FROG HOSPITAL -- July 22, 2019
Joe Biden for President
By Fred Owens
Tom Owens, my brother, lives in Sierra Madre and teaches history in Los Angeles at Santee Public High School. He is expecting his third grandchild in November. What do you think of Joe Biden, I asked him. Tom said Biden is the likely nominee. He added that he has not yet studied this in depth, but Biden's positions are about 80% agreeable to him. Tom might prefer Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, but it's early.
This was a preliminary practice interview for me. I might start a Joe Biden Support Group and call it the Moderate Maniacs. Tom thought that was a good idea. Call the group Moderate, because we are moderate, and call us the Maniacs to indicate a genteel ferocity. I got this idea after I heard Trump's supporters with their chant of Send Her Back. This was a terrible thing to do. I fretted over it. I woke up at 5 a.m. the next morning and fretted some more. I thought where can I go and hide. I will shut off all media outlets and forsake all Internet access. I will find a cabin in the woods and spend my days reading ancient texts. All to avoid Trump........ Nah.
Then that same morning, after losing sleep and fretting, my daughter Eva called me. She lives in Seattle. She is three weeks short of giving birth to what will either be a boy or a girl. She's being coy about that, but we'll give it to her. It's all about you, girl. So I got an update on her super-pregnant status -- doing fine, she said. Then I told her I was fretting over Trump and looking for a place to hide. She said, Dad, why don't you get active? Boy, that's what daughters can do, get you going. So here I am making the first steps in my Biden Support Group, and the miracle is that I am not fretting, not angry and not stressed -- but engaged and satisfied. Eva was right about that.
Next I will call Andy Boyer in Columbus, Ohio. Central Standard Time. The Midwest. The Heartland, they call it. It seems more real there. Wonderful people. And the country side in Ohio is pretty too, not dramatic, just pretty, easy on the eyes.
I met Andy in 2004. What I did was hop in my red Toyota Corolla and drive across country to Columbus, Ohio. It was, and still is, the Battle Ground State. I just showed up at John Kerry for President headquarters and said Put Me To Work -- I'm here for the duration. And so Andy and I battled for the soul of Ohio, working night and day for John Kerry, eating cold pizza and drinking stale coffee. We put up a good fight but in the end we lost. The other guy got more votes. We were defeated. And I won't kid you, after all that work it really hurt.
That was 15 years ago. I stayed in touch with Andy, but I did no more political campaigning. But now I'm thinking, why don't I do it again? Why don't I jump into this campaign? Maybe I can do something useful and help my country. You know, the country we all live in. Our country. So is this just my whim, or is this what I will be doing for the next 15 months? Only 15 months until November of 2020. I really want to work for a winner this time. Being the good guys in 2004 wasn't good enough. There are some things I would do differently this time. I need to discuss this with Andy. He's pretty smart.
I had a soul-touching experience in Columbus, Ohio in 2004. Three days before the election, when the cold winds of November began to blow across the Ohio State campus I want to a campaign rally, easily 10,000 people, come to hear Bruce Springsteen give a performance. John Kerry came out and spoke a few words. But it was all about the Boss that night. We were so happy. We could have a rally like that in 2020. We could do that again and we can win this time.
Funding. Your check for $500 will help to get this started. Make the check out to Fred Owens, 1105 Veronica Springs RD, Santa Barbara, 93105.
I can make a good plan and justify the expenses, but I need the funds to get off to a good start. Call me for details at 360-739-0214.
Gardening. Laurie has a forty-year-old table-grape vine in her back yard. We need to prune the extra leafy branches so that the sun can reach the ripening grapes.
Weather. July continues to be cool and cloudy. We usually expect good beach weather this time of year but it has been scant. I went for a swim in the ocean yesterday. The water was cold, and the air coming out of the water was cold, but I went in anyway. I just love it.
See ya,
Fred
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