Saturday June 23 Interview with the union

Primo had an interview today with a bunch of union representatives so they could decide whether to endorse him. He was number gajillion of the candidates that they saw. They were running late, so we sat in another room at the Brewers' Local #89 and waited. No beer. You would think they would have beer.

Primo had been worried that he might be dressed too casually in khakis and a short-sleeved collared shirt.

Ha.

As if.

There were eleven interviewers. I saw three pairs of tennies, three pairs of butt-ugly sandals, and three pairs of Crocs. Which are the nastiest things you can put on your feet unless you're working in the garden. But outside of the house? No. Just no.

Jeans and t-shirts with political slogans.

Primo and I were easily the best-dressed people in the room.

Although there are those who would point out that this was not a beauty contest.

They asked Primo how he could win in the district considering that the veteran legislator who had held the seat for years didn't even bother to run because he was so sure it was a lost cause after the redistricting. "Why are you being the sacrificial lamb?" they asked. "Where will you get money?"

From you guys! I wanted to shout. Isn't that how this works?

Primo said, "I need to do more fundraising. I can do some self funding, but I hope to keep that to a minimum."

"As does his wife," I commented.

The guy who had greeted us chimed in. "Primo has Samantha as his campaign manager. She ran A's campaign last year and B's campaign this spring. She has very strong Polka Dot credentials and only takes on the best candidates."

The leader looked doubtful. "What's your message?" she asked.

"I've been an engineer for the past 26 years. I'm not a politician," Primo said. "I'm a new Polka Dot. I don't want to do things the old way."

The room was full of Old Polka Dots.

"If we want to get anything done, we have to be able to work across the aisle."

The Old Polka Dots nodded in agreement, but I think their idea of "across the aisle" is "the other side does everything our way."