I should pick my battes huh.

This is a vanity post. I doubt it will interest anyone but myself.

So, I got my ballot in the mail today. Check the date of the post. Yes, a full three days after the election. Oh well, it doesn't look like it would have done any good. However, now I can have something in common with those who cry foul for being disenfranchised! (I'm talking about the modern criers and not those who were disenfranchised by law of course.)

The two issues I was concerned with in this election failed.

Here's a brief time line of my political success and failures:

Webb City High School

• April 1998- I run for parliamentarian of Student Council (StuCo). I win. I was unopposed. Victory! I take my seat the following school year. I propose sweeping changes to the way student government works, and try to start committees and make issues of things. I realize that the parliamentarian really doesn't do anything and most of StuCo's focus is on the annual carnival. Defeat!
  
• May of 1998- I write a letter to the editor of the Joplin Globe opposing a concealed weapons proposal on the ballot (Proposition B, November 1998). I am 16 at the time, yet I get a first death threat! The measure fails, and concealed weapons remain illegal in Missouri. Victory!
  
• May-September 1998- With my letter to the editor, I become a darling of the tiny Democratic Party in Jasper County, Missouri. I meet Roger Wilson, then lieutenant governor and future acting governor (October 2000-January 2001); Bob Holden, then Missouri Sec. of Treasury, and future Possibly the Worst Governor in Missouri history (2000-2004); and Jay Nixon, then Missouri Attorney General, US Senate candidate, and future gubernatorial candidate. They are so wowed at my spry young age (the average age of the active members is about 98 I believe) that they sit me at the head table at every one of their functions. Victory!
  
• October 1998-November 1998 Join the campaigns of Jay Nixon for US Senate, the Democratic candidate, and this local guy running for Missouri senate whose name I can't remember. I meet Jay Nixon several more times. His campaign manager asks to deliver a speech for him at a neighboring county. The location doesn't matter. The fact that Nixon sends a high school kid to speak on his behalf tells you how important it was--or maybe how desperate he was. My dad drives me because I'm not allowed to drive out of town by myself. I go to the state senate candidates office one Saturday to make phone calls. The whole time I'm there, he sits in the other room of the trailer and watches football. I slip out the side door. Both candidates lost. Defeat!
• March 1999 Run for student body president. I lose to a cheerleader. Defeat!
• April 1999 Run for a spot as class representative on the student council. Again, I lose. Was offered a free pass onto the council by our teacher sponsor, I decline. Defeat!

During high school, I lost two elections, got one seat by default, and the two candidates I campaign for lose. The one clear victory is the defeat of Proposition B. As we will see, it was a temporary victory.

Years at the University of Missouri-Columbia

• Fall 2000 Volunteer for the Boone County Democrats passing out yard signs, helping Democrats get to the polls to vote. Our main focus: get Bob Holden elected governor, Mel Carnahan elected to the US Senate, and Al Gore to the White House. Well, Carnahan died in a plane crash before the election (but still got the most votes), Gore lost and unfortunately, Holden won. Defeat!
  
• September 2000, weasel my way into the Missouri Students Association (MSA). I'm offered a seat on the Senate by the Speaker, who I debated against in high school (she was from a neighboring town). Although I have a position, I didn't actually run for the office, and didn't receive a single vote.
• November 2000 support that speaker of the senate in her bid to be the MSA president. She loses. Defeat!
  
• December 2000, appointed as the Assistant Director of Student Services in the administration of the guys I campaigned against in the school election.
  
• December 2001, get the job as Director of Student Services. Have authority of a $50,000 budget, an office space and all of that. Was never elected.
• Fall 2002, support Jean Carnahan for Senate. She was appointed in her husband's place after he died in a plane crash just before the 2000 election. She loses. Defeat!
• 2003 The Republican-controlled Missouri State Legislature overrides Holden's veto to pass a concealed weapons law. Defeat!
  
• Fall 2004 support George W. Bush for President, and Matt Blunt for Governor. Victory!
• Fall 2006 oppose Amendment 2, and support Jim Talent for US Senate. Double Defeat!

Don't run for office this entire time. I realize my strength is in allying myself with good people. With the exception of 2004, everything I support loses. And it 2004, I was way too busy to do any active campaigning, so I can take absolutely no credit for that.

What does the future hold? Well, I think its apparent that I kinda suck a politics. So, I've been going the civil service route. One of my aims is to be in the diplomatic corps. The foot in the door part (the part I have the biggest problem with) is based on merit. That means I actually have a fighting chance.