LEFT OF THE RIGHT: I Spent Three Days In A Car With A Republican.

As some of you are aware, I am a stand up comedian. Last week I went on a 3 night tour through Wenatchee Washington, Lewiston Idaho, and Butte Montana. I’m a newbie to comedy so I work as a feature or opener for headline acts. I do thirty minutes and the headliner does sixty. To save money comics often travel together whenever possible. My headliner, Dean Olson was from Seattle, so we had arranged to meet up in Wenatchee and after Butte he’d ride back as far as Spokane (my home port) and Greyhound on back home.

I was really looking forward to working with Dean because he is a veteran comic with several television credits on his resume like Evening at the Improv, and Comedy Central. What I didn’t know was that I’d be spending three days riding around the Northwest with a Republican.

At first I was thinking “oh man, this is going to be a long three days.” And I could tell he was thinking the same thing, in fact when we met at the tavern we were performing in the first night, he said so out loud. We hadn’t even left town the next morning when the conversation turned to politics. At first he wanted me to know that although he was staunchly Republican, he didn’t like talking politics because it drove him crazy. I thought right then that ninety percent of the conversation was going to be politics. And we did talk about politics, but like anybody else we talked mostly about what we have in common, comedy. We talked about the comedy business, gossiped about other comics, complained about agents and so on. In other words, we hit it off right away. In fact, the only arena we seemed to disagree on anything was politics. This made the discussions we had on politics a lot different than what I’ve seen here on Gather article threads.

Here in the virtual world of the internet we enjoy the freedom of anonymity. It’s easy to call some one stupid or crazy when you don’t know them or have to look them in the face, or when that someone is not a person you consider a friend. In this situation the conversation was free from party rhetoric and hateful slogans. Sitting a mere few inches apart in a car going seventy five miles an hour as you watch the Rocky Mountains go by just seems to bring out the sincerity in a guy. I was surprised when he told me he was just as dismayed by the ultra conservatives of his party as I was by the ultra liberals of mine. We also agreed that Democrats and Republicans need to see themselves for what they are, the Yin and Yen of America. Government always becomes less effective when the balance of power tips too far in one direction.

I think we learned a lot about each other’s views during those three days. I was moved when Dean told me his biggest reason for opposing abortion was not because he was so cock sure a fetus was a human life, but that it was because he was not sure that he believed it is morally wrong. And I think he was moved when he realized that for myself and others who adamantly oppose the war in Iraq, our passion for that cause is not so much based on animosity towards Bush as it is our emotions of grief at the loss of Americans for a cause we do not believe merits that loss.

I came away feeling a lot better about being an American than I have for a long time. Dean Olson is a good, patriotic American. I sensed a great deal of frustration in him when we discussed the president though. I realized this is a very difficult time for true Republicans. Their party was hi-jacked by the neo-cons, who have now turned on each other. I felt bad but it was good to know there are still Republicans around who are Americans first.

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Devin Barber, Politics Correspondent

Devin’s column, “Left Of The Right” published every Tuesday and Thursday to Gather Essentials: Politics is a Blue Collar Democrats take on current political news.

Devin was raised by proud Roosevelt Democrats. Being the son of parents counted among the throng of Americans displaced by the Great Depression has given Devin a deep rooted passion for causes dealing with the poor and the working class.

You can find all of Devin’s columns at http://gather.com/leftoftheright

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