Lessons from the Fair.Five days politicking at the Deschutes County Fair taught me several things; some useful, some perhaps not. Useful? Stereotypes are made to be broken, but they can be somewhat amusing. My son had questioned why the people with the most overt expressions of patriotism (flags and eagles on apparel or tattoos), why they didn’t seem interested in talking politics? We speculated about some stereotypical “my country, love it or leave it” attitudes, then up comes a guy on the fourth day to break the break the pattern. What’s the catch? As soon as he opened his mouth it was apparent he was French! (And where the flag should have had stars, it had little hearts.) To be fair, later another guy came along with an Air Force ball cap, several flag pins, and a patriotic t-shirt. He was a well informed and open-minded. Stereotype busted. Not Useful? Some people just aren’t interested. They won’t make eye contact, they won’t acknowledge a greeting, and they might even cross to the other side of the path. I’m hoping there might be some subliminal impact on these people and when they hear about the campaign some months from now in the local media, they might say “Oh yeah, that’s the guy who was at the fair.” I know they read my banner – I could see their lips moving. Useful. Don’t overlook any interest angle or block of voters. Some are a bit obscure like the guy who was focused on government support for 4-H. Others are great potential resources. I had two people within about one hour wanting to discuss Native American issues. One gave me several phone numbers for the Warm Springs Confederated Tribes, and both encouraged me to learn more about the tribal issues and reach out to their leadership. In Oregon, where ten percent of the vote roughly equals a convention delegate, the Native American vote could be critical. Useful. The volunteers at the Ben Westlund booth (independent candidate for Governor); those enthusiastic folks, all looking for something different than the standard line from politicians, they’ll be without a cause after Election Day. I’m thinking that I should be building a relationship with that group. It was a long five days, but a good exercise. MichaelPrevious: Do I believe these things, -- Next: Extremists on the March? |
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