All Politics is Local

Only in rare instances has my day-to-day existence intersected with the actual political process as it’s generally thought of in the U.S. But now, I’m a great deal more involved. You see, I’ve ended up interning for Leslie Byrne, a candidate for the lieutenant governorship of Virginia. I know, it’s not exactly high-profile; but one has to start somewhere.

Besides, in this situation I have an opportunity to actually get noticed by the candidate and the campaign. If I were working for a governor or senator (or for a presidential nominee, like I did in the fall) none of the higher-ups would even hear of me, and the candidate almost certainly wouldn’t come over to my desk and introduce herself, like Byrne did this morning.

She’s a good candidate too – a favorite of educators, pro-choice groups, the environmental lobby, and the labor unions. What else could one ask for in a Democratic candidate?

Byrne started off about 20 years ago with a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates. After Clinton came in he named her to be the nation’s consumer advocate, but in 1999 she returned to local politics and won a seat in the Virginia senate. For the 2003 election, the Republicans re-drew the district line right next to Byrne’s house, forcing her to either a.) move, or b.) challenge an incumbent Democrat for his seat. She decided to do neither for the time being, and run for lieutenant governor instead.

Our main competition in the Democratic primary is J. Chapman ‘Chap’ Peterson, a shifty-looking guy with conservative values, family connections, and enough money to buy himself an RV to tour the state in.

Other candidate include Viola Osbourne Baskerville (what a name!), a Richmond-area delegate with progressive ideals but little experience, and Phil Puckett, a former high-school principal going for the ’rustic woodsman’ vote, if his campaign photos are any indication.

As for the Republicans, I don’t know much about them. There’s ‘moderate’ Sean Connaughton and ultra-conservative Bill Bolling. Until the primary, they don’t really concern me.

So far I’ve mainly been doing office work, but I’ve also worked the phones. Our biggest hurdle with voters isn’t convincing them to vote for us, it’s making them aware that an election is even taking place! I realize it’s just the primary for lieutenant governor, but even so, the sheer apathy and alienation is sometimes rather astounding. Voting is not the most important part of democracy, especially with the electoral system as stratified as it is, but it counts for something, and if we can’t even get people to rouse themselves to go to the polling place more than once a year, we’re in serious trouble.

Updates to follow. Not everyone may find this race as fascinating as I do, so I’ll keep my comments focused on the big picture.