that. He is working to systematically prevent others in the office from helping to make the PAC more effective. "The buck stops here," he says, as though that were to fill me with confidence. He's not taking ownership of our failures...those are always outsourced. He just wants to make all the decisions. Yippee! Anyone out there who knows of good jobs in Seattle or ones opening up in September in Boston, Providence, New Haven, NYC, Baltimore, DC or Raliegh....let me know.

Helpful Instructions

While my boss is in Cancun I've been taking it a bit easier.

Here are the instructions for what I should do in his absence:

"List different options for your future projects. Develop contigency plans for the different options...ie, it this is adopted or happens/then we develop a plan to deal with it this way."

Well...it's possible that I could develop a mannequin made of i-pods, paper mache, tennis balls and beaver pelts that will take the fashion world by storm with its slender torso and shapely legs. This could prompt the PAC to shift it's focus to haute couture. And in so doing we might suggest that all Democratic candidates change their last names to Vitton.

Contigency plans: Do we have enough beaver pelts? Won't the primaries be confusing if all the names are the same.

See....fun stuff.

Updates

For whatever reason, I've found myself writing less and less here. I'm not sure why that is. I have a new site. It's a collaboration with JKD, Chris Warshaw, James Burris, Will Singer, and I've invited others... to join. The basic premise is that we need to spend more time talking about how we talk about issues. I read George Lakoff's book Don't Think of an Elephant, it's all about frames and framing and reclaiming language. Got me thinking. so I have this new site: words that work.

I'm still playing loads of frisbee. And while I'm enjoying it, I think I need either a more pleasant team or a better one. Ideally both. I play with fine people, but more than just a few of them grate on my nerves. And it's hard to be developing as a long when the team has so few handlers. There just aren't that many people on our team with a 30 yard forehand, let alone with a 50 yarder.

Work is coming along fine. 2 of our candidates won. Tom has been making calls to our donors to thank them and update them. This has gone over very well. I'm currently printing (in batches of 25) 2476 envelopes and then stamping them. Then we'll all stuff and seal. Should take the better part of forever. But it's not too stressful, and frankly that's just fine with me.

Jen and I are doing really well. I'm feeling good about us, and know that moving here was the right decision.

I feel myself in a bit of a funk, I'd like to be moving towards some professional goal. And I just keep thinking that I don't know what I want to do. Similarly I wonder if I'm good at the things I'd like to be. Writing, analysis...etc. So I think part of the next few months will be reading more political books, trying to learn more, and also trying to think about what questions I'd like to be a part of answering. That seems like a good start for grad school. Then maybe over the summer I'll start to study for the GRE.

Dean for DNC Chair

http://www.drafthoward.com/

It would be a strange thing to find that I liked our party chair. How odd would it be to want to work for the DNC? Also...imagine if the national party hired people who were passionate. Thrilling, right.

Random Thoughts from a stunned observer

I think that Bush won for some of the same reasons that Paul won elections. People think : "I may not like his opinion, but I know where he stands." He's plain spoken, so being wrong or right is better if you do it while not sounding too smart.

In the end moral recklessness posing as messianic certainty beat temperate and longwinded governance.

My PAC got destroyed. We basically lost all of the races we tried to influence, and happened two win two races that were easy pickups (where other groups did all the lifting). I don't know what that says about my judgement, or abilities--or if it says anything at all. I know I'm going to have to spend the next few months trying to keep this organization a float...and trying to pick better races next time.

I passed three homeless guys as I came into work this morning. Four more years....

Reality

It appears as though reality is losing out to blind faith. The faith based community has taken over for reality--I'm terrified.

Oh, and the millions spent on young voters has not increased young person turnout.

Why Is This Our Country

What has happened to the country I once believed in? The country where the government was not an instrument of a party. It seems the one thing that unifies this country is its hatred for gays and lesbians.

I am full of sorrow.

To Those on the Ground...

An email I got from Tim Connolly (my boss on the Dean campaign)... It was sent around Thanksgiving, but the senitment is appropriate for today and certainly for tomorrow.

Today each of you, in your own way, celebrates the spirit ofThanksgiving Day (if not the actual event itself, since it does, inessence, commemorate the beginning of the systematic destruction ofthe lives and culture of those who occupied this land long before our European-centric ancestors showed up. But I digress). Each of you has a particular reason for giving thanks today. For some, it will be for the friends and family with whom you will surroundyourself throughout the day. For others, it will be for theaccomplishments already achieved, and the prospect of greater successin the future. And for the Governor, it will be for the return of aloved one long lost, and the closure that goes with that. And in homes across this nation, in living rooms and around diningtables, folks whose lives you are trying to improve through your workon this campaign will also sit down, and give thanks for themselvesand their families. And those individuals and families who have no homes, and who are sitting down to a meal served in a homelessshelter, community center, or church basement, they, too, will give community it embodies, a community that you and others like you are helping build. They may not know of you or your sacrifices, nor the long hours and tireless efforts made on their behalf. But rest assured that they have been affected by those efforts.

Teddy Roosevelt once wrote, "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

The credit for this campaign, and the change is has and will bring in the lives of so many people in Iowa and around the world, belongs to each of you. By "daring greatly" each day, you bring real hope to our fellow citizens as they go about their lives, a hope for a better future for themselves and their children, and a hope that -- on Thanksgiving 2004 --the future they dream of today day will be that much closer to reality with Howard Dean as the president-elect. Enjoy your rest over these next few days, and be ready for the real fight that begins on your return
Connolly

So while the names have changed, the senitment remains. I am proud of and grateful to my many friends who continue to work on the ground in this election. My office tomorrow will be making GOTV calls in New Mexico (tight Congressional race where we've endorsed, and a close state for Kerry). I know many of my new friends in Seattle have canvassed, called, donated, and aided in other ways. But my lasting goes to people like (I'll forget some, and for that I apologize)
Brian Fusco--for packing up and moving to La Crosse, setting up shop, and owning the west coast for Russ.
Buffy for defying the odds, beating the shit out of the CEA, embarassing the GOP and Democratic establishment with her methods, her personal approach and her tenacity.
Molly for organizing canvassers to basically destroy all opposition in Milwaukee
Mahood--trying to convince Nader 2000 supporters in New Hampshire to be a part of helping America instead of getting off on their own power trip
Emily Thorson--blogging a storm, making SEIU cool and high tech
Allison Stuntz--telling the world what to think, helping to keep voters in line for a little longer, so we get just a few more votes
JKD--shipping shirts and taking names for Run Against Bush
Ben Clark--talking smack and takin' names for Run Against Bush
Jake, Matt and Matt for soldiering on in Wisconsin, seeking out roles in the field, new partners, and bringing Russ home to victory.
Marc Baranov--keeping hope alive for Dave Thomas
Brian Miller--same for Richard Romero
Courtney--same for Tony Knowles
Maureen Meyer--same for Dave Franker
Robert Richman/Dan Cramer/GRS/--making ACT kick some serious ActSS in Minnesota. Paul's state must not be red.
Connolly--saving America from evil, inspiring a Iowa's organizers....helping old people to vote in Florida, and ensuring that I still believe that there is a place for someone who still believes in the power of words and the power of an incredible goal.

I'm sure I'm forgetting people, and I promise it's only because I'm tired.

Go forth and do good.