John McCain Changed My Life

That's not hyperbole. I wasn't very interested in politics in 1999 and was disillusioned. The Clinton impeachment was an embarrassment. Someone told me about John McCain. I'd never heard of him, but I got excited when I found out about him. I volunteered for my first political campaign.

I had no idea how much the odds were against us. I made calls for the California primary and so many people told me they were voting Bush because Bush had the endorsements. They were doing what they were told. I celebrated when McCain won New Hampshire and the crap the Bushies pulled in South Carolina left me very angry. I head a grudge against George Bush. I regret that since George is a actually a great guy and didn’t deserve my animosity.

I was actually a few feet away from John McCain when he gave his concession speech.

Like a lot of people the Bush years left me disillusioned. I was unhappy with the Republican party and couldn’t think of any reason to vote Republican.

I got excited when John McCain decided to run for President again. He was a reason I still voted Republican. I signed up for the campaign in June 2007. The campaign wasn’t that well organized and I didn’t hear anything from them until November. I got an email. They needed 3 convention delegates and 3 alternates for each California congressional district. Was I interested in being a convention delegate?

Me? A delegate? Don’t they reserve that for big donors, politicians, and party insiders? I’d been involved with one campaign and no one knew me from that. I hadn’t even been involved in this campaign. I hailed from a very Democratic district. They probably couldn’t come up with 6 names and if they didn’t have 6 names John McCain couldn’t win the convention delegates. Yes! Yes! Yes, I’ll do it.

What does a delegate do? Well, not much at all anymore but I didn’t know that.

I volunteered and did some calls over the next few months. I was at the Cat and the Fiddle with all the other McCainites on Super Tuesday night. McCain won a lot that night and also won California. He didn’t win every district, however, so I had to wait to find out if I’d be a delegate.

He did and I was.

What should I do with this newfound status? For some insane reason I decided that since my status would likely open doors closed to others I’d get a camera and shoot a documentary about the state of the Republican party and where it was headed.

The documentary would be part of my life for the next 10 years. I met a number of politicians, including Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, Kevin McCarthy, and my hero Dr. Tom Coburn. I never did get an interview with John McCain. So I never actually spoke with him face to face.

I didn’t just shoot a documentary about the 2010 election. I became involved in politics. Over the next several years I volunteered on numerous campaigns and became a political nerd. I analyzed and studied elections and blogged about it.

I wonder what my political interest would’ve been if not for John McCain. So much of my life changed because I was a McCain volunteer/convention delegate.

John McCain and I never spoke to one another, but that wasn’t necessary for him to change my life. It was who he was as a man that changed it.

R.I.P. John McCain