This is the Way we Lose the War

Adam placed a hand on the faux-wood surface of the conference table and pressed down, spreading his fingers slowly. He stared at them for a moment, then looked up at me.

"It's almost so fucked up that it couldn't have been written, made up. Nobody would believe it."

I smiled and walked to my desk to scribble this line down, thinking it would be a good lead-in to the essay about my Arkansas adventure I might write someday. If only I could figure out an angle that would allow me to share with the reader the joyous bumbling nature of the doomed progressive campaign I had joined, without falling into useless and tired stereotypes of the deep south or, even more important, making fun of my colleagues.

Back at the conference table, Adam was telling Kevin what was so fucked up. What was so fucked up in Arkansas politics this week. Last week it had been that the candidate in our most-winnable district had dropped out of the race (the district where our best organizer was stationed, and the most volunteers and the most registered voters). As if that weren't bad enough, the replacement candidate (because democrats in Arkansas can just dig up a new state senate candidate in a couple days...who knew?) had done something marginally but entertainingly illegal in the past and ended up on the Judge Judy show within days of declaring his candidacy. They say all press is good press but I don't know.

This week, the drama was money.

"So the teacher's union told Matt Thomas they were gonna fund his whole campaign and now they're not," Adam told Kevin.
"Wait, he's in which district again?" I asked. I know it's bad, but I can't keep the campaign info straight in my head no matter how hard I try. District number plus name equals nonsense. Adam looks at me without quite rolling his eyes.
"He's in 7."
"Oh, up north, right?"
"Yeah."

I frowned, trying to make sense of this. That's what you do when you get surprising news, right? Why would the union make an empty promise to a decent candidate? What were they thinking?

"What are they thinking, is what I'm wondering," Adam said, leaning back in the chair, "I mean, do they have some kind of strategy? Are they thinking they'll focus on the House instead of the Senate? Are they just...insane?"

I laugh. I get a look from Adam. Who then rolls his eyes and laughs too.

Welcome to Arkansas, ladies and gentlemen.