WRITEMARSH!: Part Three of Why I Continue to Stand on my Poll For 13 Hours...

...twice a year, getting there at 6:30 a.m., right after my shift, and not sleeping until 1 or 2 am the following morning.

(if this is your first time seeing my multi-part series on why and how I became a Republican Committeeman, click here for part 1 and then click here for part 2.)

Lets see...where did I leave off last time? Oh, yeah:

The local Republican committee here in Whitemarsh Township was holding a family night at a local community center. The Philly Phanatic was going to be there, so I asked my wife, Karen, to take my son to see him. You see, I work night shift and couldn't take him myself. A few days later I get a phone call that my son had won a Phillies hat at the event and could they come by and drop it off? I said "sure, no problem", and the woman gave me a ballpark (no pun intended) time that she would be there. I gave it no further thought, and the next day, while doing some yard work, a woman drove up my driveway, got out of the car, and asked if I was Bill. I replied that I was and she introduced herself as the woman I had spoken to the previous day. She gave me the hat, we chatted a bit, and she asked me if I had ever thought about being involved. I said "no, thanks, I'm in a committed relationship"...(had to do that). I replied that I had thought about it, but night shift prevented me from too much extra-curricular involvement outside my family. She bade me goodbye and went on her way. What happened soon thereafter changed my life and my way of thinking forever.

About 2 months later, I received a phone call asking me if I was interested in getting involved with the local Republican Committee. I told them the same thing that i told the nice lady who visited me about a month or so previously...I was interested, but my work schedule precluded me from participating in evening activities on weeknights.

I made nice-nice with the caller and hung up, thinking that I would never be bothered again, after the night shift schpiel.

Then it happened-another phone call, this time in early February of 2004. The man on the phone introduced himself as the chairman of the Whitemarsh Republican Committee-Tom Gale. Tom gave me the same speech about getting involved and, to shut him up, I told him that if I was to get involved in any extra-familial activities (I spend little time except for weekends with my family because of the shift) I'd have to clear it with my wife (the beautiful, smart and more level headed than I), Karen.

The lovely and level-headed Karen (and yours truly)

Well...Karen and I discussed it for a few minutes over dinner that night. She said (and I quote) "as long as it doesn't take a great deal of time away from us, go ahead". I made sure that I heard her correctly and made her repeat herself. Me being a man, with the tremendous gift of "man hearing" I heard her twice say "go ahead".

I called Tom the next day and told him that I would give it a go, but not to expect alot out of me because my wife had only said "go ahead", which means "it better not get in the way of the honey-do list".

So, in a presidential election year, Tom Gale shows up at my home, unannounced at about 6 pm on Friday, February 13th, 2004. I remember it well, because I took the night off of work to go out for my birthday.

He hands me the petition and a list of addresses and says to me "you need 10 signatures from Republicans on this no later than 4 pm on Tuesday". I said "no problem", and took the paperwork from him. I swear I heard him snicker as he left, but it came out like "you're doing us a great favor, Bill...we really need your help".

Well, I woke up Saturday morning with the worst flu I've ever had in my life. I didn't get out of bed until Tuesday morning. Now, when I am sick, I usually just go to work, because I know I'm going to be miserable, so why stay home and be miserable, when I can go to work and be just as miserable. I was really, really sick.

So, Tom calls me at about noon on Tuesday and asks me if I got the petition signed. I told him of my terrible flu and I don't think he believed me, but when i told him that I had missed 2 days of work, he relaxed and told me that I'd have to mount a "write-in" campaign on election day.

So, I start going to meetings, they find out that I am a graphic arts professional, and they get me working with this 20 something kid on a website. I do all of the things I'm asked to do leading up to election (primary) day, then election day is here.

I work the poll, but can only do it for half the day, until 2 pm, as I have to leave to go to work. I lobby for write-in votes and am having a great time talking with the folks at the poll. Then I have to leave.

Well, the next night I call Tom and ask him if I got the necessary 10 votes to become committeeman...he says that it was pitiful, I only received 6 write-in votes. Then he drops the shock of a life on me-the committeeman that I was to replace (supposedly because he had stopped coming to meetings and stopped working the poll) showed up after I left and lobbied write-in votes for himself. He got only 9, which still wasn't enough to be named the winner, so Tom said that he would try to get me appointed.

Now, we all know what happens when it's time for a county re-organization convention to go down...the chairman will make certain appointments, and won't make certain appointments, according to who is running for chair and where he needs the votes (see: Ken Davis' Non-Existent Chairman's Prerogative Rulebook).

Tom gives me another petition on the day of the re-org and asks me to call him when I get 10 names on it. I spend the morning getting my signatures and Tom picks up the petition and takes it to MCRC headquarters. The current chair, Frank Bartle, will not appoint me. That night, Ken Davis wins by one vote in a questionable process in which there was one more vote than there was committee-people or proxies in attendance (Sound familiar? Click here to read about the last time there was a count discrepancy).

Anyway, that was the night Ken Davis became MCRC Chair.

The Kerns/Davis lawsuit goes on through the summer and (although I worked my tail off for the party throughout the summer) I don't get appointed committeeman until September of '04.