Wednesday, September 10th - Election Day!

Even though I am a political junky, my life in politics has been a pretty slim one.  In fact, the two times I have ever run for anything, I lost both times, once to a friend and the other to the biggest (dumbest) jock in school.  Oh, and the third one, I took myself out on the night of the election in a dramatic, Denver-Carrington/Colby Co. moment.  It was hawt.

Anyway, focusing on the losses and not the dramatic turn against a cross eyed freak. *snicker*  (that is pretty much a joke for Maestro)

First lost election: Band President.  Yes, I was a giant nerd, even back in high school (probably more so, if possible).  I had always been a good leader in the band, even though I was never section leader, due to the fact that we had some kick ass trumpet players in my class and because I couldn't sight read worth a damn. I was always in the first section in marching band though, because I was one of the few who could hit a high E without sounding and looking like their head was going to pop off their neck.  During study hall in the band room, I was so intensely nerdy, that I would actually listen to all of the judge's tapes the Monday after a marching band contest.  Yeah, so when it came time to elect officers for our senior year, everyone thought I was a shoe in. ...  Nope, didn't happen.  My good friend, Dave, won, probably because he was the laid back sax player that everyone liked, not the nerdy, intense, band dork that everyone respected but probably didn't care for all that much.  Dave was Barack to my Hillary.  He was an okay president.  Without going into the gory details of what it means to be in an extremely competitive marching band in Indiana, part of the role of president was to rouse the troops before a contest.  Dave, was and is, so laid back you'd almost think he was asleep, but whatevs, the point is, I lost.  That's one.

Second Election Lost:  Senior Class President.  This one was probably intensely stupid on my part, because I was the no sport playing (well, track manager), band dork, speech team president, lead in the high school play guy running against the uber jock who hit puberty in 5th grade.  On the flip side, I sort of united the uncool masses who had been subjected to all sorts of uncalled for antics of the jock class for years.  Most people urged me to run for Student Body President, because I was pretty much assured a win there.  Well, I suppose my ego got the better of me, and I was also looking at the bigger picture: the senior class officers plan the class reunions!  See, I was a gay party planner even then.  I even made posters reminding people of this.  Yes, big time nerd.  I lost by 7 votes, which I suppose in the annals of geekdom vs. jocks is some sort of miracle.  In the end, I was vindicated by history because the jock (who is probably, or at least I hope, a fat ass with 10 illigitimate kids) couldn't be bothered planning a five year reunion, and the 10 year reunion ended up getting planned by someone else entirely.  Ah well, I guess in this case, I played the role of Al Gore, and Ryan was W. (as I think about this, it is SO apropos).

So there you have the history of my elected life.  Sure, I do have some success stories as Historian and VP for Membership Education in Kappa Kappa Psi, but those were also jobs that were not exactly sought after by most because they were kind of thankless and took up a lot of time (especially Membership Education).  I was President of Butler Democrats, but I also kind seized control of that.  I can't even remember if Athena and I had elections.  Ahh, Democracy.

Anyway, the point of all this is that tonight is the election for Indy Pride Board, and I am one of six people up for five spots on the board.  Three of the people are incumbents, and my assumption is that they are pretty inevitable, which leaves me against the mastermind of the Bag Lady Calendar and a member of the Big Gay Band.  I've been assured by several powers that be, that I have nothing to worry about.  However, as you can see from the above, I find it difficult to ever take any sort of solace in other people's senses of inevitability.  I've been disappointed far too many times to really count on people to come through for me, no matter how much I trust them or their power.  I just have to hope that the work I have done and the experiences I bring to the table are enough for people to vote for me.  I've done what I can to politik my way, but I am still not sure what is really going to happen tonight.  The funny thing is that this is my second year in Pride, and when Blanche and I went to our first Annual Meeting and Elections last year, I never for a moment thought I would be nominated and running for a spot this year.  It is actually very flabbergasting to see just how far we've moved from the fringe this year, and even if I do not get a spot on the board, I am happy that I have at least put myself out there.  I certainly won't pack my bags and go home.  I'm enjoying myself too much.

Cross your fingers for me!