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Pad Patter: 9/20 - Politics

Angie4b1g

Angie4b1g

A hundred jobs but Bob Villa ain't one
Joined
Feb 25, 2011
Messages
8,026
I don't want to actually TALK about them. :giggle

What I want to know is: have you ever been deeply involved in them? Ever run for office? Campaign for anyone? Or do you just vote and that's it? Or maybe not even that?

Just over 6 weeks until election day here and just running for school board is exhausting and stressful enough for me. Not sure I will run for another office. Granted, our school board race is dramatic and controversial but geez. I had no idea I'd have to go to so many candidate meet & greets!
 
I can't vote much less run for office in Denmark, and can only vote in national elections (via absentee) for the US, so my involvement and interest is pretty minimal. I do pay a bit of attention to laws pertaining to permanent residency and/or citizenship here, on the off chance I'll ever get to attain one of those.
 
My mom ran for city commissionor long ago......it was ugly. She lost but we as a family learned so much. Mainly, you make people angry when you want truth. I bounced around running before, but came to a stop.
 
My father was elected Mayor in the town he lived in for two terms when I was in high school and it was so interesting to watch it play out. Later, he ran for State Senate and lost in a very heated battle with the other candidate. It was all very exhausting ... yet rewarding for my dad. And we defniitely learned a lot about politics and local government.

I'm not sure I'm up for running for anything myself. I have a hard enough time working FT, raising my family and being a Girl Scout Leader. But, I'm VERY passionate about national and state politics. I follow it quite a bit. Volunteer for candidates that I believe in. Living near Washington DC has given me a lot of opportunity to get involved, particularly in the last presidential election.
 
I do vote and I take that seriously but I find myself so frustrated by politics in this country and our state that it's hard for me to want to care anymore. I get frustrated by the growing number of people who think that if you have differing political opinions then you are wrong a bad person for it. There aren't just liberals or just conservatives anymore, each word is considered nasty and a label. When did it become so wrong to disagree w/ someone?

So no, I don't see running for office or doing much more than praying for our leaders in my future..LOL
 
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I have been an election day official twice now and will probably do it again next year
 
I vote. That's about it. It's hard for me to get a lot of what goes on. Probably a good idea if I'd not ever run for anything. :)
 
My dad was on school board for years back when I was in school. Other than that I vote absentee because I am registered in WA.

I was a class officer for 3 years in HS...does that count?!?!
 
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Not overly political here. I do vote usually just the presidential elections though.
 
I did some campaigning when I was a teenager - I was really into politics back then. Working in the news business, Election Nights can be some of the craziest most fun times we have. But the tone of politics and divisiveness really turns me off. Locally, many of my family members have town jobs so they are kind of pressured into being involved, which I think is totally illegal, but that's how things work. I do vote, but I try to stay out of it all.
 
Seeing these responses is so interesting to me. It seems a common thread is the frustration with tone of politics these days!

It's become impossible for people to talk about politics in a fair and unbiased way anymore (or at least it seems that way). I have friends who are both sides of the political spectrum and everything in between ... and I try to avoid the topic altogether with all of them these days. Ultimately, political discussions these days leave me feeling sad for our country overall ... when did it stop being OK to agree to disagree!?!?

I'm still passionate about politics since it has such a huge impact on our lives but I admit to being quite weary about political discussion since it seems to be so difficult for people to have mature and fair dialogue anymore. Just because we don't agree about something, doesn't mean one of us has to be a "bad American" or an "idiot." You know?
 
Angie, I'm totally impressed by you!

I've been involved since I was a kid. I remember stuffing envelopes for campaigns, helping to gather signatures for initiatives, and helping out in campaign offices because of my mom's job. She was on the fringe of a lot of that stuff. I grew up very political. I met a First Lady when I was 9 (and that was very exciting to get out of school to go to Seattle for that!). I've been part of a citizens' advisory council and stuff like that, but nothing that required me getting votes for myself. I've never wanted to run for office because I am a wimp do not have the thick-skinned nature you really need to seem these days. But I've been involved in campaigns as an adult and volunteered for different things.

It makes me sad that US politics have become so divisive in the past dozen years. Part of me feels like there is a giant conspiracy to keep people apart so that we don't all come together and get rid of all of the career politicians. LOL.

But it is often hard to talk to people. I remember at one job I had back in 2003. Some people were talking about an issue, but no one really wanted to stand up for their opinions because one guy in the office was going a little overboard with some comments he was making. He was a manager and was just kind of being obnoxious. I finally stood my ground and just said I didn't agree. I gave my opinion and he totally went off on me... literally screaming at me in the middle of the office. His face turned purple and he called me a traitor and other choice things. Everyone else escaped back to their desks while he stood and yelled at me for several minutes. It still makes my face feel hot to think about that experience. But I decided that it wasn't right for me to not speak up, so I took what he dished out. It really wasn't harming me. I've always been amazed at what other people have gone through to stand up for their rights, so I felt like that was the least I could do. I think he felt foolish later, but he never apologized.

Ah politics... fun times.
 
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nope not into politics here and to be honest i rarely vote either think i live my life under a rock
 
Kimberlee - the Meet & Greets are terrifying. And this is non-partisan. I'm pretty thick skinned, but I probably don't have the stomach to run in any sort of election where I had to actually take a stand on issues. Because I almost always see both sides. lol
 
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