My Brief and Uneventful Career as a Political Operative

I spent a few hours on election day holding a sign in front of the Spirit and Truth International Church in District 5, greeting voters and encouraging them to vote for Sandy Carmany.

Sandy lost.

Sandy wasn't even my district representative, but I wanted to pitch in for her at least in a small way. I thought her opponent ran a nasty campaign that distorted Sandy's record of achievement, and Sandy stood for things I believe in: strong neighborhoods, accountability and openness to voters, fiscal restraint.

Her opponent will have a lot to live up to. Sandy's constituent service is unequalled, and she took the time over the years to master the intricacies of complex issues like regional transportation and planning. She was out in front on the issue of hiring more police officers back when the crowd that her opponent runs with was poo-pooing the idea.

I think the majority of her constituents were happy with Sandy, but happy people often don't vote. The turnout in her district was low, and the disgruntled voters were roused by her opponent's well-funded, demagogic campaign. The gruntled stayed home.

I figure I got Sandy about 20 votes just standing on the sidewalk at the polling place on a nippy evening and saying, "I hope you'll vote for Sandy Carmany."

The happy, smiling people often gave me a thumbs up or said "OK!" Others, frowning, sometimes mumbling to themselves and looking intently at the ground in front of them, didn't.

Most anti-Sandy demographic: late middle-aged white men and women coming to vote alone.

Friendliest demographic: African-American families. In fact, the only people who actually stopped to chat with me were African-American, and they seemed in general to be in a happier mood than most of the white folks who voted. (I'll bet it feels extra good to vote if you remember that your grandparents or your parents weren't able to do it.)

I was surprised by how many voters seemed not to know who Sandy was. Quite a few times after I said, "I hope you'll vote for Sandy Carmany," people squinted at the sign as if memorizing the name, and said, "oh ... OK!"

One rather irascible guy asked, "is she an incumbent?" and I told him she was. His tone made "incumbent" sound like an accusation, but I bit my tongue and didn't say, "you don't even know the name of your own council representative for the last 16 years, and you're mad because she's an incumbent?"

Instead, I said, "Yes. But in her case that's a good thing." He mumbled something back to me, but I didn't hear it.