“Mat, YDM’s constitution requires that we endorse somebody in the Presidential race.”
“OK.”
“Are you voting for Obama?”
“Well, yeah,” I laughed… Tim knew damn well who I was going to vote for, considering that I blog about it. I mean, the phone call was a formality, but it still struck me as being quite funny.
“OK.”
We hung up, and about 10 minutes later, I received a blast e-mail from Helen Boyer.
The Executive Committee of the Young Democrats Movement UNANIMOUSLY voted to endorse Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic nominee for President.
Helen must know that capital letters are one of the few things that catch my attention effectively. “Hot damn!” I yelled to nobody, “Unanimous!”
Naturally, I logged in to DWA. “Dammit,” I said, again to nobody, “this story is going straight to the top.”
I picked up the phone and started calling members for comments.
–
This endorsement comes after a long period of time in which members of YDM were tentative with their support, to say the least. Many of us supported Barack from the beginning; many moved to support Hillary Clinton for a while… I know that I was pulling for Joe Biden to win the primary up until a couple of months ago. However, within the past couple of months, we have all come into the Obama camp, along with throngs of newly registered high school and college voters.
I first called YDM Vice President Read T. Scott. Read is a rabid Democrat. You may remember him from the Take A Stand Rally.
“Read, I’m doing a piece on Down With Absolutes about Barack.”
“Great!”
“Do you want to comment?”
“Yeah… sure…”
I began to laugh to myself. Read isn’t a prudish guy by any means, but for some reason, he speaks incredibly formally on the phone. I’m guilty of doing it too, but Read goes above and beyond.
“How about this… ‘Members of YDM are inspired by Senator Obama’s message of change and call for hope, and I join my fellow members in supporting the next president of the United States.’”
I tried hard not to laugh. It was a good quote and all, but secretly, I wish Read spoke like that all the time.
Next on the list was Helen Boyer, our co-president. Helen is a big liberal, and the head of Cab Calloway’s branch of Amnesty International. She’s more or less as awkward as me, and we tend to tease her extensively for this. She offered a pristinely delivered comment on why Obama has seen such strong support from young whippersnappers, a demographic which, incidentally, makes up 100% of YDM’s membership.
“First of all, his campaign is the only campaign with a separate student organization, which shows us that he respects youth. That candidate, in turn, will get the respect of youth.”
I attacked my keyboard, attempting to transcribe Helen’s excited rambles.
“On that note, Obama is a breath of fresh air. All through our middle and high school education, we’ve had this delinquent president who’s angered youth and scared them away from politics, so having a candidate who does listen, does care, is progressive, aligns with the ideals of the youth…. those moral and ideological standpoints, combined with the passion, vigor and inspiration he brings, really encourages youth to go into politics.”
A single tear rolled down my cheek.
“That all?”
“Yeah.”
I heard a familiar voice in the background.
“I’m talking to Mat, Dad.”
I began to laugh. Helen’s dad, Dr. William Boyer, is 84 years old, and is quite the character. He once put his index fingers next to his temples, declaring that he was a unicorn. He’s a really smart guy. I think he was just tired or something when he did that.
“Do you want to give him a quote? Can he give you a quote?”
It didn’t relate to the article especially well, but I agreed, because Dr. Boyer is a genius.
“I… hello?”
“Hi, Dr. Boyer.”
“Hi! I support Barack because he represents the best ideals for the future of our country to realize, and he is able to reach out to all dimensions of our society to unify people that have existed in the past. We need diversity for the future of our country. I think, also, that he would restore respect for the United States, and their relationship with the rest of the world, and really revive the position of President.”
Helen got back on the phone.
“Did you get that?”
“Mostly.”
“You don’t have to use it.”
“OK.”
“Don’t use it.”
“OK.”
I’ve never been very good about keeping promises to Helen.
I called Tim. Three times. He was eating dinner. Dammit, I needed a quote, and Tim speaks better than any of us.
“Tim, I need a quote on YDM’s Obama vote.”
“Um… OK.”
“I got one from Read and Helen.”
“What did they say?”
I read Read’s quote back.
“Sounds like Read,” laughed Tim. I made a mental note to allow Read a second comment.
I read Helen’s back as well.
“Shit.”
“What?”
“She covered my talking points.”
“Oh… do you still want to comment?”
“Yeah… just say… um… say ‘Barack is the first candidate in a long time who’s asked the american people to give back to their country, much like John F. Kennedy did 40 years ago.’”
“OK.”
My mom started yelling upstairs. Being a Clinton supporter, I suspect that this was done on purpose.
“Hold on, Tim.”
I came downstairs.
“I’m getting a quote, Mom.”
“What?”
“YDM endorsed Obama.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Follow the leader! Run, little sheep!”
“Shut up.”
“You guys realize he has no experience, right?”
“Clinton’s voting record is barely any bigger.”
“He’s a tool to the party.”
“Are you serious? You think HE is? She voted for the war. Didn’t even bother to look at the intelligence report.”
This went back and forth for a little while.
“I need the phone.”
“I’m getting a quote.”
“I need the phone!”
“For what?”
“I need to call Nancy and tell her the debates are on.”
“I’m getting a quote. Do it later.”
She grunted with disapproval. I made my way back up to the computer, hearing Tim’s falsetto chuckle the whole way. A sheep. Ain’t that some shit?
“You there?”
“Yeah.”
“What were you saying?”
“‘He’s requiring us to sacrifice. George Bush didn’t mention sacrifice at all in the State of the Union. Barack Obama is calling on it.’”
“Nice.”
“Say…. um… ‘The ’90s were great, but it’s time that we move on from the ’90s and on to 2009, 2010 and beyond. It’s time that we move on from the partisan bickering of the ’90s that blocked any agenda we could have achieved.’”
“… ten… and… beyond…”
“Dammit, Mat.”
I fumbled with the keyboard for a while, during which time I imagine Tim was visualizing me getting hit by a train.
“Continue.”
“‘Barack is the candidate who can bring Democrats, Republicans and Independents together to compromise and sacrifice for the greater good.’”
I had resorted to barely decipherable shorthand. Did you know there was an abbreviated form of “Democrats, Republicans and Independents”? There is now. “Old white men”. I bullshit ye not.
“Is there anything else you needed?”
“Did you want to comment on why the vote was unanimous?”
“Say it was because young people see the need that a new generation takes over, and that Barack Obama is the standard-bearer for next generation of Americans. YDM obviously supports the interests of young people and Barack Obama is the person to move us out of the Clinton Age and into the future.”
“Why do you think we didn’t vote for Clinton?”
“Um… just say… ‘A great president is measured 50 years down the road by his great social change. We didn’t see that in the Clintons. They were like the Coolidge Administration. Yes, things stayed together, and we saw great economic times, but what permanent change did they make?’”
“OK.”
“Don’t use the Coolidge bit.”
“Why?”
“It’s kind of obscure.”
I liked the quote, but told him I’d take it out.
“Is that all?”
“Yeah.”
“OK. Write a good article.”
“Can do.”
I’ve never been good at keeping promises to Tim, either.
Posted by Mat Marshall in General at 9:30 PM PST
