Driving for Pete (Part 2)

(Continued from Part 1)

After my near-miss bump into Joe Biden at The Paris, I headed back to my motel, The Downtowner, located in an old part of Las Vegas that is various stages of decay and redevelopment. I enjoyed staying in this part of the city, away from the bright lights and artificial architecture of The Strip, easy walking distance from good restaurants, many of the buildings decorated with street art murals. Walking away from town, Freemont Street is lined with old motels, most of them closed, each trying to entice long gone guests with distinctive ticky-tack architectural themes. My black Suburban looked a bit out of place parked on the street in front of the hotel, but I liked the idea of Pete’s campaign sitting quietly present on these tough streets.  The extra untouched sandwiches from the campaign team were gratefully accepted by the homeless people of this neighborhood. I felt good about that.

The highlight of my next day driving was Pete’s rally at Rancho High School.  After getting the vehicles properly situated, I was invited to watch the rally from backstage. The school gymnasium was crowded with what looked to me like about a thousand enthusiastic supporters. I watched Pete take questions from members of the crowd and answer them earnestly, perhaps a bit long-winded compared to other candidates, the curse of the thinking man of which I am also a victim. Several questions were asked in Spanish and Pete answered in that language, which he speaks pretty well. I like that he pauses to search for the right word and, if he can’t find it, tries the next best one he can find. That’s how I speak Spanish and I love how those on the receiving end of my butchering of their language appreciate the effort. I think Pete earns some respect among Hispanics for trying, too.

(A quick shout out here to Felipe Rojas and his Las Delicias de Mexico taco truck who fed me and my fellow hungry campaign driver in the high school parking lot. Like I said, as a driver you have to eat whenever you get the chance and Felipe’s shrimp tacos are amazing.)

After a follow-on event at the University of Nevada Las Vegas student union, Pete and his team got back on a plane to visit Reno, Elko, and Carson City, Nevada and Salt Lake City, Utah. The pace that a presidential candidate has to keep up is daunting. When Bernie Sanders is challenged about his age, he responds, “Come out with me campaigning. See if you can keep up.” It’s a good answer and valid challenge.

Pete’s departure gave me an opportunity to do more canvassing, this time in a more suburban, middle class neighborhood of mixed ethnicity. Again, voters seemed to be leaning towards Sanders, Biden and Buttigieg, roughly in that order. Again, I didn’t encounter any Warren or Klobuchar supporters. Based on my canvassing, I’m surprised that Warren ultimately did so well in the Nevada caucus results; perhaps she drew support from different voter demographics than those represented in the neighborhoods I walked. Interesting.

I was back to driving the next day, whizzing from one venue to another. Our final stop was at the Paris Hotel for a CNN-televised Town Hall.  Pete’s campaign travel manager arranged to get me a pass to attend the event. By the time I got the car properly situated for departure, the team had disappeared into the building. I was in the back of the hotel, not sure how to get in.

Then I saw a small group of people entering an open door, so I decided to join them, walking quickly to catch up. As I drew close, I noticed a short guy with white hair wearing a suit in the center of the group- it was Bernie Sanders! For sure I would get in if I stuck with him.

We walked along a hallway until we came to a security checkpoint manned by guards who were checking people with weapon-detecting wands. Bernie adamantly objected to this delay in his progress, dismissively exclaiming in his Brooklyn-Jewish accent, “We don’t have time for this! These people are with me.” He turned around and with a sweeping gesture of his arm which included me in its range, ordered us to, “Come on!”  We all marched past the security guards who looked unsure as to whether they had done the right thing or wrong thing. But it’s pretty clear to me that when Bernie is set on doing something, it’s hard to stop him. What a treat to see that Bernie in person is just like Bernie the candidate- it’s no act, he’s authentic.

After bypassing security under Bernie’s wing, it occurred to me that if I was recognized as not being part of his entourage and discovered to be with Pete’s campaign, I would be considered a spy. I didn’t think I would be shot, but a drubbing by the Bernie Bros wasn’t out of the question. So, I discreetly peeled away from Bernie and his advisors to find a way to my seat in the audience.

The problem was that I was in a backstage labyrinth with multiple doors to choose from.  I was worried. What if I went through the wrong one and found myself on the stage instead of in front of it? Just in case, I straightened my clothes, combed my hair, and thought up a short stump speech to kick off my new presidential campaign at the town hall. It turned out that the door I chose was on the route to the audience rather than the stage. As I exited the backstage catacomb, I was challenged by a security guard.  I channeled Bernie and with an air of disdainful authority, stated more than asked “Where do I sit?”. I was politely and respectfully shown a ringside seat. What worked for Bernie, worked for me.

Bernie was first on stage. He is a very convincing and charismatic speaker, smaller and with a better sense of humor to me in person than he is on TV, but just as powerful, perhaps even more so. The audience was lively and generous with enthusiastic applause. I felt myself being swayed by his revolutionary challenges to the status quo, his indignation for injustice and inequality, his visceral hatred of the Trump regime.  I see how he draws such devout followers. Impressive, but also a bit frightening to me, as I am a proponent of healing and unifying rather than further divisiveness and instability.

Pete followed Bernie, a tough act to follow. I was worried at first, as Pete’s calm, articulate responses to audience questions seemed flat, too wordy and lacking Bernie’s punch. But Pete warmed up and the audience warmed up to him and it is clear that he is a contender.  He measured up to Bernie’s pugilism when he was asked if being gay would be a problem running against Trump. His answer started off in a reasoned and measured way, then Pete grew a few inches, squared up and challenged, “If Trump wants to talk about family values, I say, bring it on!” The crowd cheered.

I really don’t see Pete’s being gay as being an issue except perhaps in the most conservative rural states, which won’t vote for a Democratic candidate anyway. The only time Pete’s sexual orientation becomes obvious is when Pete’s husband Chasten is in the picture with the campaign, either directly or by reference.  And that picture looks pretty good- a loving, committed couple who respect each other, working together on something important to both of them. Pete and Chasten are like Barack and Michelle…only not as tall.

I had to dash out get the cars in position before Pete finished with the town hall, walking past the security guard like he wasn’t even there back into the backstage labyrinth. Then I was lost again in the dimly lit space. Which way was back to the car? Luckily I remembered that I had parked near CNN’s TV trailer, so I just followed the huge bunch of cables that wound their way through corridors and out to the parking area. Success.

I drove the campaign team back to their hotel.  They laughed when I told them about my encounter with Bernie Sanders.

I’ll wrap this post up with Part 3 and my experience at the presidential debate.