involved

Last week found myself at a Counting Crows concert. Not only did a I get a free lawn ticket for giving blood, I also found a friend to sneak me into the lower pavilion, so I was pretty excited about seeing them up close, since they are my 2nd favorite 90s band and all.

Anyway the show was unfortunately only so-so (they could take a lesson or two from HBF when it comes to playing live and song selection). I could ramble on about that but thats not the point of this post.

Adam Duritz talked a lot. I think he was a bit intoxicated or otherwise unbalanced. He mostly told stories about the songs I hadn't heard before, but at the end of the night went into the voting schpel, which went something like this, "I don't give a flying f*ck who you vote for, but please vote. America is to be involved"

America is to be involved...I like that. It makes me feel patriotic. :) I love that we have the opportunity to be involved, even if we don't always take advantage of it. I think things are generally better when we do. While the election is getting sort of draining, it is still exciting, because at the moment people are involved and caring.

ha ha

I just got my first piece of mail from Hilary Clinton: 

Barack Obama voted AGAINST protecting American families from predatory credit card interest rates of more than 30 percent. 

Oh my. I've been considering all the wrong issues. 

Ok, so I'm biased. I am not in credit card debt because a) I don't live beyond my means and b) I have been fortunate enough not to have to use credit to pay the bills and buy the essentials. So it strikes me as humorous that on the one mailer Hillary can afford to send, this is the issue it focuses on. I guess she had a short list to choose from. 

I don't know how she got my name and address. Maybe I'm just on the general democrat list now. As I've said earlier, I don't have anything against Hillary, but at this point in the game I think she best move on and put her efforts elsewhere. 

I got this note from my Grandma today: I approve of how your committing your political time. I'm spending a lot of time on the phone for the democratic party in general. Wish I had started being active younger.

4 days till the Indiana primary! I have signed up to be canvasing and giving rides to the polls. 

dems

Currently watching: Democratic debate

It is sort of fascinating. This is the first debate I've watched this election season. I'm learning heaps.

I like Hillary. If elected she'll do a good job. But Obama has just felt right, and after hearing more about their differences tonight, I have some information to back up that feeling.

All viable candidates must believe they are going to win. We saw two candidates drop out this week because they saw it was not realistic. But I don't think Hillary and Bill see any spec of doubt. An article in this week's Time magazine echoed my thoughts, "(Bill) Clinton remains one of the most popular Democrats alive; if he didn't think this would work, he would not put everything else he's worked for at risk". I can picture Obama winning. But I can't picture (the) Clinton(s) losing.

election grief

So...Mayor Peterson did not get reelected. What saddens me the most is the majority did not vote for Ballard, but rather against Peterson. It would be better if he had lost to a strong candidate. I am afraid of what this means for our city. I'm not the most knowledgeable on city government and don't know the history and the full story of what Bart has done for this city in the past 8 years...but my impressions are that he did a good job. He wasn't afraid of the big issues. He wasn't afraid to raise the taxes that provide support for the services the city needs to really become a world class city. And that caused him to lose votes.

In 2002 Peterson introduced The Blueprint to End Homelessness. The plan has it's flaws, and the city is a little behind on the steps it laid out, but it was a plan that acknowledged some of the flawed systems that cause homelessness and supported service providers by saying "yes this is a problem and we are working together to fix it!"

I don't know much about the new guy, but was told that in a debate he failed to demonstrate a real understanding of homelessness. So I don't know what will happen with the plan, or if the city will continue to provide the funds that service providers desperately need.

I know, I know, homelessness is not an issue that most people think of when they go to vote. There are bigger issues, like taxes. I think many voters failed to make the connection...no property tax = less funds for IPS = bad school system = bad kids = more crime! Critics of Peterson said he did not do enough to fight crime...I'd like to see what ideas the new guy has, because I think Bart was on the right track. Change takes time. It takes even longer when you have to turn the boat around and adjust to a new administration with new priorities.

Tonight I gathered for tea with a minister, a homeless coalition employee, and a city planner. The last 2 had a lot of interaction with the mayor and his staff, and had nothing but good things to say about them. We just sat there and grieved over the loss, and wondered what the next four years will bring.

So goodbye Bart (what a classy guy).