Bringing the Personal Back Into Politics

This past weekend, I received an unexpected knock on my door. I opened it to find a grown up and two young kids (I'm guessing "Dad" with "son" and "son's bestest friend who son HAD to have with him or he wouldn't go with Dad".)

"Dad" was trying to educate folks on an upcoming ballot initiative in my county - and I suppose since it had to do with the education of the younger portion of the population (K-12), bringing along the youngsters was a good move. I mean ... are ya' gonna say "no! I'm against education and the arts! No field trips anymore - more math pop quizzes and history exams!" when there's two sets of little kiddo eyes lookin' right at ya'? Of course you aren't. You're gonna do the responsible adult thing - ask how the funds will be raised, ask who gets to decide the distribution of said funds, ask who is opposing the initiative and based on what arguments ...

And what I noticed while this conversation was going on between "Dad" and I was how calm and controlled the boys were being. They weren't tugging on him, they weren't plugged into any sort of music, they weren't running about ... they seemed to be genuinely listening to our exchange, and I was very impressed. If this was an example of kids *on* art, I was all for it.

I asked "Dad" if my voting for a tax that I wouldn't have to pay since I'm not landowner in this county didn't seem a bit unfair. And "Dad" responded by saying that while I wouldn't be paying the tax, I would receive the benefits of having children in my neighborhood who understood the value of art ... of music ... of culture and that if I was pro that, I could do my part by backing those programs in the community. And, let me add too that "Dad" said this in a way that wasn't the least bit condescending or judgemental. At the end of our conversation, "son's bestest friend who son HAD to have with him or he wouldn't go with Dad" handed me a small slip of paper that outlined the information we'd discussed, "son" reminded me to recycle the paper after the election and everyone wished each other a good day. It was probably the nicest political conversation I've had in a year.

I bring all this up because I just got a call on my cellular phone. It was a recording by an official whose name and title was rattled off wicked fast and sans any emotion and the next 75 seconds (I checked my cell phone record) was an uninspired and unemotional demand (not request - a demand) that this same measure on the ballot be defeated for reasons that I would have questions about - if I'd been given the chance to ask. The call concluded with a url to a website being recited so quickly that I couldn't even type it out on my keyboard fast enough to catch it.

Will I vote to pass the initiative based solely on either of these experiences? No, but I'm sure gonna have a pretty big bias as I read through the details.