The year is 2004. I am in high school and still 16 years old. My dad was running for congress in the California 3rd district. If you are one of the 99% of Americans whose parent has never run for congress, let me tell you, you are so lucky. It is one of the most stressful things you can go through. All I wanted to do was be an average high schooler. Playing sports, awkward flirting, attempting to stay awake during class, and essentially trying to attract as little attention to myself as possible. I didn't want to think of my Dad running a campaign and potentially moving to D.C. It happened though. My brother and I would go out for hours of canvASSing as we called it. This involved visiting 80% of the houses on our list, then getting a muffin from starbucks and sitting in the car making up data for the rest. This may sound bad, but I was 16. I didn't want to be going around to creepy peoples' houses. I wanted to be at home, sleeping. Then, my big brother left for school in Utah and left me to deal with it on my own. This was the same year Kerry lost and the republicans "took back the house". It was a dark time for a Mormon democratic candidate with a hispanic last name, running in one of the most conservative districts in the state. My dad tried though. Very hard. He had to deal with all sorts of ridiculous party politics that make me hate the democratic party. He was moderate, fiscally conservative, and had an A rating from the NRA. It was not meant to be though.
Official Castillo for Congress Photo |
You may not be able to completely make out his lower lip spittle |
Edit: I am sorry that I sounded so gloaty. Now that Ami has officially won, I feel a little bad. My dad reminded me, as we picked up my brother from the airport, that while very self-assured, Mr. Lungren was a very classy guy. Apparently, Ami Bera's camp sent out a tacky self-congratulatory email with a clip of Lungren classily continuing to orient new congressmen (his job) even though he had lost. Losing a race is very hard to take, and I sincerely wish you the best, Mr. Lungren. I'm sorry I was bitter and said mean things about your spittle.