As we enter 2024 and the dreaded national election in November, I’ve been intrigued with the idea of walking up and down the Main Street of my town wearing a Biden shirt with someone who is wearing a Trump shirt. Presumably Biden and Trump will be the candidates. Whomever secures the Democratic and Rebublican nominations, my offer to stroll with a member of the opposition party remains on-the-table.
What prompted me to suggest this stroll among odd-bedfellows?
Way back when Obama was running, I had an Obama bumper sticker on my old Pontiac Montana. I was driving the speed limit in the middle lane of the interstate on the way to work. A guy in a beat up sedan sped past me in the fast lane giving me the the finger and yelled something. I knew I had not cut him off and I wasn’t driving too slow. Then I spotted some sort of right-wing, angry, love-it-or-leave-it, anti-socialist, anti-progressive bumper sticker on his vehicle. The experience triggered the following flurry of emotions and observations:
Here we are two working class guys slepping to work in our clunkers. We should be on the same page but obviously not. I imagine that he has experienced setbacks in his life. I have experienced my own set of setbacks. And yet, he has an insane animosity for me and my American right to express my preference for who should be president. It makes me wonder the patriotism of this self-appointed patriot.
What gives him the right and sense of entitlement to denigrate my choice of a candidate? What’s his purpose? What’s his end goal? Does he want to change my mind? Scare or anger me? If any of these outcomes were his goal, he failed miserably.
I smiled to myself thinking about how he thinks he is so patriotic and proud of his opinion when there are so many countris where such an outbust would result in a beating at best and his execution at worst. I’m glad to be in America and proud of the USA and only ask others to express their opinions in a more civil manor.
Fast forward a couple of years and I was campaigning for a woman who was running on the Democratic ticket for the state legislature. In those days I was commuting by bike to the train station. I rigged up a campaign sign on the back of my backpack and I’m pleased to note I did not experience any distastefull or threatening incidents on the road or on the train. On weekends, my son and I waved campaign signs at a busy intersection. We received some angry stares and some obnoxious hoots but nothing veering into the threatening category. A cop announced on his car loud speaker that we had to move along because the bridge we were standing on was state property so as good citizens we complied. In another country and under different circumstances, a brush with authority might result in our disapearance. For this I am proud to be an American, glad to be an American and I’m resolved to NEVER let circumstances in this nation silence me from expressing my opinion or supporting the candidate of my choice.
I’m still interested in throwing a campaign sign on my back and engaging in some Biking For Biden. I’m still in good shape, so biking and hiking are my passions. I’m now retired so I have time to do it. However, I’ve gotten more cautious and I have a gnawing feeling that I might get run off the road by some patriotic fanatic who so rabidly supports his candidate that my life means nothing to him. Look no further than the death of Heather Hire at the right-wing, fascist, anti-semitic rally in North Carolina a few years ago and the violence of the insurectionist that attacked the police guarding the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. This concerns me and deeply saddens me that our democratic country (small “d”, not the political party) has become so polarized that there is fear of physical retribution for the peaceful, civic expression of opinions. I’m a baby boomer so I’m too young to have experienced Germany of 1939 but I’m getting an uneasy sense of what that must have been like. And we can NEVER let that happen here.
The talk of polarization, alienation and lonliness is everywhere and it’s well documented. I had the good fortune to have worked with a variety of persons in a wide range of fields that included public housing, city planning, economic development, community development and mental health just to name a few. I’m even a retired mall cop so I’ve experienced people at their best and worst. I’ve lived in all sorts of circumstances and neighborhoods from rooming houses to apartments to condos and all sorts of neighborhoods. I’ve gotten to know persons when I walk the campaign trail with them, created neighborhood improvement associations and managerd after-school programs . My experience has been that the more time I spend with others and the more overlapping of experiences I have with others, the better the understanding.
So here’s my proposal :
Team up with a political walking partner so we can exchange thoughts, philosophies, experiences and spend time with eachother. In sum, get to know eachother and realize that we are not really all that differend. At the very least, get some exercise. Deep down, I hope we have the same goals regarding our families, our safety, and our love of country.
But there are some strings attached and conditions that must be met. I have NO interest in walking with any member of the opposite party who espouses the folowing:
Denial that Biden did not win the 2020 election
Denial that the January 6th insurectionists (rioters) were insurectionists/rioters
Denial that any woman can obtain an abortion if her health is in jeopardy or she is pregant because of rape or incest.
That said….I CAN walk with someone of the opposite party if we share concerns and opinions about the following:
Both seek to end waste, bureaucracy, incompetency in government and programs. Both seek positive returns-on-investments and support only economic development initiatives with viable economic engines
Both seek responsibility and accountability whether that is personal responsibility or governmental responsibility
Both seek a reasonable solution to the border crisis that does not involve separating families and caging children
Both seek to remove violent felony criminals from society and eliminate repeat offender revolving door syndrome
Both seek reasonable gun regulation such as background checks, red-flag laws and meaningful mental health supports
Both agree that nobody should be allowed to freeze or starve in our society and we need to agree as to how to make sure this does not happen. Both must agree that nobody can go bankrupt and loose their house just because they got sick.
I would love to know what are the conditions that my walking partner requires of me. What do I stand for and what is it about me that is so offensive and intolerable that they would decline the opportunity to walk with me?
One thing I think we both could certainly agree upon is the fact that there needs to be sidewalks along the length of our stroll along our Main Street. There are sections that are downright dangerous with no shoulder for pedestrians to walk without getting struck by a vehicle. I guess it’s true when they say “all politics is local” and it doesn’t get more local that sidewalks on Main Street.
If I can’t find a walking partner and the trepidation about expressing my opinoins and publicly supporting my candidate continues to escalate… god help us all and 1939 Germany here we come.
Dunn Writes Well 