(photo by Ericka Bereuter)

I’ve spent the last few months working on the Obama campaign, helping out JD, the state field director (that’s him in the picture), generally get by, as well as running ridiculously enormous trips of Texans to battleground states along with a new friend. Kyra came to help one night and saw the craziness.

Being a part of the Obama campaign was a great experience. When I say “great”, I should define that or it sounds prosaic. I walked away more educated about the process and how sloppy it is on the inside but how clean it looks from the outside. JD asked me if what we did was harder or easier than what I usually do for work. I said that it was easier except for the time pressure of a final date and for the perpetual lack of resources; while much of that was familiar from working with startups and running conferences, what we did involved big asks and a final date beyond which any effort was useless for another four years. It was exhausting – I’ve slept in the last two days and taken two-hour naps just to catch up. It was mind-bending that some people who were crucial to the work couldn’t get beyond their own egos, despite a singular focus. It was a reminder that it is, in fact, easier to sit back and watch it all on TV. It was moving to see people making connections and disheartening to see them fritter away chances to connect.

I had had “be a part of a presidential campaign” on my “Things to Do Before I Die” list for a long time.  In addition to learning about the insides of a political campaign, I was part of not just any campaign, but a history-making run for president. Not bad for a first experience.

More importantly, I made some friends here in Austin, which I had been both looking for and was surprised by. I hope I get to keep seeing them as we go forward. At last night’s volunteer appreciation party when they gave the Central Texas field organizer her going-away scrapbook, I got a little sad that I would not see everyone again as a group. While I am not sure what’s next, many people are asking the same question and that’s a good sign. I am definitely a different person for having been a part of something so monumental, and I will be curious to see who that person is going forward.

Meg Fowler bravely asked:

1. How are you today?

Fantastic! I will say in conversation. However, really I am tired and quite bored and perhaps a bit depressed about this whole job-attracting process taking so long. Also, I could really really use a girly day of chiropractor, massage, mani-pedi, and shoe shopping. Alas, aforementioned job-attracting has me on a restricted budget for such whimsy.

2. Are you wearing pants?

I am wearing pants. Grey cargo pants that are about an inch too short. However, I have a limited pant selection that’s good for the sticky seats at the campaign headquarters I am volunteering at.

3. If you could choose anywhere in the world to be right now, doing anything, what would you be up to?

Lately I have been missing London horribly. The increasing chill and damp, the beginning of the holiday bustle, leaves turning and falling. I would be there, eating choquettes from Paul, drinking black vanilla tea, window shopping through Selfridge’s, popping into the Tate Modern, and generally bumming around with my iPod on, my journal and my camera close by, and wearing mittens and a hat.

4. What song defines your day thus far?

“We’re All in This Together” by Ben Lee

5. What is your favourite food in the whole universe?

Chocolate chip cookies

6. If I took you to Starbucks, what would you get?

It depends. Are you taking me first thing in the morning? I might want a decaf mocha if there is a little chill in the air. In the afternoon here in Austin though, all I’d want is the passion iced tea, large, with some raw sugar in the bottom.

7. If the US presidential election were between a squirrel and a gopher, who would you vote for?

Tough call, especially since I’m working on the campaign for one who is neither a squirrel nor a gopher. I’m going to have to go with squirrel though. Where the gopher digs holes and uproots gardens for no particular reason, the squirrel plants nuts and sometimes can’t remember where they are, accidentally giving us new trees. I’ll take new trees from forgetfulness over holes in the ground for no reason.

And now, maybe some chocolate chip cookies, a passion iced tea, some audio downloads from Tate, and some campaign work.

My least favorite class in college was on the different political philosophies of the world and how they affected each state’s relations with other states. I struggled through it and got the only C of my college career in it, because it was all theory. And worse than being all theory, it was all hooey. That’s right. When push came to shove, the theory went out the window and most of the states did what was in their own self-interest, regardless of any previous political philosophy.

Lately, however, I’ve been forced to think about that class again, and specifically how little I remember of it. (It’s a sign that I can’t remember anything of four years of those classes–it means that working in politics or international relations was not my bag, and I was heading down the wrong path with it.) I am working with the Obama campaign answering a lot of email. Many of these emails call Sen. Obama one of the following:

• Marxist
• Communist
• Socialist

As a refresher, here are the differences between those three things, loosely.

Marxism is a system of political analysis. It is a way of looking at the world. It is most often used as the counterpoint in reference to capitalism. It describes a philoshopical view of man, a theory of history, and a theoretical economic and political program. Many states have been inspired by Marxist philosophies, but only in Nepal and the former Soviet Union have Marxist ideals remained strong.

Communism is a political movement, a goal. There is no such thing as a communist state. There are communist parties who have control of a state, but the endgoal of communism is the abolition of the state–a stateless, classless, egalitarian society.

Socialism can either be a socio-economic system or a political ideology. It refers most often to the public control of property and wealth, with a goal of creating social and economic equality, or the ideology to lead one there.

Therefore, you can have a Marxist view of the world and live in a Socialist system. You can have a Marxist view of the world and live in a state that is dominated by the communist party. You can also be a communist but not have a Marxist view of the world. Socialists believe that you can develop reforms to create a state more in line with Marxist theory from within the framework of the state; communists believe you need to abolish the framework.

At no point have I heard Sen. Obama call for nationalization of private property, a traditional socialist and communist tactic. Nor have I heard him suggest we abolish the State. Indeed, he wants to run it, so… And lastly, when I hear him talk about the financial crisis and his economic plans, they don’t seem to involve a classless society.

For more on Marxism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism

For more on Communism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism

For more on Socialism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism

1. 68 degrees!
2. Old friends & pizza at Serious Pie
3. Cute baby horses
4. [interlace] falling star play
5. dinner at Machiavelli & being remembered by the wait staff
6. exploring new parks in old neighborhoods
7. indie music shows in the same illegal spaces as in 2001
8. older people in tam o’shanters and windbreakers in the Irish pub
9. Pike Place Market
10. being downtown in a walkable city

photos from the Seattle 2008 trip here.

I’m a Type A, high strung perfectionist most of the time. Lately, though, I am finding that I’m slipping.

Things I’ve let go of lately:

• Having to write the most perfect thank you note to someone I met for 15 minutes. Does “Thanks for your time” somehow convey less than five finely crafted sentences that took me 30 minutes to write and essentially says, “Thanks for your time”?
• Papers & mail on the kitchen table during dinner. My desk just arrived yesterday and hasn’t been assembled yet, so I have nowhere to put the papers & mail.
• Checking off all the boxes that the landlording book recommends in vetting a new tenant. If they’ve been honest about their financials, have great references, and shown pictures of places they’ve lived before with them in it, isn’t that enough?

I don’t know if it’s summer, having so many moving pieces, or just realizing that not everything has to be done perfectly in order to be considered accomplished, but I’m aiming for “good enough” for everything that doesn’t scream “perfect only”. Then maybe I can spend more time on things I want to be doing that do need perfection.

Evidence of my 36th birthday now available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/54monkeys/sets/72157605307943360/

If you’re a professional writer and you’re trying to convince other professionals to help you out with your writing project, you should consider a word other than “oodles” as your quantifier unless you’re talking about poodles.

ref: Thesaurus