You now hate both political parties. You hate the side you worked for just a little bit less, mind you; but you do very much hate them both.

Read more at http://postgradproblems.com/48-signs-youve-worked-in-politics/#qSbELQ8uBIhOFLyb.99

By all means this is true, I hold this as a personal truth as well as an objective reality.  It is only sign 33. There are 48 of them.

A former friend of mine, and an acquaintance I want to distance myself from after he defended the use of Confederate flags at a rally that had nothing to do with the American Civil War, as well as a leader with the Eaton County Tea Party, actually expressed disbelief at my experiences and activities in politics for the past thirteen years and essentially called my resume a lie.  Given the investment of time and energy and my own occasional belief that it was just loss, this sort of accusation, made even casually, is a grievous offence.

I suppose a little sensitivity on the matter has been accumulated. The realization set in that there was nothing I could accomplish or have accomplished that could not be undone or has not been undone.  That this could be undone by your own political party through malpractice or inaction is particularly irritating.

As it is, my narcissism aside, every one of the signs on the list is true to some degree or another.

At some point I just quit looking for political work before all of these became true to me, for me, whichever. I desire something better than simply being an underappreciated, underpaid, overworked, overweight operative with an acid reflux problem. And long ago I determined that by a simple age I wish to pursue wealth and some level of power, ultimately because it’s difficult, near impossible to successfully raise children when you live like a gypsy. Ostensibly I did a lot of what I did out of a sense of adventure and a sense of patriotism and to an extent I wish I did more of it when I was younger. But as you get older it grinds on you. Because of the experience I absolutely despise working as a simple under-acknowledged rank-and-file “activist”.  Mostly because I get the sense that simple negligence will erase the consequences of my work, I won’t be appreciated, all my accumulated knowledge is ignored and I follow the instructions of some kid…. and I really just hate going door to door or doing call centers.

So I will do certain volunteer activities under special circumstances or asked by special people, but not in general.

So I have volunteered.  I have been listed as “GOP activist”, which annoys me to no end as my qualifications are very well minimized by that particular distinction.  I have been a “political operative”.  I have “worked in politics”.  The precise costs I keep secret for a number of reasons, mostly because it’s none of your business, mixed in part with I don’t want my mother to know what happened.

Here are some samples:

  • Everyone you know has slept with everyone you know.
  • You were unnecessarily pretentious and referred to yourself as an “operative.” Give it up, you worked in the field. Just call it like it is.
  • That moment of pure joy when a walkbook is not only completed, but filled out correctly.
  • Being in a perpetual state of either drunk or hungover.
  • You worked for morons. Pure morons.
  • You’ve quite literally whored yourself out for money that you didn’t even personally receive.
  • You once wanted to run for office.
  • You no longer want to.
  • People frequently told you to get a “real job.”
  • No benefits. Just….none. Thank the Lord for mom and dad.
  • Your lifestyle was often compared to that of a gypsy, and in all seriousness, it wasn’t the worst comparison. You moved a lot, you drank a lot, and your morals were questionable at best. Expense reports that ended in multiple zeros.
  • You got fat. Like, really, really, fat.
  • Your older volunteers added you on Facebook…and still comment on all of your statuses.
  • A normal sleep schedule? What is that?
  • You now hate both political parties. You hate the side you worked for just a little bit less, mind you; but you do very much hate them both.
  • Independents are honestly just in the way. GOODBYE. Let the big kids play.
  • The miles you put on your car are the reason your warranty expired two years before it ever should have.
  • Your salary was such that some years you fell below the poverty line.

    • Catie Warren wrote these but the samples are among the stuff I have lived. If you have an actual career in mind instead, do that. The typical rewards for being a smart and very fortunate, well, lucky, political operative is a staff job in an office where you get health insurance.  I have seen people perform absolutely incompetently and get real work.  I have seen people perform brilliantly and get nothing for it.