I’ve been thinking about the election in terms of a student council race. Now, I’ve been out of school for exactly 20 years so things may have changed.
-Joe is the average, sporty but not jock type whose parents are making him run to improve his transcripts. He’s not as smart as Liz and Bernie, but he does try to make overtures to the science nerds, music geeks, and other groups outside his own, partly because it buffers his self-image.
-Bernie is the smart, nerdy, oblivious friend that doesn’t understand why everyone isn’t voting for him because his ideas are the best for everyone, and is a little bitter about it. Don’t get me wrong, he has good ideas! But he thinks his ideas should speak for themselves, and lacks a little insight on his own behavior and doesn’t see how that should be relevant.
-Liz is that over-prepared honors student that unintentionally fucks over the grading curve for the rest of the class, and a certain amount of classmates want to “put her in her place” over that. She’s made missteps in the past that come from being in her own bubble once in a while, and her frustration is showing as she can’t study, plan, and excel her way to victory.
THEY ARE ALL RUNNING AGAINST THE CREEPY RACIST JANITOR. Through a loophole in the student code, Donald the Janitor has thrown himself into the race. He keeps trying to tell the school resource officer on kids who speak Spanish in the halls, and the principal stopped assigning him student assistants after he tried to lure the last one down to his basement office.
We don’t get progress if the creepy racist janitor wins. And the keys jingling on Donald’s belt mean he’s got access to the room the votes are going to be kept in. We all need to be smart to win this, and we need to let go of exactly what we want, or anger or grief that it’s not shaping up that way. My preferences in the race are well known – but I hope y’all understand I will reach across spaces, cheer on other groups and candidates, and support and amplify Joe, Bernie, or Liz so we can lock Donald back in the basement.