1115.org

Though the stakes in the 2006 elections are arguably as high or higher than they were in 2004, I have had a very hard time matching my interest or efforts this time. John Kerry’s pathetic campaign and waste of money left a bitter taste, especially in light of all the fundraising 1115.org did for him in 2004. Coupled with the leading Democrats’ abject failures on matters such as the bankruptcy bill, the Alito and Roberts confirmations, and others, it seemed inappropriate to launch a big fundraising push here.

This disillusionment has not been limited to fundraising, and that has certainly been reflected in the weight of my posting here much of this year. But when the Flying Spaghetti Monster closes a door, he opens a window, and my window ended up being a summer largely spent traveling across the country, photographing and speaking to as many locals as I could find. On the basis of my work covering Katrina damage and survivors in New Orleans, I was invited to attend one of the most prestigious photojournalism programs in the States, the Missouri Photo Workshop, this year held in Moberly, MO.

With just two weeks to prepare, I did as much historical and demographic research as time allowed, and was rewarded with the knowledge that the good citizens of Randolph County voted to reelect President Bush by a more than 2-to-1 margin over Kerry in 2004, making it the reddest place I have spent a night since my first year of college in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Believe it or not, I was actually looking forward to learning more about what makes such an area tick, and much more apprehensive about the task at hand: travel to an unfamiliar locale, find a story that can be completely told with 8-12 photos and captions, convince your subject to give you unfettered access for a week, all the while having top photojournalists and photo editors tear your work to shreds. As if this wasn’t enough, participants were limited to 400 shots for the week with no deletions, forced to shoot in jpg rather than RAW, and barred from using a flash and imaging software such as Photoshop.

With such a challenging project ahead, I decided to arrive early to do some on-the-ground research. I flew into St. Louis, had dinner and drove around town listening to the Gin Blossoms with Byron Crawford dot com, before carpooling 2 1/2 hours to Moberly with another participant who had just arrived from Singapore. We arrived just in time for the city’s 140th birthday celebration, and walked through the spartan downtown area soaking in the scene.

Since I was already so far out of my comfort zone, I decided to find a political story to cover. To the surprise of no one reading this, my first stops were at the respective storefront headquarters of the Randolph County Democrats and Republicans. Eventually I found my story, but there was still the matter of getting my faculty advisors’ approval before I could begin. My pitch was simple, mostly because I thought the story pitched itself. What I didn’t know was that the pitch was part of the learning experience. My advisors, Seattle Times staff photographer Alan Berner and San Jose Mercury News director of photography Geri Migielicz, shot my idea full of holes and sent me out to either find out more about my proposed subject or a new story idea altogether. Walking around the streets of Moberly looking for another story induced the kind of panic that either focuses the mind or results in losing it.

Sufficiently focused, I went back to Alan and Geri and fought for my original story: Robert Harrington, a 25-year-old married father of two who works as the general manager of a rent-to-own store who is currently moonlighting as the Democratic nominee for the Missouri House of Representatives. They again tried to dissuade me, concerned about the less-than-picturesque settings one finds in furniture showrooms and rubber-chicken campaign dinners, but in the end gave me their approval.

I began shooting my story the next morning, arriving at Robert’s office even before he did. For the next four days, I followed him around as he worked, played with his kids, met with party officials, ate at campaign events, and walked door-to-door introducing himself to voters in his district. In between, I subsisted on Power Bars and Red Bull (the only vegetarian food available in central Missouri) and attended photo reviews that had me wondering if I might be better off sticking to the written word. But as the week progressed, my advisors’ criticisms began to sink in, and my photos started to get the story I was after.

As the end of the week neared and my shot count reached the 400 limit, the editing process began. Someone once said of editing that it is like killing your own children. After a week of running around on no sleep and insufficient nutrition, it sure felt like it. Adding to the task was the fact that the photos selected wouldn’t necessarily be the best images, but the ones that best told the story. “The Challenger” can be found on the MPW site, and more of my photos from Moberly are on flickr.

I learned a lot in Moberly. Alan and Geri pushed me to test myself, and I haven’t worked that hard in years. But the trip wasn’t only about photography. It’s easy to fall into the trap of looking at the electoral map and writing off whole states as devoid of Democrats, hopelessly Republican. And even after looking at the numbers behind the map and realizing that the reddest states still vote 30-40% blue, it’s easy to write those blue voters off as Joe Lieberman or Ben Nelson Democrats, living just this side of the aisle. But this isn’t t all what I found in Moberly.

One of the first things Robert Harrington told me when I was interviewing him before deciding on my story was that he was recruited by the local Democratic party. The incumbent extremely anti-choice Republican had narrowly won the two previous elections over her pro-choice opponent. Harrington was drafted because he is pro-life (though unlike the incumbent, he favors the usual exceptions for rape, incest, and health of the mother as well as supporting the current stem-cell initiative on the ballot in Missouri) in an area where most people share that point of view. This wasn’t especially surprising, but it did give me pause: did I really want to do a story on the kind of Democrat I spend considerable time bashing on a regular basis at 1115? The wake up call I received can not be denied.

I’m fascinated by politics, and usually when I meet someone new, the topic is near the top of the list in conversation. So it isn’t exactly a shock that as I followed a politician around for most of each day that politics would dominate the discourse. As I made my way to Harrington’s office for the first day of shooting, I made a mental list of topics to avoid: Nancy Pelosi, gay marriage, etc., but before long, that list was history. Harrington was not only interested in San Francisco Democrats, part of his stump speech references SF Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Universal Healthcare plan. He gave a confident counter-argument to the Bush tax cuts. On issue after issue, in private and on the stump, Harrington proudly displayed Democratic principles because that’s what he believes. And he wasn’t alone.

The Randolph County Democratic headquarters is just around the corner from the auditorium where the MPW was based. Each day as I waited for my memory card to be backed up, I headed over to the Democratic office to get background on Harrington’s race as well as the other races for judges, county commissioner, US House and Senate and various local battles. In a county carried by Bush 64-35 over Kerry, I found real Democrats, unafraid to speak their minds, to voters, journalists, or anyone who passed by. They list their party on their campaign signs and flyers. There are sitting Senators and Representatives from districts as blue as Moberly is red who can’t bring themselves to do any of this. As I have said time and again, I don’t mind that the DC Democrats have lost legislative battles in the last few years; they are outnumbered, and face an opponent who thinks nothing of bending or breaking the rules. But the way that they have been losing — cowering and allowing themselves to be co-opted — is nothing short of embarrassing. The Democrats of Moberly, both those running for office and rank-and-file citizens, don’t play these games. I’m proud of them.

With just a few weeks left before the mid-term elections, I’m going to suggest that if you have a few extra dollars, please consider helping out a candidate or two at the Act Blue Netroots page. I’ve been donating to John Tester in Montana, James Webb in Virginia, and Joe Sestak in Pennsylvania in particular because none of them are afraid of what they are. This election is within reach, Democrats are leading in polls everywhere, but they almost all trail in the money race. Please help if you can.