POLITICAL NOVICE

The David Oh campaign kick-off dinner at Chinatown this evening was an interesting mix of spirited feel-goodism and political reality. On the one hand, to a person we all agreed that we supported the candidate first and foremost because of his honesty, sincerity, and integrity. All politicians say they are of and for the people, we all said, but with David, we know it to be true. And so to campaign and strategize and seek to win kindled the idealist in all of us, whether we were new to politics or old, crusty, and jaded.

But there was also a heavier side to the meeting. I sat amongst many gnarled politicos, veterans of countless cycles of campaigns and elections. The gossip about the goings-on in City Hall and Harrisburg bounced across the table like ping pong balls at the lottery. Every so often, I would gasp in mock horror, to the delight of those regaling in the stories. They enjoyed my exaggerated naivete. The funny thing is that in most cases, I really am that naive.

The campaign manager introduced himself and rattled off a litany of his accomplishments in securing victory for those he endorsed, while the veterans nodded their heads, as if to recollect on hard-fought battle victories and painful defeats. Me, being the political novice, shuffled nervously in my chair, not because I didn't feel good about something, but because it all seemed so new to me, this political air that I was breathing.

David will continue to play the straight and narrow, because that's who he is, and appeal to voters as an outsider, because most certainly that's who he is. In fact, the very fact that he is not endorsed by the powers that be is to be used to his advantage in this campaign, if his advisors can help it. That being said, there is a game to this thing called politics, and David intends to play the rules and play to win. I'll be interested to see how this whole thing unfolds. And I'll be interested to see what parts of this political game I like and don't like, and which parts I agree with and which I find repulsive.