An Introvert in Sagebrush

LaRocco for Senate, Pt. 1

2008-07-16T23:19:19Z

I skipped the housewarming party on Monday but showed up the next day at Larry LaRocco's senatorial campaign headquarters after Den Mother beseeched me for some data entry. I guess everyone else was too hung over, heh. I was introduced to all and sundry as the super-volunteer of the Idaho for Obama campaign, to which I encomium I demurred "All I did was shovel snow and make coffee...!"

Essentially we Obama alumni are hoping that national parachutes a contingent into town by, say, September, but as a practical matter national could rent a broom closet and we'd be all over it like stupid on Britney Spears.

Showed Den Mother the third-party application which graphs out how often per day by month any given page has been viewed on Wikipedia, as it would probably be a useful metric for the media people...

Met an old Mensan again, a blast from the past in more ways than one...

Began parsing LaRocco supporters from the Obama supporters after much head-scratching amongst the databasen, which are cobbled together from pure kludge and should be sworn at in German and Klingon... Perhaps they should be sworn in at Perl, as it looks like a cartoon character swearing to begin with...

Pondered the mysteries of derby and synchronicity...

And generally admired the body politic. It's good to be back in the swim of things!

IDOB24

2008-07-15T10:31:42Z

Kassie is no longer working for Idaho for Obama, but LaRocco's senatorial campaign. I don't know the backstory, and I took a rain check on the house warming of his campaign office Monday. The IFO web site has been stagnant since April. As usual, you get the real news by word-of-mouth.

IDOB23

2008-07-12T03:18:01Z

I had the opportunity to chat with Idaho state senator Kate Kelly a few days ago; she was canvassing my neighborhood. The Ada County caucus was a lot of fun, but unwieldy; the local Democratic apparatus was overwhelmed. Wiki: "Statewide, 28,000 people caucused, an order of magnitude increase over the 5,000 who had caucused throughout Idaho in 2004." I'd attended the previous caucus in 2004; it was held in the Student Union at BSU. My 2008 caucus (I was an Obama volunteer) was held at Qwest Arena, and the place was packed; 8,290 votes were cast at that one venue, the largest single caucus in the Union.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idaho_caucus

Despite technically being the captain of precinct 103, I haven't heard jack from Democratic Party of Idaho about what that entails. I heard from them when they put out a desperate call out for more laptops the night before the caucus (!), and I heard from them prior to the state Democratic convention, which unfortunately I couldn't attend, and again when they needed bags of candy to toss from the Independence Day float in the parade, but the local party machinery isn't dispositive.

Basically the Obama campaign in Idaho is mothballed until national rolls back in for the national campaign and sets up office space & has buttons and bumper stickers and signs to sell. All things grassroots and coat tail shall be funneled through said office; Obama won Idaho by the largest margin of any primary/caucus state, but not because of the local party machinery. Heck, my flash drive had to be borrowed...!

If the Idaho Democrats run their caucuses on the precinct level in 2012, I'll be there and I'll be doing my bit, but frankly I haven't heard.

In other news, my dentist tells me that my teeth are in good shape... Work's been a grind because of all of the concrete-cutting for the new mezzanine, so concrete dust is everywhere... And summer is balmy.

Mother's Day

2008-05-12T02:24:39Z

Had a very pleasant Mother's Day eating a pastrami sandwich and bonding with the family units. Now that my nephews are both past five, they seem more like real people with real personalities, and not just wailing, pleading, disruptive bundles of Id. Later I took a few orienting photographs in the light industrial area just south of the condo, uphill and past the New York Canal. By then it was a dusty, windy day, but what the heck. Flickr is my new crack.

IDOB22: Boise Rally

2008-04-20T05:52:28Z

Bicycled down to our rally on a chilly, blustery day amongst the blossoms. Former governor Cecil Andrus was there, as well as the usual suspects & some of the signs I'd made. Andrus spoke of our caucus being "overwhelemed by youth." Someone who lost their political virginity at a caucus this year shall be president some day... We faced the flag on the capitol, synchronized by cell phone, and said the Pledge of Allegience.

IDOB21: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

2008-04-09T21:21:09Z

I got a strange message from national last night. Someone who shall remain nameless wanted to know how our grassroots operation was going on out here in Idaho. Very smooth, but WTF? a) Why is national calling me at 9:30 p.m., b) why are they calling the very day we closed HQ, and c) why aren't they calling the people who know what going on?

It had the smell of someone fishing for information, and indeed it was an individual notable for his turf carving attempts. (He had my number because I'm a "super-volunteer.") Can't blame an ambitious fellow for trying, but I would have told him that he's talking to the wrong guy, and directed him to those in the know who would have undoubtedly have brushed him off. If a grassroots project is disciplined and is doing what it's supposed to be doing, then why should national allot anymore management time on it than it needs?

IDOB20: Farewell, Building That Made Feng-Shui Scream

2008-04-08T22:27:11Z

Idaho for Obama has moved out of the funky building and is awaiting new office space; the various new tenants weren't a good mix. On Thursday I'll either be helping with voter registration in Ontario, Oregon or helping to move out the last of the furniture. (Dibs on the beer!)

There's no more data entry, either. Why it wasn't automated as a part of the woodwork from square one, I don't know, but I'm informed that a robot has taken care of it all.

One door closes, another opens...

IDOB19: 17,000 or Bust!

2008-04-03T23:54:31Z

We got the numbers below 17K. I have to remind myself that Oregon is next month, not later this month. Furthermore, at this stage the assorted headquarters and field offices of each of the states in play doubtless have plenty of Indians but more than enough chiefs! Granted, each election cycle is different but the same, but there's never been an primary/caucus cycle like this with its cascade and distillation of both staff and volunteers!

IDOB18: Son of Mild Data Entry

2008-04-02T03:22:59Z

19,000-plus Oregon souls need to be processed into Vote Builder. Yowza!

Eve's hubby, "Adam," picked up some of their furniture. We had an interesting discussion about The New Republic article on the Wikipedia entries on Clinton and Obama, how Obama would act if the numbers were reversed ("He'd be veep, and Pennsylvania wouldn't be scorched earth."), and distributed computing. I'd put SETI@Home on the now-sole mezzanine computer, just to see what their new screen saver looks like.

Good news from Texas!

IDOB17: Data, Data, Data

2008-03-29T02:00:49Z

Lots of Oregon data entry. It's kind of nice, being a part of the Idaho Mafia!

IDOB16: Pennsylvania Brings Down the Curtain

2008-03-26T03:23:52Z

Bicycled down to HQ for the first time. Den Mother is mulling over the possibility of shutting up shop after the Pennsylvania primary. Everything is highly distributed and on-line now, such that it's not cost-effective to maintain a physical plant to hand out buttons, co-ordinate, etc., even with a skeleton crew of volunteers.

Finally caught up with who went where. Delta-v gave notice after the furor which was Texas. It was a very intense experience, and she's tapped out, which is quite understandable... Memories for a lifetime and all that –but God, to be twenty-something again and have such experiences! Alas, that was during the era of Reagan for me.

IDOB15: Rosetta

2008-03-13T03:03:32Z

I only spent half-an-hour, if that, at Idaho for Obama this afternoon, and surrepitiously installed BOINC (running Rosetta) on the primary mezzanine computer. The machine's on all the time, so it might as well be doing protein folding. I didn't ask permission, which was bad form on my part, but I figure that those idle CPU cycles are kinda-sorta communal property at this stage of the game. If anyone goes "Whisky Tango Foxtrot," my name is therein.

"Kristin" has, or had, a MySpace page. Figures.

IDOB14: Obama Spam

2008-03-12T03:21:04Z

Den Mother and I put our heads together and pulled together data from three sources and two computers regarding whether 17-year-olds who shall be 18 on or before the day of the general election can vote in their respective states' primary or caucus. The upshot is that we can't quite tell, but presumably (and in the case of Maryland, definitely). I suggested that we kick this question up to an upper echelon instead of reinventing the wheel, because if 17-year-olds can vote in the nominating process, that has some bearing on where we go, because that's a lot more votes!

Things are winding down a notch; I'm scheduled Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons now. Den Mother got a kick out of the Obama icons on LiveJournal; I told her that many people made their own. I'm so used to that sort of thing, but to her it was a wondrous new world. I also showed her Dabroots' photo of the Pittsburg field office, since she may very well be headed there. I'm sorely tempted to install BOINC on one of the mezzanine computers, but do I really want to inflict Fourier transforms, binary number systems in 11 dimensions, and protein folding on these wonderful people? Of course I do!

Didn't stay for the Mississippi results; it was a marvelously sunny day. After walking my parents' basset hound I checked my ISP's spam filter. Obama has indubitably arrived; he's listed as the subject line Bayesian poisoning spam. Fake Rolexes again. I can't duplicate the fonts here, but I present it as the first of many:

bhm
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ftq

hbo
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kqi

ghiu
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ycp

ltmi
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cfv
# Prices start from 148.- EURO
# Free shipping worldwide
# Perfect quality
# All popular brands with over 1'228 models
# Even professionals are unable to tell the difference

>>> http://ljory.saltsnaturalscrap.com

A critical broadside like that does not necessarily sink a show. Meanwhile, eight works have been longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. Cho, and his daughter was a close friend of one of his victims.
While 6 in 10 Africans said democracy was preferable to any other form of government, according to the survey, satisfaction with democracy dipped to 45 percent from 58 percent in 2001. Many critics have described Brendan Nelson as the heir to John Dawkins; both ministers used Commonwealth financial and legal controls to shape and control public universities. The Whitlam era, then, left hopes for greater diversity with an ambiguous legacy: tightened federal control of higher education but more generous funding. Thus forty years on, Flinders University and its fellow public universities face a world which might puzzle those first students and their lecturers alike.
When it is your patient who has died, there is a fugitive quality to it: someone has fled, and you were unable to capture or return him alive. How can I compete with someone in China who opens the tap and sees water? They were laid low by divorce, only to meet a wonderful new partner. Louis persuaded the city to require that influenza cases be registered with the health department.
Approved providers can offer FEE-HELP places. Adelaide is host to Carnegie Mellon University from the United States, the first foreign university to operate in Australia. So instead, students pay for inadequate funding in unseen ways ? in larger than desirable class sizes, overcrowded facilities, run-down buildings. After all, in each of these examples, patients are at risk of harm, something that physicians must avoid at all costs.
You cannot catch up with a living subject.? The pathetic hero of Love Song who longs to embrace little children is no more beyond the pale of your sympathies than the simple-minded Adam?s bride of the eponymous story, or the vulgar, manipulative mother of the pregnant Leila in The Sugar Mother.

IDOB13: Texas Stories

2008-03-11T02:19:05Z

I got to the HQ a bit late and did some mild research on registration deadlines, absentee voting, etc. I was surprised that they didn't know about www.thegreenpapers.com or www.realclearpolitics.com; in any case, www.rockthevote.com and greenpapers had the bulk of the information. Interestingly, Democrats Abroad is having regional caucuses from April March 15 to April 11.

Lots of Texas stories. They parachuted into intensity and confusion, and did a bang-up job! So nice to be sharing stories with adults...

IDOB12: Taj Mahal

2008-03-06T03:03:05Z

We had a caucus-watching party last night at the Taj Mahal in the urban sprawl of West Boise. The food was good, the service excreable, and the men's toilet an apparent venue for war crimes. The Irishwoman was present, a Seeker if I ever saw one, as well as politicos once and future, former, present, and perhaps to be, and of course their hordes of enablers. :)

I sat at a table with an obese /. geek very savvy about Texas politics, so I spent much of the night listening. I did manage to compliment Cassie's husband on the wonderful work she's done.

I'm sure I'll hear many a tale from Texas.

IDOB11: Noshing

2008-03-03T03:40:06Z

Idaho for Obama called me this afternoon after church. They were having an phone bank party for Texas (lots of free minutes on those cell phones on Sunday!), and I'd already RSVP'd that I might swing by, but the gal told me that they only had two people and that a couple of TV crews were arriving. Hmm... Since I was
about to go grocery shopping anyway, my main contribution was food. When I got there, there were eight people; when I left there were twelve, including one foreign national who worried if she could legitimately participate at all. I assured her that Texans regard everybody else as foreigners.

How many caucuses are there in Texas, anyway? Harris County alone has 874 scheduled. To say that I anticipate a dust-up at a grange or two is putting it mildly... Given my experience at the Ada County Caucuses on Super Tuesday, I'm quite happy I'll be watching the Texas Follies on TV & drinking beer!

As I've written a friend who is a WWII buff, by way of Godwinning myself, "It's Queen Bee vs. Hypnobama, and Hillary is sabre-rattling as if affecting a couple of news cycles is a game that still matters. Dang, lady, you've already lost Army Group Centre!"

IDOB10: I've Dreamt of Obama

2008-03-01T04:23:37Z

Well, it's finally happened; I've dreamt of Obama. If people can have Dreams of Bill, why not Barack? There's probably a book in it!

Subconscious at work:

Barack Obama is having a campaign event at the burger joint in my hometown. Apparently I'm a part of his entourage, because as I swing near him as I'm leaving I see that he's giving a stand-up interview and give a nod in acknowledgment of the situation as I head on out towards the door.

I've been mulling over the past lately, and have decided to focus on the future, so the symbolism is apt. I've kept a dream journal off and on over the years, but this is the first time I've ever dreamt of a political figure.

Anyway, I've sent this dream to www.slowwave.com.

IDOB8: Under the Hood

2008-02-27T05:14:31Z

The last debate was good, solid under-the-hood stuff, much of which must have been lost on people who don't follow politics closely. (Nation of Islam? NAFTA? Senate sub-committee?) The three girls with whom I watched it at Idaho for Obama HQ just tore Hillary to shreds, whereas Obama and Hillary impressed me as being two very closely matched technical boxers. Obama won on points; Hillary played her policy wonk hand as well as it could be played, but ultimately only succeeded in maintaining her flat spin.

I've taken the unclaimed ushanka.

IDOB7: Green Scarf

2008-02-20T03:07:50Z

We still have three items from the frat house period: a crocheted green scarf, a funky blue, slightly stained ushanka, and a black Columbia ski cap with a red pom. Text messages have been sent, but I suspect now that they've been deliberately left behind.

Our buttons and my vacuum cleaner have been stolen.

Nice blowout in Wisconsin, Obama!

IDOB6: Data

2008-02-19T03:48:52Z

Inasmuch as phone banking is the sine qua non of grassroots political activism, it's kind of funny that I do anything but work the phones, This is my inclination, and only partially due to my being partially deaf; I'd rather provide support services than interrupt people living their lives.

So, some data entry and Wiki tweaking ("natural-born citizen"), and some truly excellent political jaw-boning with folks who have been at this since January 2006. It's probably a good idea, too, to have a guy there when we lock up the building.

Had the bright idea tonight of using Facebook to stay in touch with some of these folks. It's a good secondary and tertiary social network. Heck, quatenary network!

IDOB5: The Pizza Next Time

2008-02-17T01:00:59Z

I polished off mouse clicking in the new Idaho volunteers; now I await Wisconsin and Texas. Then we had pizza in a mercifully smoke-free room. Who anticipated that off-the-grid would field a force multiplier? That the media would bruit "the Idaho moment," or that the Clinton campaign wants to prevent "another Idaho"? It's been all-around remarkable.

There was some mention of separation anxiety, but some of these folks shall be a part of my life for a long time to come.

IDOB4: My Letter to the Editor

2008-02-16T18:22:15Z

I forgot to mention that the Idaho Statesman published my letter yesterday. They captioned it "Conduct caucus at precinct level next election year." To wit:

It didn't bode well when they didn't have enough ballots set out for the volunteers to vote; more had to be brought in. It was chaotic when we volunteers had to rush ballots pell-mell outside, fresh from Kinko's. Eight states had caucuses on Super Tuesday. Ada County's was apparently the largest caucus in the Union, and arguably the most unwieldy (whether you count Congressional District 2, or both congressional districts –technically two caucuses were held at Qwest Arena). Let's do this at the precinct level next time. The franchise is no excuse for chaos.

IDOB3: Cheesy Red Cowboy Hat

2008-02-16T17:48:51Z

We had a fund raiser at the Neurolux last night, the much beloved punk dive; I passed around the cheesy red cowboy had -velour, I believe- and discussed delegate mechanics with Adam. It's fascinating in and of itself that this procedural, under-the-hood political wonk is now the stuff of public discourse, but Adam actually is a part of the machinery! There's an old military saying that amateurs talk strategy but professionals talk logistics, and if Florida or Michaigan come back into play, he has a vote in the process.

Touched base, showed some of my more erudite tattoos and exchanged phone numbers. I was pleased to discover later that night at Savvy's (sic) in Garden City that some of the Treasure Valley Rollerderby girls are quite keen on the Obama campaign too.

So that was my night of smoke-filled rooms.

IDOB2: Co-optation

2008-02-14T05:57:47Z

I joked yesterday that I feel like a big fish in a small pond. There's still much to be done now that the big fish have gone away and several of us small fry shall be parachuting into Austin, Texas. (I kidded Den Mother that she won't be reinventing the wheel, she is the wheel!)

One of my colleagues expressed envy that I've been so involved in the Obama campaign. Well, it has come to sending out a volunteer to buy underwear (she'd volunteered to do so, of course) so the Boiseans in Austin won't have to shop. The logistics shall as in-house as as possible. Now that's dedication!

Wiki: Put photos up on Idaho Caucus and tweaked Hypnotoad a bit. It's such a clever meme that I had to co-opt it in turn after I'd checked out its provenance. The Hypnotoad is a Futurama gag character, and in this guise a (potentially) great bit of pop agitprop. Super Obama Latina may have been mildly amused.

Speaking of the mesmerizing, cult-like, messianic Obama campaign, I suggested at IDOB that we Goggle "Barack Obama anti-Christ." (There's so much gold projection going on that it behooves us to track such things. Young daughters are crying at rallies, etc.) Wow... Postmillennial dispensationalism on crack!

Interesting discussion with Boss Lady about why many women don't like Hillary. Roller derby also made an appearance. You had to be there!

Idaho for Obama, Pt. 1: Elegiac

2008-02-12T04:28:19Z

From Idaho for Obama to (when I showed up) Obama for America back to Idaho for Obama. People from other states came to us. Now we return the favor.

http://www.idahoforobama.org/

I'm only there for a few hours a week now, a rib in the skeleton crew, a vector in the force multiplier, making witty comments and handling office supplies. ("We need white board marker!") The late afternoon sun streams through the Venetian blinds, and plans are afoot involving the Neurolux, the punk dive downtown, and Texas, of which I have no personal knowledge. I read my biography of Werner von Braun, chat with the volunteers who come in, and ponder the likelihood of the first brokered convention since 1952. The volunteers come and go, talking of superdelegates. Next week they'll be talking about some other matter of great import.

I am pleased to report that I am indeed a delegate to the state convention this June.