Vote for the Runt

Ahhh, no more political commericals on t.v. and radio. I was 9 or 10 years old when I began "dabbling" in politics. My mother and some of her brothers were active as "ward captains" in our town and state elections held every two years or so. She would assign me and my brother the tasks of reading and organizing newspaper articles and radio ads on the different candidates; attending some of her "political machine" meetings in our little role as gophers; helping poor or elderly folks reach the polling stations (not only physically but also monetarily with $5 bills passed from her to them through me and my brother, so as not to seem too obvious nor illegal); and keeping mathematical tab on the running poll reports on election night. At that same age, I was a also a delivery boy for the newspaper of which my mother was the town manager. She would send me and my same-age sidekick, Rallen, into the town's saloons to sell the weekly newspaper to the men drinking at the bar but especially to those gambling at tables in the backrooms. Our instruction from her was to keep a sharp eye and ear out for any political talk among those usually-lowlife scoundrels, and report the scuttlebutt back to her. I don't think we had child-labor laws back then.

-Old Gargoyle