Election Day did have some bright spots for me, actually. I confirmed the whereabouts of Mike Easley when he showed up for his victory speech. My Libertarian friend and fellow blogger Wade pulled in an eye-popping fifteen percent of the vote for his district. That’s an amazing total for a Libbie, but it’s no surprise to me. Wade’s a super guy and deserved every vote he got, and then some.
In another N.C. House race, a guy I campaigned for, Grier Martin won a seat in my district against Don Munford. I met Grier for the first time at the Kerry-Edwards rally, where he was a fellow veteran supporting Kerry. We were two of the few there who weren’t vets of Vietnam or Korea, so we kind of stood out. It wasn’t until I saw how he knew damn near every politician onstage that I put together that his father is D. G. Martin, longtime administrator of the UNC system.
Offhandedly, I offered to help in his campaign. He handed me a cheap, ink-jet-printed business card and vowed he would call. A few weeks later, he called saying he would be drilling with his Army National Guard unit that weekend and was looking for volunteers to help canvass neighborhoods. Having some free time, and wanting to learn more about politics, I joined them.
I’d like to think the four hours spent knocking on doors helped get him elected. Pundits agree about the importance of the “ground game.” In reality, though, it was probably the $330,000 his campaign spent on TV ads, mailings, and signs that put him over the top. The margin of victory was a mere 566 votes, a hundred of which I might have added by walking neighborhoods.
So what did I learn? Politics takes some good, comfortable shoes. It takes perseverence. And if happen to have a third of a million bucks, that helps too.
I was at the convention center for Easley’s speech. I wasn’t feeling well and left before Bowles showed up to concede, which was good for me. I prefer not to wallow in depression in public.