{"id":1570,"date":"2022-03-17T07:10:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T14:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/?p=1570"},"modified":"2022-03-16T19:16:25","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T02:16:25","slug":"the-last-idaho-democrat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/?p=1570","title":{"rendered":"The Last Idaho Democrat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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We held our Idaho State Democratic convention at Mingles Pool Hall on ladies\u2019 night, thinking it wouldn\u2019t be too crowded. There were just three of us left in this vast state; two in the North End of Boise and me up in Moscow. They agreed to come the 300 miles north for the beautiful drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I checked with the bouncer, and he said we could use a corner booth if we didn\u2019t get too loud. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you get a pool table? Number two is open. That\u2019s your favorite.\u201d He knew my habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thinking a couple games of cutthroat might pass the time while we approved the minutes of our last meeting, I got the rack of balls and picked out a cue. The other two Idaho Democrats came through the swinging doors right on time. Matt had his Idaho State sweatshirt on, and Priscilla was wearing her Paulette Jordan sweatshirt. We always try to fit in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They ambled my way reluctantly. Matt grinned and nodded toward the rack of balls. \u201cAre we going to play for who gets to be the last?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You see, we had to decide who amongst us was going to keep the banner, since there was such a strong desire to register Republican to participate in the closed Republican Primary election this May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know how to play cutthroat?\u201d I asked them. Their headshakes got me started on the explanation of the rules, but they got distracted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Priscilla asked the waitress is they had organic herbal tea. Matt wanted an artisanal IPA. They settled for whatever and I got Jim Beam on the rocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCutthroat, huh?\u201d Matt asked. \u201cSounds like an appropriate game for Democrats.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Priscila frowned. \u201cJust because you didn\u2019t vote for Paulette, I wouldn\u2019t cut your throat.\u201d She chalked her cue fiercely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, the rules are, the last one of us with any balls on the table gets to be the last Democrat in Idaho.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s sure sexist.\u201d Priscilla frowned again. \u201cHow do I know which are my balls<\/em> and which are yours?\u201d She grinned and glared with her emphasis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhatever balls you don\u2019t sink, that\u2019s what you are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matt grimaced. \u201cAnother Democrat rule if I\u2019ve ever heard one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, I\u2019ll break. If I drop the One Ball and the Fifteen Ball, I\u2019m the middles, six through ten. We each have five balls and you want to drop the other guys. Make a shot, even your own ball, and you get to keep shooting. Winner is the last one with their balls up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matt racked. \u201cMove to approve the minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSecond,\u201d Priscilla offered, \u201cand I\u2019ll go next.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sure enough, I dropped a couple on the break, the ten and the twelve, so that meant I was the low balls. I made a couple more, then missed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Priscilla dropped the fifteen. \u201cSo now you are the middles, six through ten.\u201d I explained. She lined up on the nine-ball. \u201cYou know that\u2019s yours.\u201d I offered. She sank it in the corner, looked at me and smiled. \u201cNow you only have two left.\u201d She smiled again and kept shooting. She dropped one of Matt\u2019s and one of mine, then another of hers, then missed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matt studied the table and I spoke to Priscilla as she chalked her cue softly. \u201cYou only have one left. Why\u2019re you doing that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She whispered, \u201cI\u2019m moving to Portland. I can\u2019t be the last Democrat in Idaho.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matt sank two of his, leaving him with just one also, then he missed. \u201cAre you moving too?\u201d I asked him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was honest. \u201cI need to vote for Brad in the primary. I have the paperwork in the car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I dropped their remaining balls, leaving me, the last Democrat in Idaho with three balls on the table.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We held our Idaho State Democratic convention at Mingles Pool Hall on ladies\u2019 night, thinking it wouldn\u2019t be too crowded. There were just three of us left in this vast state; two in the North End of Boise and me … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1570"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1570"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1572,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1570\/revisions\/1572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}