So—while we wait the outcome of this year’s election with TERROR—why not a memory?
Election Day, 1980. Tuesday, November 4.
I made the worst vote of my life that year—I voted for the dumbass Libertarian candidate, Ed Clark. And who was the Libertarian VP candidate? David Koch, of the infamous and un-American Koch brothers.
What the hell. I was fucking stupid. I was 22. Everyone is entitled to one bad vote. (Except this year).
I voted in the Morning. Maybe I went to class that afternoon. I don’t remember. Probably. But I went to the Deep Eddy around seven o’clock or so. Bartender KW was taping black balloons along the bar, in anticipation of a Ronald Reagan victory.
Then I went down to Club Foot to see Gang of Four! They were a great political second-wave punk band from Britain. It was a terrific show!
There was a little black & white TV on the corner of the bar, and when I left the music side of the club to get a beer I would check in on the returns. It wasn’t looking good for Jimmy Carter.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I cast my first vote, in 1976, for Jimmy Carter. I liked Jimmy Carter, but I didn't vote for him in 1980. Fucking stupid.
After the show I stopped back at the Deep Eddy. The mood was glum. Two old twin brother rednecks, Hans & Will, were pulling KW’s black balloons off the ceiling and biting them and saying vulgarities.
I went home and drank some cheap vodka and watched the election returns. I was—feeling sorry—for Jimmy Carter. And already feeling guilty about my stupid vote. Would my vote have made a difference? Really? Yes? No? I called a friend in Minneapolis and had a drunken late night chat, then went to bed.
I woke the next morning with a hangover, in Reagan’s America. Morning indeed.
Here’s Ed Ward’s review of the concert....
Election Day, 1980. Tuesday, November 4.
I made the worst vote of my life that year—I voted for the dumbass Libertarian candidate, Ed Clark. And who was the Libertarian VP candidate? David Koch, of the infamous and un-American Koch brothers.
What the hell. I was fucking stupid. I was 22. Everyone is entitled to one bad vote. (Except this year).
I voted in the Morning. Maybe I went to class that afternoon. I don’t remember. Probably. But I went to the Deep Eddy around seven o’clock or so. Bartender KW was taping black balloons along the bar, in anticipation of a Ronald Reagan victory.
Then I went down to Club Foot to see Gang of Four! They were a great political second-wave punk band from Britain. It was a terrific show!
There was a little black & white TV on the corner of the bar, and when I left the music side of the club to get a beer I would check in on the returns. It wasn’t looking good for Jimmy Carter.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I cast my first vote, in 1976, for Jimmy Carter. I liked Jimmy Carter, but I didn't vote for him in 1980. Fucking stupid.
After the show I stopped back at the Deep Eddy. The mood was glum. Two old twin brother rednecks, Hans & Will, were pulling KW’s black balloons off the ceiling and biting them and saying vulgarities.
I went home and drank some cheap vodka and watched the election returns. I was—feeling sorry—for Jimmy Carter. And already feeling guilty about my stupid vote. Would my vote have made a difference? Really? Yes? No? I called a friend in Minneapolis and had a drunken late night chat, then went to bed.
I woke the next morning with a hangover, in Reagan’s America. Morning indeed.
Here’s Ed Ward’s review of the concert....
Austin-American Statesman--November 6, 1980
And here's Gang of Four!
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