Withdrawal for a Political Junkie

The lamenting is over. The decision was made. The election and the fallout from that is finished.

Since September 7th, when the writ was dropped, I was actively involved with the election process as it related to supporting our candidate. When I would finish my day of 'real' work, I would visit the office almost every day. There would always be something to do, whether it was door-to-door canvassing, literature drops, or putting up lawn signs. I also maintained the candidate's website every day.

That was just the tangible stuff. I also met, and I think I have said this before, some really nice people, a few of whom I can call my friends. As we got to know each other more, we would greet each other with a hug. When hard times fell, we would hug. We would end the day with a hug. We became huggers.

This past week I have been experiencing withdrawal. I miss my friends, my huggers. I miss the stimulating conversations. I miss updating the website. I miss the excited pace, and the adrenalin rush of having a special guest, like Frank Mahavolich or Michael Ignatieff, join us. I think of the fun that we had, and there was a lot of it, I get a lump in my throat.

Now we look forward to the aftermath, the lessons learned. We will get together and plan for the future, whatever that will hold for us. We will change the things that didn't go right, and will continue with the tings that have always worked well. We will strive to get our government back.

And we will hug.

All Over But the Shouting

It's all over but the shouting now. Election 2008 is finished. Millions of dollars were spent to bring us into pretty much the same minority government. Think of what that money could have been better spent on.

Aftermath, we are both a little beat up and very tired. The past six weeks have been quite hectic...right up to the very end. Yesterday was spent trying to get the vote out, but it was not to be. Mostly what hurt us was voter apathy...people who did not get out to vote. As they say, if you don't vote then don't complain. That pretty much sums up everything.

Politics is a funny game. The players change, and even the rules change.

The future is a little cloudy, and things need to change. That much is obvious. One thing is for sure, it will be exciting.

Remembering Mery

Many years ago, when I was starting a new career as a computer programmer, I was introduced to a lady named Mery. She was an adept programmer. Her forte was DB2 and CICS programming. She was a whiz.

The more we worked together, the closer we became. She was from Iran, and was trying to improve her English. She had a daughter in Iran, and she had made plans to return to her country and bring her daughter to Canada to live. This was a very intense time for Iran. The Gulf War was still active. As a team, we were all immensely worried about Mery and were hopeful that her daughter would be safe with her.

Mery did return with her daughter, and we continued to work together for many years. We went through some trying times together at work. But we always seemed to surface somehow.

When I changed employers, Mery and I lost touch. I think she went to work in the States, but was unsure of where she went.

Recently I was thinking about Mery. I had found a gift that she gave me for my birthday back in October 1994. I kept it in my nightstand drawer. With the world of Facebook, I decided to search for her. Instead I found one of her relatives, and through correspondence, we had managed to have Mery's and my information exchanged, with the hope that we would be able to get together.

That was not to be. We will not be getting together.

Mery passed away on September 28th.

"The Angels are always near to those who are grieving, to whisper to them that their loved ones are safe in the hands of God... "

There Is Always Hope

Last night there was an interesting political program on CBC, Canada Votes 2008: The X Challenge. It was a debate-style program with 4 candidates representing the 4 main political parties: Liberals (Scott Brison), Conservatives (Blaherty), the NDP and the Green.

The audience was comprised of engaged citizens who were decided voters, and, at the beginning of the program.

During the show, important audience questions were posed to the candidates, and their responses were heard, along with a small inter-candidate debate. At the end of each question, the audience was asked to rate which candidate won that particular round of questioning. At the end of the evening, one of the candidates would be the winner.

The overall winner was Scott Brison for the Liberals!!!

What was most interesting was the pre and post percentages:

Before the show, the audience revealed how they would vote:
38% would be voting CONS
33% would be voting Liberal
17% would be voting NDP
12% would be voting Green.

At the end of the show, the percentages were quite different:
52% would vote Liberal
29% would vote CONS
16% would vote NDP
3% would vote Green

These are interesting numbers. People actually got to hear Scott Brison explain the Green Shift plan, and people listened.

Blaherty came of as bullish as he usually does. Maybe people are just plain sick of bullies. After all, they wouldn't want bullies in their schools, so why have this behaviour in government??