Thread: Wacktivists
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Old 02-22-2009, 11:25 PM   #1 (permalink)
SecretMethod70
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Wacktivists

Something a little more light-hearted for Tilted Politics...

Working on campaigns for the past 9 or so months, I've come across a number of what we like to call "Wacktivists," meaning slightly crazy, politically engaged people. Sometimes they have some particular issue that they're REALLY concerned about, sometimes they feel like they know the ONE THING that will make the difference between winning and losing and that we NEED to listen to them, and sometimes they really are just crazy.

During the last campaign I worked for, there was an older guy with a thick white beard who played Santa during the holiday season - and apparently even when it wasn't the holiday season. Here we were, campaigning in October, and he comes into our office a few times and semi-jokingly asks if we've been naughty or nice, etc. He sent me an e-mail once and his signature contained a large picture of him in the Santa costume with red and green text.

In the campaign I'm currently working on, we had a guy who came in and helped for a couple days and then started talking about how he could deliver the election to us, but we better listen to him, etc etc. Eventually that devolved into threats that if we don't listen to him then he'll make sure that we don't win, and then at one point he told a staffer that if he sees our campaign manager on the street then he better watch out. Obviously, we notified the authorities

Why is it that crazy people are drawn to politics? I've got an uncle who is kinda crazy and acts like he has all these connections...except he's a bailiff.

So anyway, I'm curious to hear about anyone else's exposure to crazy, politically engaged people. Maybe you've helped out with a political cause and come across someone that way, or maybe you have a memorable story of a run-in outside the grocery store or on the street.

Let's hear about the crazy, politically engaged people that you've come across in your life.

(And, btw, I'm talking about people who are seriously off-kilter, not "I ran into a Ron Paul supporter, what a loon!")
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