Chilling with my congressman

I attended a house gathering for Congressman Tim Bishop this afternoon.  As a political junkie, this is exciting stuff for me.  I’ve met a couple of local politicians in my volunteering activities, but have not yet had the opportunity to do anything like this.  I’ve been looking forward to this for several days now.  I even put on makeup for the occasion!

The event was held at a beautiful home off the water in Bellport Village.  The people living in this neighborhood were clearly not the 99%.  The houses are huge, set back off the road, and absolutely lovely.  When I went inside, I was greeted by my contact person, who works for the New York branch of Obama for America.  We met during the 2008 campaign, and I really like her.  She’s an intelligent, dynamic woman, and she has a way of making people feel immediately welcome and comfortable.  We chatted for a few minutes about some of the political issues happening right now, and I was excited that she asked me to be a part of some upcoming projects/ideas.  I love campaign season.  Volunteering for the Obama campaign was one of the best experiences of my life; I enjoyed working towards a larger goal with a very diverse and interesting group of people.  I’ve really missed it.  I volunteered a bit last year for Congressman Bishop’s re-election, but it wasn’t easy to devote much time with a baby.  Now that Ellie’s a little older, I feel like I’ve got a bit more freedom to get involved again.

I met another parent there who has two kids who were attending the meeting with him.  We chatted for a bit about the challenge of finding the time to be active politically while having young children, and seeing his kids there made me get excited to bring Ellie to events in the next couple of years.  Having never been involved in this sort of thing until my 30′s, I’d love for her to grow up with this as a part of her life, so she can recognize that being involved in the political process is an important and necessary part of our democracy.

One of the highlights of the day was meeting Congressman Bishop’s deputy chief of staff.  He’s around my age, lives in a nearby neighborhood, also has young children, and has experienced politics in both Washington and here in Suffolk County.  It was really interesting talking to him about two of my favorite topics, politics and parenthood.  As a mostly stay at home mom, it’s refreshing to meet people who I normally don’t cross paths with in my frequent trips to the playground and Stop ‘n Shop.

It was then time for Congressman Bishop to speak, and then take questions.  It was exciting to see him in person; he has a warm demeanor, and is really engaging.  He spoke about the upcoming 2012 election, as well as many of the issues he’s working on in Washington.  His race was a closely contested one in 2010, and wound up being the tightest race in the country, with him winning by less than 600 votes.  Needless to say, he’s gearing up for a tough race next year.  Both Karl Rove’s PAC and the 501-C4′s are already putting money into running negative ads against him.  Listening to him speak about this was a reminder that our politics are truly messed up.  The fact that it’s all about the money is incredibly disturbing.  Part of the reason I like volunteering is that it allows me to be a part of the process (in a small way) without money being a part of the equation.  Since I don’t have much money to donate, it’s my time and energy that are valuable.  It’s too bad that’s not how the bigger picture in politics works.

The Congressman spoke about how elections matter, and how off-year elections set the tone for the state and federal elections the following year.  That was an interesting point that I hadn’t thought of.  I’m not really a local elections sort of girl; they’re just not as sexy as national politics, but his point made me reconsider my feelings, and want to learn a bit more about my local politicians.

After thanking all the volunteers that had worked on the 2008 and 2010 elections, the Congressman then took some questions.  People asked some great questions about topics like Occupy Wall Street, defense spending, how to make a moral argument for the Democratic message, and about campaign finance.  I was impressed with his answers; I thought they were thorough and well informed, and he was comfortable really going back and forth with the people in the room.  I found his responses to be in line with how I view things.  He’s a progressive, and really believes in the social safety net, and taking care of those in need, but also recognizes that there needs to be modifications that cut spending and raise revenue, like ending the wars and raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans.  I appreciated that his positions appealed to both the emotional and logical feelings that I have about the current state of affairs in our country.

I raised my hand to ask a question, and the Congressman pointed to me, but the woman next to me thought he was talking to her, and wound up asking her question.  He then tried to call on me again, but some older guy across the room got his panties in a bunch that no one on his side of the room had gotten to ask a question, and so grumpy old guy trumped political newbie me. As one of the few young people in the room (besides me and a couple of others, everyone had at least a couple of decades on me), I was in “respect your elders” mode, so I didn’t get to ask my question.  So I’ll put it out there to you, and you can answer if you’ve actually read this far: Was the so called “Super committee” created because the partisan gridlock in Washington has made it impossible to get anything done?  And does it put too much power into the hands of a very small group of people, rendering the votes of the rest of Congress less powerful, and thus rendering my vote for my elected officials less important than those voters whose elected officials are on the super committee?  Discuss.

The Congressman had to leave, as he had another event, but I spoke with his staff director before they departed, and we exchanged information, and I think I’m going to get involved in Congressman Bishop’s re-election campaign, as well as the Obama campaign.  It’s a bit overly ambitious to say that, since my life is quite different than it was in 2008, but I really like how volunteering puts me in contact with some really passionate and intelligent people, and it makes me feel like my brain is being put to good use.

So that’s my story.  It’s one that only a political junkie could love, and if you’ve actually read this far, then I hereby dub thee a fellow junkie.  Welcome to the club.  See you at the next meeting- bring your campaign buttons, and maybe we’ll do a swap.  Nerd power!