Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Wednesday November 7 The people speak

Here are some of the emails and facebook posts Primo got.

First, from Ted. Again, not useful. We were not looking for solid life experience.

Solid effort and I'm sure you gained significant life experiences!
love ted


From Mark Smith, his opponent.

Primo, you ran an impressive campaign. It was a pleasure to get to know you over the course of the race and I look forward to meeting up with you for a beer.  
Primo's response to Mark.

Thank you, Mark. You're a good man and an impressive politician; you worked hard and earned my respect along with your victory. Thank you for running a clean and positive campaign. As you said on the phone, "it's nice to run against a gentleman." Congratulations!

From my sister.

I am so proud of my brother-in-law, Primo, who had a vision, and worked hard on his campaign. And proud of my sister,the Gold Digger, who stood by his side to help him reach his dream. You might not have won at the polls but you ran a great race.

From a work friend.

Proud to be friends with Primo. He didn't win, but he stepped into the fray and lent his voice and energy to the political process. 

From Primo's stepdaughter.

If I lived out there I would have voted for you -and not because I love you but because I BELIEVE in you:) so proud of you for finishing the race! You crossed the finish line..now time to train for the next!

From my sister in law (for extra credit, contrast her note to Ted's).

GD, I'm sorry about Primo, but I am proud of him for all his hard work and efforts. He believed in something and ran with it. His day will come!!! Love you both....xoxoxox <3

From my friends on FB.

You both are better people for trying something new and will do better next time. At least Primo won't be lying in bed 20 years from now tossing and turning, wishing he had tried to make a difference. Be Proud Kiddo!

I'm so sorry!!!! if it had been possible, it would have been an honor to vote for Primo.

Primo and GD, we are so proud of you both. I know you are disappointed and sad today, but hold your heads up high...you put yourselves out there (literally) and that's more than most people.

We were watching the returns online last night -- so sorry about the outcome! Just move back to Texas already. We'll appreciate Primo down here.

So sorry to hear that Primo didn't make it but I am proud of both of you for your hard work and dedication!

You both have put more into the democratic process than most of us will in a lifetime. Be proud of your efforts

I am so proud to be your friends and appreciate all the time and effort and integrity you put into our political process. I'm sorry for the outcome and hope you get some down time now.

Well good for Primo for getting involved in the process. Most of us just whine and do nothing. Proud of you both.

Considering what it takes to run for an office, you both deserve congratulations for just getting that far. Your people will be missing out.


We also got a note from Sam's wife and for the life of me I cannot remember what her dom d'blog is. She said she and Sam would like to give more financial help:

Also, if we can be of any financial help when all is said and done please let us know; I'm sure there are a lot of expenses. My mom has offered further support, as well.

How nice was that? We turned her down, of course, but what a generous offer to make, especially after they had already contributed $1,000.

Wednesday Nov 7 Will there be more?

Primo has already gotten two calls from voters asking if he'll be running again in two years.

I am inclined to say no, unless someone else wants to fund this campaign.

Wednesday Nov 7 The concession

What Primo posted on his facebook page after he and Mark Smith spoke:

To my family, friends, campaign staff, volunteers, donors, and the more than 14,000 voters who cast ballots for me: Thank you! Although yesterday's result was not what we hoped for, it was a good showing in a very difficult district against a worthy opponent. I am proud of this accomplishment, and it would not have been possible without your support and encouragement. I've received many messages of thanks and sympathy that are truly appreciated. I intend to respond to each message, but it may take me a little while to catch up!

Mark Smith worked hard, ran a clean campaign, and earned his victory along with my respect. Although we disagree on many issues, he is a good man and we share some common ground. He and I have spoken today, and we've agreed to meet soon for a social visit. Especially because the (very well-received) theme of my campaign was working together, I suggest that we all try to work with Mark and ask him to help create a more civil and cooperative atmosphere in the capitol when the new legislative session begins.


What Mark posted on Primo's page:

Primo -- you ran an impressive campaign. It was a pleasure to get to know you over the course of the race and I look forward to meeting up with you for a beer.

Unlike · · November 7 at 9:51am
  • You, Lauren  and 5 others like this.
  • Primo Thank you, Mark. You're a good man and an impressive politician; you worked hard and earned my respect along with your victory. Thank you for running a clean and positive campaign. As you said on the phone, "it's nice to run against a gentleman." Congratulations!

Wednesday Nov 7 The results

We are sad.

41%. That's what Primo got.

But that's more than MaryJane got, so there is a victory of some sort.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Tuesday Nov 6 Waiting for the results‏

It's 10:30 p.m. and Primo is behind 29% to 71%. But that's only 14% of the vote. It could turn around. I'm going to bed. I hate this.

Tuesday Nov 6 Primo is weary‏

Primo brought me home from party #2 and then left again for party #3 downtown with the big cheese Polka Dots. "Don't let the car get towed this time," I warned.

"I'm going to sleep late tomorrow," he said, "and then I'm not going to take a shower. I've taken a shower every day since August 24. I'm not going to shower tomorrow."

Tuesday Nov 6 Election Day - the parties‏

Party #1:
I had to go to some election night parties with Primo. Trust me, not how I want to spend my time. I don't want to go to Polka Dot parties, I don't want to go to Stripes parties. I AM DONE WITH POLITICS! I especially don't want to go to a party where the attendees are hissing at the Stripes politicians on the screen. Really? So elegant.

The first party was hosted by two candidates. I thought Primo and I had made our escape - I was waiting in the front of the restaurant for him to say his goodbyes after we had been there for over an hour, but then he came out to bring me back in. "They're going to acknowledge me in their speeches," he said. "I want you there."

I rolled my eyes, sighed, and walked back in. He stood in the front with the candidates. I stood in the back.

Some guy - not one of the candidates - was speaking. Droning. About how the fight would continue against (the Koch Brothers/George Soros/pick your own evil rich person or family). He wouldn't shut up. My feet started to hurt. I was getting annoyed. I would have read something interesting on my smartypants phone but I couldn't get a connection in the restaurant, which is consistent with my other experience with T-Mobile. That is, it works great in my house, where I have a computer and a phone, but it rarely works when I am away from the house and a connection would be useful.

He finally shut the heck up.

But then Candidate #1 got up and took the microphone.

Candidate #1 is a talker. At least she does not drone, but who wants to listen to political speeches? Even if you agree with the person, you have to admit that political speeches are boring. 

She talked and talked and talked. She thanked everyone who had helped her and introduced them all to the crowd. As if we cared. Then she asked all the children in the room to come up to the stage. Primo looked at me and laughed. I rolled my eyes. We both knew what was coming: A "It's for the leetle cheeldren!" speech. 

And indeed it was. Primo looked at me again, biting his lip and trying not to laugh. I just rolled my eyes and scowled. My feet hurt and I was bored stiff. Man, I hate politics.

Then she launched into the women in politics discourse and how she was doing it for the women. As if only a woman can represent another woman. And only a man can represent another man. I guess I need to vote only for middle-aged, plump, Scandanvian women who dye their hair Clairol #24 Clove. How can anyone else ever understand me and my needs?


Party #2: 

We got to Party #2. Every seat is taken as people stare at the TV. There is nowhere to sit. The hostess asks if she can take my coat. It's freezing inside the house, so I decline. She offers food, but we are not hungry - we ate at Party #1, which, to its credit, had good food.

I am not interested in watching political analysis on TV. It's only 8:00 p.m. The polls are just closing in our time zone. There is still one more time zone to go. We won't know anything for a while about the president and really, I don't care about the president. There is nothing I can do about the presidential race. I can just hope for my candidate.

What I really want to know is about Primo's race and they're not reporting on that. The president will be who the president will be, people! Watching the analysis won't change the outcome!

Samantha and her husband are at the party. They are in the dining room, looking at the local newspaper online, checking local results. Which of course are not in yet because the polls just closed.

I turn my back to Samantha. I don't want to talk to her. 

I look at the desserts. All store bought.

Some store-bought stuff is OK, but I am not impressed with the selection. I guess I should have brought something but I didn't know. Primo did bring wine.

I look for the bathroom, just so I can have a place to be alone. I walk into the kitchen and discover why it's so cold: the kitchen window is open. Closing it would solve a lot of the problem, but it's not my house so it's not my call. I just keep my coat on.

Then I notice the cats. I can always hang out with cats. I sit on a box in the kitchen next to one cat and stroke it until it loses patience and saunters away.

I return to the dining room, hoping that Primo won't want to stay long. I see MaryJane. She starts talking to me.

I have to stay far enough back not to be assaulted by her two-pack-a-day breath. It is just foul. She is talking about the candidate forum that she and Primo participated in.

"At first, I thought the Stripes were evil," she says, "but my opinion changed after the forum. Now I think they're just robots who can't function without a script."

Well. If your opponent is an evil robot who can't function without a script, then there is no need to address the actual issues, is there? I am confident that MaryJane will win her district with that compelling campaign strategy.

Primo shakes his head. "My opponent is a good guy," he says. "He's a good politician. We agree on some things."

"But he didn't even know about [legislation that was passed last session]! He voted on it! And he didn't know!" MaryJane protests.

I agree that it was bad that Mark didn't remember that legislation, but to be honest, it was stupid and pointless legislation. More accurately, it was legislation to correct a stupid and pointless law that had been passed in the previous session by the Polka Dots. In light of everything else that went on last year, I guess I'm not surprised that stupid and pointless laws about stupid and pointless laws didn't stick in his mind. He should have remembered. But that didn't mean he was an evil robot. 

"Are you going to call [your opponent] if you lose?" Primo asks MaryJane.

MaryJane scoffs. "I don't owe him a thing!"

I am shocked. "But isn't that how it's done? That you call and concede?"

I don't know if that's how it's done. Maybe it's not. "Won't it hurt you later if you don't?"

MaryJane shakes her head. "The people in my neighborhood won't care. And he's going to do such damage that I don't have to do anything. If he wins, I might call him tomorrow."

Primo says, "If I lose, I'll call Mark tonight."

That's because Primo is not a jerk.

Tuesday Nov 6 A voter emails Primo

Joe Blow jblow@sbcglobal.net
Oct 18

to friends

Hi Primo,  You stopped by house last week. 1745 Main St.  You made a great impression, but I feel you may have misrepresented yourself to me.   Now I see your yard sign in yards with folks who have [Polka Dot presidential candidate] signs.  I'm confused.    If you support [the PD guy] and his policies and ideals, then don't count on my vote.

Nice to meet you!  Best of luck in the vote!
Joe Blow
  
Friends of Primo friendsofprimo@gmail.com
Nov 6 (1 day ago)

to Joe
Joe,

I am very sorry to have overlooked your message last month.  I thought I had responded to every e-mail from a potential voter, but I discovered tonight that I had begun typing a response to you, saved it as a draft, and then forgotten about it.

My commitment is to represent everyone in the new House district.  I think the new district lines call for a balanced approach, and I plan to stake out some moderate positions instead of following in lockstep with the agenda of any party or interest group.

I am the Polka Dot on the ballot for this House seat (and my opponent is a Stripe), but I have never held elective office and am not receiving support from the state party.  My moderate approach has been somewhat controversial; one of the mailers I sent out got the attention of Channel 39's political reporter, who lives in the district and came to my house for an interview.  My opponent was also interviewed for the news story; he claimed that I am trying to mislead voters, but that isn't true.  I am married to a Stripe and have to "work across the aisle" every day.  If I'm elected, the first thing I'm going to do is try to make friends with the two leading moderates in the legislature, Senators Jack and Jane.

Because I am the Polka Dot in this race, it should be expected that some of my supporters also have [PD presidential candidate] signs.  I also have some supporters who are voting for [the Stripes guy].

I'm trying to get voters to think about me and my moderate approach to this very diverse district instead of just thinking about a Polka Dot vs. a Stripe.  If that way of thinking appeals to you, I'd be honored to have your support.  Thank you for the good wishes!

Best regards,
Primo
Apple User
Nov 6 (1 day ago)

to friends
Hi--- Thanks for your response. I am a political junkie, but I may be sitting out the election, the first one in my 24 years of voting.   None of the major candidates are worthy my vote.

Joe
Apple User
9:34 AM (4 hours ago)

to friends
I voted,  I actually voted for you!  Not sure if you won, but best of luck and don't give up! 
Joe

Tuesday Nov 6 Primo is resigned

A sense of calm has overtaken Primo. I called him from work at lunchtime. "I'm probably going to lose," he said, "but that's OK. At least I'll be losing to someone who worked hard and isn't a jerk. I don't want to go back to my job, but it's a good job and I work with good people. It could be a lot worse."

Wow. Primo. Making the best of it. That is not a skill he learned from Sly and Doris, whose motto, were it to be engraved on a crest, would surely be, "He who whines last whines best." Or maybe, "Nobody is worthy of us." Or, "Everything sucks and I get despondent."


"Isabel sent me a text," he said. "She wished me luck."

Wow! Even Isabel is being gracious. The last we heard from her, in September, when Primo called to remind her that the five years of alimony had come to an end, was that she wanted more money.

Honey. You're an honors graduate from a top school. You signed the decree. You've known from day 1 that the alimony would end. You should have been planning for it.

Primo's best friend Sam called him on Sunday to wish him luck. A bunch of his friends have put messages on facebook wishing him well. We are all hoping.

Tuesday Nov 6 Election Day‏

Primo and I are as nervous as a couple of cats at a rocking chair convention.

My alarm went off at 6:30, but I was awake at 5:45. So was he. Nervous, nervous, nervous.

I voted. Stood in line for half an hour, which I have never had to do before. But I have never voted at 7:30 a.m. before, either. 


I saw that there was a bake sale just inside. Cool. The intersection of capitalism and democracy!

I was not so impressed once I was inside and could hear one of the woman working the sale. She wouldn't shut up, talking about how the sale was a fundraiser (which is fine) for the fifth graders to participate in a dance program (also fine). What bugged me was that it was a "freewill" sale. That is, they weren't going to tell us how much the brownies cost. We had to decide what they were worth to us, which I suppose actually is capitalism at its purest. But I do not like bargaining and I don't like deciding what a worthwhile price is for a charity, so I didn't get anything.

I picked up a sample ballot once I got inside. Actually, I took two: one for us to keep and one to send to my mother, along with copies of all of Primo's campaign literature.

Later, Primo asked me why I hadn't gotten a copy for his parents.

Ha.

Anyhow, I grabbed two sample ballots and looked for Primo's name.

It was there! Way at the bottom, after Barak Obama and Mitt Romney, but it was there.

The guy behind me asked if I was deciding who to vote for.

I decided not to give him my speech about how if you don't know who you're voting for by the time you get to the polls, then you shouldn't be voting.

Instead, I pointed to Primo's name and said, "My husband is on the ballot!" I wasn't sure if that was electioneering - probably not. I was just stating a fact.

He peered over my shoulder. "Oh!" he said. "He's a Polka Dot! I always vote for Polka Dots!"

I said, "Well, we're really hoping people will evaluate him as a person, not as part of one party or another." But my breath was wasted. How do you evaluate someone while you're at the polls? Plus it was a vote for Primo, so I was going to take it.

I got my ballot. Voted. Put it in the machine. Looked at the clock.

8:04. My bus left at 8:08. Three blocks away. Rats. I would have to wait for the 8:37. 

But I thought, "I should at least run. I should try."

I ran. As I got to the cross street, I saw the bus pass. Curses. I missed it by seconds. But when I got to the corner, it was still stopped at the other end of the block. I waved my arms as I ran awkwardly, trying to keep my gym bag and my purse on my shoulder. 

The bus waited! I couldn't believe it!

Then I got on the bus. Nope. Not waiting for me. There was an older lady interrogating the driver about routes. Whatever. She took long enough that I made it.

Looked at Mark Smith's facebook page when I got to work. He wrote a few weeks ago that he had introduced legislation requiring the "Do not call" lists to apply to politicians. I almost sent him a message telling him that Primo and I, after our experience making the political calls, had decided that would be Primo's first legislation if he were elected.

I am happy at the hard work Primo has done. Happy at the support. Happy that his ex-wife sent him a text wishing him luck. Now we wait.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Monday Nov 5 And now we wait

Primo and I just returned from our last lit drop session. We dropped over 600 pieces of literature today. Maybe we should have been doing that every weekend. I for sure would fit into the Thin Jeans by now.

It's 9:27. We finished the last territory and we decided it was creepy to be opening screen doors to insert the lit after dark. I wouldn't like it if someone did that to me. Complicating things was I was trying to leave the lit at back doors (actually, side doors) whenever possible because people here don't use their front doors. We don't. We use the side door because it's easier to get to the car that way. The only time we use the front door is for company who does not know us well or to check the mail.

And I now use the front door to leave in the morning because to use the back door, I have to open the kitchen door, which would let the cats in. And letting the cats upstairs at 6:44 a.m. would not make Primo, my night owl husband, happy, as he sleeps until 8:00 or later. I envy him, although I would not keep his nighttime hours. Why would you stay up until 2:00 a.m. if you weren't at gunpoint? I treasure my sleep.

SO. I had stuck the lit in this door and I heard someone in the kitchen. He opened the door.

"I'm sorry!" I exclaimed. "I didn't mean to startle you. I'm doing last-minute campaigning for my husband."

He looked at the lit piece.

"I think this is the guy we're voting for," he said. He called to his wife. She came over and looked.

"This is the guy," she agreed. "He called me a few weeks ago. I really liked him. I like that he'll work for this area."

I told them they were making the right decision.


Monday Nov 5 Primo is cranky

Primo has been on edge all day. It takes almost nothing to set him off.

I do not like him like this.

He is moping around, moaning that he never should have done this, that he has wasted six months and a ton of money.


Which may all be true, but what's the point in bringing that up now? There is nothing to be done about it. The time is gone. The money is gone. Wallowing in the badness of previous, unchangeable decisions is a big fat waste of time. I try to avoid it. Learn your lesson from the experience and move on, I say.


Monday Nov 5 Last-minute campaigning in the rain

1. Primo and I spent three hours this afternoon dropping lit in the cold and the rain. We were in different neighborhoods, of course, in order to optimize coverage. As I trudged along on 14th Street, clutching my clipboard and my lit to my chest to keep it dry, head down to minimize the rain, an electric company truck pulled up next to me.

"Hey!" the guy yelled. "You know what you look like?"

I looked down at my long black raincoat, then up at my black hat.

"Death?" I suggested.

"No!" he laughed. "With that hat and that scarf" - I was wearing an orange scarf because orange is the new black - "you look like a Halloween witch! What are you doing out here in the rain?"

I explained that my husband was running for the state house and we were doing last-minute campaigning as I handed him a piece of campaign literature.

"Oh! I've heard of him!" he said. "I got something in the mail. Yeah, he's the guy I'm voting for. I always vote for Polka Dots."

"Good," I said. "I'm a Stripe myself, so we're a mixed marriage, but I think he'll do a good job for everyone."

He laughed again. "Mixed marriage?"

"Yeah," I replied. "I wish our lawmakers could get along better and work for the people they serve instead of the parties. My husband and I don't agree but we get along."

He nodded. "I hear ya. My ex and I can't stand each other, but we make an effort to get along for the sake of the kids. Damn. If we can do it, why can't they?"

We paused as we thought about our mutual disdain for dysfunctional, party-serving politicians who seem to have forgotten that they are there to serve the public and not themselves.

Then he said, "You better get moving. But your time wasn't wasted. I'll vote for him."

2. We got home to pick up more lit and more lists and to eat and discovered that the firefighter who had not done Primo's territory had left Primo's lit and signs at MaryJane's house. On her porch. At 7:00 in the morning. MaryJane got home at 4:00. It's been raining all day. All of Primo's stuff is wet. Not that we had more use for it, but honestly.

3. Steve's dad, Jim, sent Primo a text that he was doing doors for Primo on Walnut Ave and 3rd Street. "That's not my district!" Primo said in dismay. He tried to call Jim to find out what was going on but the phone was busy and the voicemail was full. He sent a frantic text and bit his nails.

Two minutes later, Jim texted back. He'd made a mistake on the address! Not to worry! All was cool!

4. Did I mention how much my joints ached this morning when I got up after four hours of walking on Sunday and four hours on Saturday? I took some of my OTC Spanish codeine, but I still ache. I have walked for six hours today and we're going out to do another hour as soon as we eat something. We had pancakes and sausage for breakfast and I have been eating Skittles by the handful today. If you walk for six hours in one day plus maybe another 90 minutes, you can eat Skittles. Although I should lay off because I am still nowhere close to fitting into the Thin Jeans, which, in a sustained state of optimism that history does not support, I have kept since I met Primo. I wore them the first few months we met, before we started spending a lot of time together and when I didn't have chips, frozen custard, and polenta cake in my house all the time.

Did I tell you that I can see Primo's ribs? The Campaign Diet works. But Primo didn't need to lose any weight.

5. Primo is on an emotional rollercoaster. He is disappointed in all the people who said they would help but then didn't. He is really down on the Polka Dots. He is convinced he is going to lose and is second-guessing himself, which I have never seen as a fruitful exercise. I.e., saying now that it was a bad idea to invest this much time and money in a race that was going to be completely uphill is not useful. Not at all. Primo likes to dwell on what should have been and what should be. I focus on the what is. We are different that way.

6. Some guy called him this morning to ask what party he was. Primo said he is running as a PD but is independent minded and wants to represent everyone in the district, not just the Polka Dots.

"Aren't you proud of what you are?" the caller demanded.

"Yes, of course," Primo said, "but my job would be to represent everyone and that's what I would do. I am married to a Stripe so I work across the aisle every day."

The guy hung up on him. "I think he had an agenda," I said.

Primo agreed.

7. We cancelled the phone bank for tonight. I had finally found three volunteers - it really has been gratifying how many people have been and are willing to help. We have met some super nice people in this process. (NOT the Polka Dot party, may I add.) But the more we thought about it and the more we talked to people, the more we realized how sick and darn tired everyone is of the political phone calls.

"I know the first piece of legislation you could propose," I said. "Make it so that politicians can't exempt themselves from the 'Do not call' lists."

I called the phone bank volunteers blesstheirhearts as I was trudging up the street to do my first batch of lit drop at 11:00 a.m. (I took the day off work to help with last-minute campaigning.) I was so impressed that we had as many people as we did to help with such a crummy, crummy job. If I live to be 100 - which is likely, given my genetics  - both my grandmothers lived to 97, despite very hard lives, I will never do another phone bank again. Calling strangers to ask them to vote for someone? No. Nononono.

So as I was walking up the street in the rain with my lit tucked into a big ziplock bag and my clipboard with the drop addresses clutched to my chest, I called the three volunteers and told them we were cancelling. Fortunately, none of them answered so I just got to leave a message. I was not in the mood to talk.

Then I called Primo and told him tearfully how proud I was that he had chosen to run. It's the first time in his life that he has really taken a chance on something and the first time he has done something hard. College was hard and he has a hard job - intellectually demanding and time consuming - but college and his job are well within his capabilities. All he has to do is work on it enough and he'll do fine. But he has never done anything like this. He was never on any sports teams as a kid. He has never really risked failure before. (I am not counting his first marriage.) I was proud of him.

8. We are both exhausted. But we still have 200 doors to do.

9. We went out after supper and dropped lit until 9:10. It was dark. It was cold. It was rainy.

It was not fun. Then, when I thought it was all over, Primo wanted to check his yard signs. We drove around so he could make sure they were properly placed and visible from the road. He got one new sign on a very busy street. Ever the engineer, he placed two signs in the yard, angled so they could be seen by drivers from both directions.

"That lady is getting divorced," he said. "She lost her job as a nurse and hasn't been able to find another one."

"Wait," I said. "There is a nurse shortage. I have a hard time believing that she can't get another job."

He conceded that maybe she was not an RN.

"Anyhow," he said, "and now her husband is divorcing her because he says she's lazy."

I raised my eyebrows. "Do you think there might be more to this story?"

He laughed. "Probably."

Monday Nov 5 When volunteers don't do what they say they were going to do

We are both ready to scream. The firefighters told Primo they would drop lit for him in two wards. He delivered over 1,000 pieces of door literature to them last week. They were going to work on Thursday for him and for MaryJane, the chainsmoking shoots before she aims candidate in the next district.

He got an email late last night that they hadn't been able to do most of his territory. They did almost all of MaryJane's, but hadn't gotten to Primo's because of a fire.

MaryJane annoys the heck out of me. Remember the board I'm on? The one where people think we are going to strangle kittens? Well, in the candidate forum, MaryJane stated that she was "involved" in the effort to save kittens from being strangled.

Unless there is more to her involvement than what I have seen, her "involvement" is limited to attending one board meeting, making a 40-second statement that strangling kittens is bad and we shouldn't do it, and leaving.

Primo is annoyed because Harold, the PD incumbent in our district who chose not to run (probably) because he didn't think he could win, so ran for the county board instead, which he won and where he has been working since June, but continues to draw his state house salary, which I, as a taxpayer, find highly objectionable (the state house is not in session, so he is not doing state house work as far as I know), never took one phone call from Primo. Never returned a call. Blew him off. Ignored a call from one of Primo's volunteers, who is also a friend of Harold's, who called Harold on Primo's behalf. Never did anything. He could have endorsed Primo, but he wouldn't. Jerk.

Then Steve, who is running unopposed tomorrow, although he had seven opponents in the primary, was supposed to do two wards. Primo just got a text from Steve apologizing profusely: he had had to do Polka Dot party work and hadn't gotten to Primo's.

The election is tomorrow. There is no way for Primo and me (I am taking the day off from work) to cover two thousand households in one day.

Primo said, "I have to decide if I want a future in politics. Because I am thinking of telling the party just what I think of them tomorrow."


Later:

We have to go out to drop lit. It's cold. It's raining. We are both very, very cranky. Primo is ticked that I am voting for the Stripes presidential candidate; I tell him that I am just as bothered that he is voting for the PD guy. We are not happy and I am not looking forward to tomorrow night. Primo will probably lose, so he'll be cranky. If the Stripes guy wins, he'll be double cranky, but if the PD guy wins, our country is in big trouble. The only good thing about a PD win would be that I would not have to hear Primo's crap.