The New Hampshire Primary Polls closed at 8PM on January 10th, 2012. I was at JW Hill’s on the corner of Elm and Merrimack St. in Manchester, New Hampshire. It had been a hard month of work, and I couldn’t believe that I was reaching the end of a chapter. I was hopeful and optimistic. Would I have been there if I wasn’t? The media never really missed a beat to rain on my parade, however.
At 11% of returns CNN (Not saying they were the first or the official, it was just the channel I was watching at the time) announced Mitt Romney the winner of the New Hampshire Primary. With New Hampshire being a winner take all state this depressed me, but I kept my head up, Governor Roemer could have still placed well, and still garnered more media attention then he was getting under the current black out. Besides, as I talked to many of Roemer’s supporters at the bar and grill they said they would be happy if they could just beat Perry. With that, I suppose, we had something to strive for.
At 8:15 both USA Today and The Atlanta Journal Constitution lined up with CNN. At this point I got tired of watching results and decided I would start to interview some of the supporters that surrounded me.
The first gentleman I interviewed was named James Niles Joyal. Mr. Joyal said that he supported Buddy because of his focus on campaign finance reform and the fact that the Governor has integrity. He said that Roemer, “Isn’t running for himself, he’s running for an issue.” This statement was made in looking at other candidates like Mitt Romney. (I’ll also plug for Mr. Joyal at this time. He has a music project called The People’s Music that has just released an album on Itunes called “Hell Yeah Generation” I haven’t checked it out yet, but you should.)
The next supporter I talked to was a sweet lady from Boston whom I’ve had the great fortune of working with quite a few times during my time on the campaign. She says that she, “100% believe(s) his (Governor Roemer’s) message that we won’t change a thing until we get special interests out of the room.” She also believes that there is no difference between Romney and Obama (An idea I agree with and that I think the records at OpenSecrets.org could support).
The next person I interviewed was the most interesting because of his experience and history in politics. A former Hillary Clinton and then Barack Obama supporter who now believes fully in Buddy Roemer’s message had this to say about working on previous political campaigns, “I hated working for people who money was their thing, where candidates would work more on fundraising then on their message.”
When I asked him why he didn’t go with Obama in 2012 he said that everything about Barack Obama disappointed him. He felt that Obama used a bait and switch method in his campaign.
The two things that resonated within everyone I talked to was a disappointment with President Obama and with Big Money and Special Interests buying politicians and ergo, legislation preferable to what they wanted. On that note, I don’t want to leave you with the fact that the only candidate fighting these things didn’t even get 1% of the vote in New Hampshire, I want to instead leave you with a few things to hopefully keep you going in this long uphill battle.
First I want to start with Governor Buddy Roemer’s speech where he says, “I am NOT suspending my campaign for President!” (The link may end up at the bottom of the blog, if it does I apologize.)
Governor Roemer isn’t going to quit! He’s going to fight on to and through Arizona and Michigan
and even on from there, will you stand with him on this issue? Whether you do or not, do not think that the office of President is the only way in which to make a change in this situation.
The second thing you can do is go to GetMoneyOut.com and sign the petition.
Third, you can write to your representatives, from dogcatcher to President.
Fourth, you can write Letters to the Editors and utilize all forms of classic and social media to get the word out.
Fifth, watch who you vote for. Do they have big money or special interest money? You can track these things at OpenSecrets.org , VoteSmart.org , or FollowtheMoney.org.
Let me ask you this. What could it mean for you if your Congressman is a Republican who, through the national party war chest, received money from Morgan Stanley? What could it mean for you if your Senator is a Democrat who, through the national party war chest, received money from GE? Have you thought about it?
Sixth, consider vetting and joining your local Occupy Movement and/or Tea Party.
Lastly, consider how your shopping affects the situation. Buying goods from other countries, especially at low prices, could mean the people who made it were forced to work in sweatshops. Buying in Big Box stores puts Mom and Pop shops out of business. The only people who profit from any of us buying a product made in China from Wal-Mart are Big Corporations and the Chinese Government. Is that what you want?
On a closing note about the current situation, based on the results of the New Hampshire Primary, Obama only received 82% of the votes with no serious primary. 10% write-in with one Democratic candidate getting 2%. Is Obama a popular choice of the people?
Every time I write a political blog, I think about a couple of the women I’ve been with. How little they believed that politics could be changed. They had no belief that they could change anything about the system of government they lived under. And so after having debates about Civic Duty with them, I now have that internal argument within myself almost on a daily basis. Do I have plenty of other things I could focus on? Sure! Novels and poems don’t write themselves, neither do video games beat themselves, books read themselves or records listen to themselves. I have a lot of reasons not to pursue my civic responsibilities, but I do, because I HAVE to believe I could make a difference, for my own sanity. **
So I write on. I write my blog. I write letters to newspapers and to representatives. I prepare to run for office and stay up to obscene hours reading news articles and contemplating change. Not because it is the one and only thing I want to do with my life. I am a poet and a hopeless romantic. I am a writer and a thinker. I am a lover and an admirer of romance and nature, but this is something I feel I HAVE to do!
- Joshua A. Fisher
@JAFThrasher
@OccupyWestWing
J.Fisher2028@yahoo.com
** As an addendum to that paragraph, I don’t mean to call anyone out in a negative fashion. Nothing I said was meant to offend. They are true statements of how my mind and heart work. I hope no offense is taken.
"Those that dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their mind, wake in the day to find that all was vanity, but the dreamers of the day, are dangerous men, for they may act out their dreams and make them real."
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