Almost Four Years Ago
Only one of these men is crazy. Which one, in comments?
I have to add that, as disappointing as 2004 was, in so many ways, being at Case that year and participating in "the Race at Case" was one of the more enjoyable periods in my life. It wasn't just "the Race at Case," but the whole Ohio battleground state phenomenon. From the build-up--the McAulliffe visit (where he thanked me for "inspiring" the students)--to the VP debate--which I watched outdoors, with about 1,000 other Democrats, in the cold Cleveland air, to election day, when I worked Voter Protection in Hough. Great memories. In the end, we lost, of course, and that was bad. Not bad, but hard. When I'm in a real mood to remember, remind me of the Icebox Cave story.
Oh, hell, let me just tell the Icebox Cave story.
The morning after the election . . . I had stayed up late, and, if you remember, things had become clear late. I woke up early and got in the Subaru. I drove around, and ended up pointing the Subaru toward Cuyahoga Valley National Park (still one of my favorite places). There's a nice hike there--actually, there are many nice hikes there--but there's one, in the southern part, that leads to a cave--Icebox Cave, which is called that, I think, because it's always cold. (It's in Summit County, Ohio, so it's cold most of the time, in general.)
So I parked, and started walking. The trails were surprisingly busy for a Wednesday morning. There were a lot of people, many walking dogs. There wasn't much talking, people seemed depressed. As I was depressed, too, I hoped to find a quiet place to think. But, alas, there was no such place. For one thing, the cave was packed with folks.
My memory of the 2004 election, the day after, at least, is Icebox Cave, full of grieving Democrats. "Four more years," how can we stand it? Best to go mourn in a cave.
posted by Number Three @ 6:45 PM
2 Comments:
Cave-dwelling Dems? Now I've heard everything.
Hey #3, with that photo aren't you blowing your super-secret cover?
Yes, it was a bit crazy being at the epicenter of the election in 2004 (Kerry's last speech along with a performance by The Boss were in Cleveland the night before the election). I volunteered for the Edwards campaign too and actually met his parents, but I didn't know you volunteered, and here our offices were right next to each other and we bitched about W and the GOP just about every day.
My depressing 2004 story happens election night. I had spent the day driving a van of George Soros mercenaries (they would get paid 100 bucks for their efforts) to get out the vote. It was a miserable, rainy day and when the polls closed I drove them to the designated site in a very dicey part of town to pick up their mammon, but the cash wasn't ready. I sat there for something like 3-4 hours listening for results on the radio as the money-changers kept getting organized. About an hour or two after we arrived we heard that Florida and been called for W, which meant it was over. At that point I just wanted to return the van and go home and drink something strong, but I had 8 angry passengers who wanted their 100 bucks, some of whom needed rides back to where we picked up the van. So we waited and waited with the hundreds of other mercenaries, who kept getting angrier and angrier because they knew we had lost and now they were suspicious that the money would not be forthcoming. Eventually the money appeared and I made it home, but it was around 1 AM. I think I had post-traumatic stress disorder for months after that election.
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