DISTURBING...

I was talking with a friend at the gym yesterday. I have known him for years as a man I meet there regularly and inevitably chat with for a while. Not surprisingly, as a gym rat, he is much concerned with health and fitness, but beside that we often find ourselves talking about politics. He was a big pro-Hillary guy and is still a very big anti-Trump guy. He is generally well-informed and watches the news, as I do. His views are very much to the left of center.

And yet... here's the shocker: when I mentioned that I had attended the Harley Rouda town hall meeting the previous night, I was met with an almost blank stare. Turns out that, while my friend is vocally opposed to Rohrabacher, he was only vaguely aware of the Rouda campaign. He asked me to spell out the name, or at least to check how he thought the name was spelled, and promised to look into it--with enough of an abstracted air, however, to let me know I'd need to follow up with him. Which I will do today.

Here's the question: how many folks like my friend are out there? Who seem to be politically informed and would normally be expected to vote Democratic--and probably will--but whose active involvement and enthusiasm are badly needed if we're to defeat Rohrabacher? On a larger scale, if we're to defeat Trump and Trumpism? We need more than their vote. We need them to be spreading the word amongst their friends and persuading them of the need to tell their friends--and all of them, every single one, to VOTE!

What disturbed me about this exchange was the thought that the Rouda campaign still has a lot of work to do in raising consciousness and generating excitement. How was it possible, I asked myself, that a man like my friend could remain only minimally aware of this vitally important congressional race? I attribute part of this ignorance to him--and a part to us! We need to do more, and better, to wake up this electorate.