Beat Bush

In the summer of 2004, while my son Bret was home from his first year at the University of Maryland in College Park, I was in New York as well.  While he got a job caddying at a private golf course on Long Island, I found one working for the Democratic National Committee in lower Manhattan.

While everyone knew Republican President George W. Bush would run for re-election, his Democratic opponent was yet to be determined at the time of my hiring in early June.  It wasn't until the last week in July that Massachusetts Senator John Kerry won the nomination.

My job consisted of soliciting campaign contributions on the streets of Manhattan.  Every morning all solicitors would be placed in teams of around four and told where to go to collect money.  Our slogan before we had a candidate was "Do you want to Beat Bush?"  

It was not a voluntary position.  As I recall, we received some kind of minimum wage plus a percentage of the amount we collected.  The contributions could be in the form of cash, check or credit card.  I discovered that my daily success was really determined by where they sent me.  My best days were when I was placed on the upper west side of Manhattan.

My favorite memory of this experience was eyeing the actor Richard Dreyfuss walking along the streets of New York.  While I took a lunch break, he had been solicited by one of my fellow team members.  When I returned, my fellow-solicitor told me about it and I regretted my bad timing.  However, later, Dreyfuss again walked past our location.

Not able to solicit him a second time, I quickly thought of something clever to say.  I blurted out, "I loved Moon Over Parador (a 1988 comedy Dreyfuss made in Brazil with Sonia Braga)."  He stopped in his tracks for a second or two, responded "Good!" and then walked away without looking in my direction.

My worst memory of that time was when I asked a not so well dressed man on Broadway if he "wanted to beat Bush."  Of course we were used to a lot of rejection.  However, this guy responded in a very hostile way, "Do you want me to beat you?"

His manner conveyed he was not playing with a full deck.  He started walking towards me with an angry expression, making threats.  I looked to my teammates for help, but they ignored me.  I was on my own.  I kept backing away, trying to assuage him.  I think, at last, he got tired of me and continued on his way.  After that, I was more careful whom I solicited.