I had a dream about my political days last night. Odd I should dream about them since my memories of that time period of my life resemble a dream more than reality. Snippets and details pulled from a rushing blur of fatigue, stress, excitement and adrenaline. I mainly worked with the teenage volunteers. I cringe now thinking back on how hard we worked them. It’s a wonder any of them ever decided to stay active in politics. We were called in one newspaper “Youth for Beatty” and the nickname stuck. We traveled all over the state of GA in the Beatty Tour Bus. The goal was simple. Our target areas were rural. Sometimes we would do four town squares in a day. Or two town squares, a Parade and or a couple of fund raisers.
Blazing hot summer. South GA well below the gnat line. One business after another. Smile. Smile. Always remember to smile. Walk, keep the pace up. Don’t get stuck with one person. Walk Walk. Smile. Drink. Eat. Smile. Get back on bus barely have time to debrief before hitting another town.
The pep talks we would give those kids. FIRM handshakes. Look them in the eye. Never back down from a question. Drilling them on the most often asked questions and criticisms. Smile. Be helpful. When you wear that shirt you ARE the candidate in those peoples minds. If you do something to piss them off they will be pissed off not at you bu the man who’s name you wear. You MUST represent him with the highest level of professionalism. We sent them off in teams. Experienced with inexperience. 1 Walkie Talkie per team. Remember to smile.
We didn’t know what we were doing ourselves but something special happened between us trying to figure it out and those amazing kids we worked with. It was the most incredible thing to see and be a part of. We knew without having any way to know that we were a part of something big. Of helping the state of GA change hands politically. Mike was our hero. He was the man who inspired us to believe. We were crusaders and too young and naive to realize how stupid it was. We gave everything we had to give and then some. I think some of us would have given our lives for that man, and in many aspects we did. For a time anyway.
I experienced the death of a dream that I truly believed in for the first time when he lost the run off. I felt numb. Stunned. We tried to mitigate the damage to the kids, tried to stay focused on the positive. Redirect their efforts to other candidates that were continuing on. The night we knew for sure we lost my brother and I cried. We went into a dark empty hay field and stood there in silence. It was so wrong. Everything we fought for so hard to be snatched away by a lie. If we had not had hope the loss wouldn’t have been so hard. But we had fought our way from the bottom to the top…We should have won. He should have won.
The respect and regard given to those kids by other campaigns and by the state party was phenomenal. I cannot tell you how many times we were told by political guru’s that they had never seen any volunteer group ever like the Beatty Volunteers. Their reputation was sterling. As a reward of sorts we were asked to be the primary volunteer group to handle the Inauguration of the first time since the Civil war Republican Governor Sonny Perdue. It was a huge honor.
I have one memory that still makes me tear up. It was the night of the General Election. Mike had lost but he had put his considerable resources (including us volunteers) into supporting Sonny Perdue’s Campaign for Governor. So we were there at Republican Head Quarters that night. The votes came pouring in. People were getting drunk. It was close. Very close. It was sometime near or shortly after midnight. I don’t remember for sure. Mike, Sonny and some of their key staff members stopped in a deserted hallway to pray. I remember standing back as tears filled my eyes watching them join hands in a circle and Mike began to pray out loud. At that moment it didn’t look good. Only a handful of counties votes were left to turn in and Sonny was behind by two counties. Sonny’s cell phone rang. It was the Governor. Conceding. They all stood there stunned. We were all stunned. I didn’t dare hope. Surely this too was another last minute stunt. But it wasn’t. (We later wondered how they had gotten his personal cell phone number that had been kept well guarded through the campaign.) We all made our way into the main ball room that was filled to over flowing with people standing shoulder to shoulder watching the results come in on the big screen. Soon it was confirmed on the news stations. The Governor had conceded!
People screamed and cheered until they were hoarse. Elderly people who had been active in the Republican Party their entire lives had tears of joy rolling down their face. There were people literally dancing in the street outside the hotel.
There was a man who was one of the primary staff members on the campaign that had defeated Mike who had seemed like he had a code of honor, or a certain moral standard of conduct. He had appeared to be ashamed of some of the tactics they used against Mike on several occasions but we could never be sure. On this night though, as it was confirmed that every single state wide candidate elected was Republican with the exception of the Lt. Governor he looked grieved. Some evil part of me was glad. Now he too could feel something of what we had felt months ago when his Candidates dirty stunt had cost us the majority vote, and the state of GA a Republican Lt. Gov. After all the votes were in he approached my brother. In a voice choked with emotion he gripped his hand and said “I am so sorry. I am so sorry for what we did to you.” My brother nodded his head in response and watched as he walked away looking like a broken man.
It’s no wonder my memories of that time are so surreal. We were too young to have seen what we saw. It was too overwhelming to witness what small events political elections hinge on. Now I am too cynical to even vote. Maybe one day I will again. Maybe one day I’ll decide it’s worth it to get involved. But probably not.
With zero effort on my part she used it to tinkle in twice. She loves her books and I have a couple set aside especially for her “Potty” time to help keep her entertained. If it were up to her she would sit there 30 minutes at a time. 
<ahem> Yes, anyway. On to the adorable pictures! 
This may or may not be our last one for the season. We are trying to figure out whether or not we can make it to one more in a couple of weeks that will be in SC. Noelle will get to see her Grandparents Walker and her Walker Uncles again along with all the Great-Relatives that will want to see her as well. Should be a very busy, fun weekend! 
If you think about it please pray for our safety while traveling. 
After my screams awakened the rest of the
I was attacked by a
Where did you come from? Aren’t you just the cutest little thing ever??”
Oh my.”
You just had a baby, you are still overweight and out of shape from that one, and you are having a hard enough time just barely functioning with her and you want ANOTHER ONE?”
The 6 months from hell, the 2 and a half days of torture?”
Am I the ONLY one that does any work around here?”