I spent the day passing out Democratic slate cards at the Palmerton Rod and Gun Club. There were fifteen minute stretches when no voters appeared, but I had a good novel by Jonathan Franzen to fill up my time.
It was enjoyable work, and most of the voters said thank you, even Republicans. One guy, walking to his truck, stopped, turned around, and came back. He said, “You represent Democrats; may I ask you some questions.?” My first thought was uh oh. This will get nasty.
His question was, “Why are you a Democrat?” I told him I had a number of reasons. First, I’m an environmentalist, and I thought the Democratic Party was much more likely to protect the environment. Secondly, I believed that women had a right to have abortions if that was their choice. Third, I thought the Republican Party catered to the top 1%. And finally, the reason I had a pension and Social Security I owed to my union and to Democratic policies.
He nodded and took that in. Then I asked him his name and told him where I lived. He told me he was retired military.
And then he started in. It was obvious that he wanted to tell me why he was a Republican. He explained how the Democrats gave money to people who were here illegally. And why shouldn’t we ask for ID for voters? And without ID, voter fraud was rampant. And Obama was the worst president in our history.
What struck me was his anger and his fear. Fear that the country was being overrun. Anger that the Democrats were complicit in this. I have learned that people like that have a mindset that can’t be turned around. There is no point in arguing. What we must do is register people who are not afraid or angry and get them to the polls.
I agree. Some people just won't change their minds. I have found the worst people to deal with are the second amendment types, It can be frustrating but we must continue in our education efforts.
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