Fair Politics

I spent three days at the Jackson County Fair, yesterday included, talking to folks who came by the Democratic Party booth. There was a variety: some interested in hearing about candidates and campaigns, some not real friendly ("Thanks for RUINING THE COUNTRY!" one 30-something guy shouted as he passed without slowing down), most not wanting to make eye contact at all, everybody HOT and on the verge of irritable.

One interesting visit yesterday: two women with their elderly mother in a wheel chair. They were extremely agitated with a story I couldn't quite follow that had partly to do with a Medicare snarl that was keeping the mother from getting chiropractic care and partly to do with the daughters' inability to find work. We recommended that they talk to Rep Walden's office about the Medicare problem. They said they'd tried but had received no satisfaction and, knowing that he's a Republican, had stopped at the Republican Party booth just before visiting us. There, they said, they were told that since the White House and Congress are in Democratic hands, all problems with federal programs like Medicare, and all unemployment, was the work of Democrats. If you walk down this aisle a ways, the Republicans helpfully told them, you can find the Democratic booth and demand that we fix things.

They were unhappy when we didn't. Very loudly unhappy. And they couldn't have been less interested in the issues the we can do something about.

Times are hard. People are frustrated.