future voter demographic

I was talking to a few kids who come to Wednesday night stuff at the church.  They are in elementary school and they were busy telling me what they would be for Halloween, the party at school, the trick-or-treating. One of the boys suddenly sat up straight in his chair and said “You know what’s better than getting candy?  Voting.”  So I inquired if they would be voting at school to which both nodded vigorously “yes.”  The one said “I’m voting for Obama, but not just because I’m black.  I believe what he says.”  The boy next to him, in response to this statement said “Well I’m voting for him because I’m black.”  We then talked about what an important, historical election this was.

It made me remember when my 3rd grade class divided into 3 campaigns for the candidates running in 1980: Reagan, Carter, and Independent John Anderson.  I was on the Anderson campaign, and we were hungry for the swing votes.  Our platform: new playground equippment, pop machines, and McDonald’s in the lunchroom.  Chewing gum during class seemed so passe, and ultimately sunk both Reagan and Carter campaigns.  The swing votes were tired of hearing the same old thing from them and Anderson won by a landslide, to thunderous beating on desk tops and to chants of “An-DER-son!  An-DER-son! An-DER-son!”

I shudder now to see all our campaign promises were fulfilled, just after our term in office.

people have the power

It was an innocent statement made on the bus tonight.  One of the riders calls his home “the white house.”  So tonight he said, “We’ll drive us to Washington D.C in 3 hours.  That’s where I’ll stay tonight.”

There were only 3 of us left on the bus: the driver, the white house resident, and me.  

The bus driver is a man of few words.  I ask him about his other jobs, his family, and he answers my questions.  And that’s about that.  This man of few words, well, lets just say he used them all up tonight. From the time that statement was made until the bus driver and I got back to church, he talked about fiscal policy, the war in Iraq, Wall Street, oil, Georgia, Russia, the energy policy of the United States, George Bush, Bill Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama.  

My favorite parts of his rant were:

•  When he’d raise his fist in that “people have the power” sort of way.  More than once.  And his voice would be at a fevered pitch.
• Usually, before a fist-raising statement, he’d say “Listen to me.”
• Now picture it and hear it with a thick Jamaican, former Texan, accent.  Ok, you can’t hear a drawl at all.

I loved how surprised I was by this eloquent, impassioned rant from this man of few words.

I came right home and listened to Patti Smith’s “People Have the Power.”  Go ahead.  Give it a listen.