Politics. . .

I'm pretty sure this post is a first for discussing my political views.  I don't affiliate with any party in particular and mostly keep my views to myself.  I suppose if I had to name my party I would say Independent.  However, Zach has some pretty strong political ideals and he is continually wrestling with where he stands on political issues.  He wisely realizes that his views are subject to change as he investigates information and receives education.  But he's processing these things all the time which causes me to also process these things all the time because I am his sounding board.  It also puts me in a position of re-thinking things that I've taken a position on because I'm given new or different information.  On the other hand, I think I've influenced some of his thinking in a direction he might not have gone in as well.  I don't like to talk about politics.  I don't like to debate.  I don't like to have my opinions challenged.  But I do like talking with Zach.  So I've been willing to listen and think about things I might not otherwise have taken the time to process if it weren't for Zach bringing them to my attention. 

A couple of months ago, while I was out of town, Zach and his grandpa went to a political rally for Ron Paul.  Zach seemed to resonate with much of the things that Paul represents and filled me in on his views when I got back into town.  Some of the things I agreed with, too, and some of the things I didn't agree with at all.  So Zach and I have been talking about these things together, deciding what we agree with and where we disagree.  Yesterday two very interesting things happened.

First of all, we were asked by the Civic Center to provide camera work for an event.  Turns out it was a Ron Paul event, with Ron Paul, himself, presenting his political positions.  Zach had to miss a class to attend but decided it was worth it.  During the event, we learned more about Super Tuesday and the fact that this would be an historic event for Idaho.  Honestly, this wouldn't normally be my cup of tea.  However, I really wanted to experience this with Zach so we made plans to go to the Taco Bell Arena and do our civic duty.

This leads to the second interesting thing.  In order to vote for Ron Paul, who I had decided I agreed with enough to get on board, I had to make a declaration.  Even though Ron Paul considers himself an Independent, he has to run as a Republican in the US election.  I won't go into all of that because I don't fully understand it but what it meant for me was that I would have to align myself with a party.  In this case, the Republican Party.  It hurt.  I don't consider myself a Republican.  I had to really wrestle with signing the form and I told Zach it felt dishonest.  Sure, there are some Republican issues that I agree with but there are many that I don't.  It felt like I had to choose the lesser of two evils. 

I've already said more than I intended to because what I really wanted to say was that it was all worth it to have this experience with Zach.  We were taking part in an historic event.  Despite parking half a mile away and waiting in 30 degree weather outside of the arena for 45 minutes, once we were inside, it was pretty amazing. 

Each candidate's representative had 5 minutes to talk about why we should vote for that person.  It was interesting to see and hear all of the reactions as each person spoke.  Gingrich seemed to have very little support and even got quite a few boos.  Romney was represented by Gov Butch Otter who seemed more interested in presenting himself to the nation than Romney.  Santorum had a video which seemed really cheesy to me but presented his views in a clear, concise way.  And Ron Paul was represented by the same woman who spoke at the Civic Center earlier in the day.  She was very passionate about his beliefs and referred to him as a Christian man with great integrity.  He's dedicated to balancing the budget and following the constitution. 

When the speeches were done, we all filed out into the hallways in as orderly a fashion as 9000 people can and dropped a penny into a bucket behind a curtained off area for the candidate we had chosen.  I had already registered as a Republican so I dutifully dropped my penny into the Ron Paul bucket still feeling twinges of regret.  We then had over an hour to wait in our seats while they counted the votes to see if we would need to vote again.  If a candidate received 51% of the votes, they would win and we could go home.  If no one received over 51%, the candidate with the lowest amount would be eliminated and we would vote again.  This would continue until someone reached the 51% mark. 

While we waited, we were "entertained" by a band that was probably playing for free.  We talked about politics, Legos and Star Wars.  He bought me a pretzel and we shared a bucket of popcorn. He showed me the games he plays on his Ipod and I showed him how bad I am at playing them.  We participated in a 10 minute crowd "wave" with over 9000 people.  It was good. 

Before the votes were tallied, we were getting reports on our cell phones that Romney would be the clear winner.  People started to trickle out of the arena but we decided to hold out hope and continued to wait.  Shortly after 10:00 p.m. they made the announcement that Romney was in fact the winner with 4,223 votes followed by Santorum with 1,866, Paul with 1,766 and Newt Gingrich with 307.  Zach was very disappointed to say the least.  I half-jokingly told him that I declared myself a Republican for nothing and that now I would have to live with that decision for the rest of my life.  Or at least a year. 

Truthfully, the statistics aren't the important thing here.  What counts for me is that I was part of something BIG with my kid.  We were part of a process that he's been learning about and investing himself in for the last several years.  It was worth it.  It made me think.  It made me get out of my comfort zone.  It made a great memory.  If it takes being a Republican to have this connection then that's the sacrifice I'm willing to make.