052_04 - Politics as Unusual

In an effort to be current, here is a semi Presidential frame.

In my college days, I was full of ideas about how the country should be run. Like many college folks, I was a registered Republican. It was the party of big business, and I hoped to be a part of that big business one day. I became part of CREEP, the Committee to Re-Elect the President.

This photo shows me with fellow college Republican Scott Dickerson. We're standing in front of the Long Beach Republican headquarters decked out in our convention gear. This was due to our preparing to attend a Los Angeles appearance of President Nixon.

We were one of several thousand young Nixon supporters bused into the event. The hope was that TV cameras would catch us and demonstrate that Nixon still had a following among young voters.

Initially we were all herded into a large gathering area. The actual rally was inside the building with seats having been purchased for fund raising. W had been promised that at the conclusion there would be a chance to actually see President Nixon.

We sat around outside for hours waiting for the event to begin. Hours passed slowly. Occasionally we were asked to stand and cheer waving signs and banners for the news cameras. They had speakers set up so we could hear the rally happening inside.

Finally, we were told the rally inside was over. We all looked for Nixon to appear. Suddenly it was announced that Nixon would be at an upper floor and we were quickly ushered to a higher area. There was no one there, not even the news media. We later heard that Nixon needed to exit through the lower gathering area, and needed to leave quickly, so they had herded us upstairs to clear the way.

We were hugely disappointed. It would be the last political rally I would ever attend. I eventually converted to the Democratic Party. Big business had escaped me. I soon found that if I wanted to keep the idea of free speech safe, I needed to lean away from the those who thought money granted them the right to silence detractors.