25 October 2010
 
Bringing Home the Bacon



(Election Day is coming at Big Pink. Photo Socotra.)

I have been meaning to get down to Eastern Market before the Fall produce is all gone. Maybe pick up some of that smoked pepper-encrusted bacon at Canales or the Union Meat market to render down nice and crisp and crumble as a garnish for salads.
 
I quit eating bacon and eggs in the morning, though, and normally get salad to take out for lunch and the urgency just isn’t there, not to mention the fact that there has been no idle time to go downtown to hang out. It might be about time, though, since there are a lo of people on Capital Hill that will be leaving shortly.
 
Election Day is looming, and I suppose I have to look over what is going to be on the ballot besides summering rage. The paper this morning said that nearly a hundred million dollars of anonymous origin is flowing towards a last ditch effort to unseat as many Democrats as possible.
 
There are no Virginia contests for the Senate or the Governorship. We do have a closely –watched House race down in the 5th District, adjacent to Refuge Farm, which sits in the7th. Eric Cantor is a Republican and is reckoned to be safe on a firm anti-OmbamaCare platform. In the 5th, Freshman Democrat Tom Perriello beat Good Ole Boy Virgil Goode by less than a thousand votes last time, turning Virgil out after six terms.
 
I met Congressman Goode when they dedicated the new Agency Building we got funded in Charlottesville. He had an authentic I am betting Tom will be out on his butt, along with Glenn Nye in the 2nd District.
 
I am voting up here, though I can’t figure out why. Our local idiot representing Arlington is Jim Moran, a noted blue blowhard, but he entrenched so deep that there is no chance he will be retired involuntarily. The President swept Virginia in 2008, but it looks like we will veer right again.
 
That is not the case in the Big Pink elections. This is shaping up to be a savage battle for the open seat on the board. President Bruce has been on the board since the place went Condo, and he is not up for re-election, though he probably should be. He is a pleasant and good man, by all accounts, but he has heard all the problems in the building so often that his first response to anything is to say “We looked at that several years ago,” remembering what a pain in the ass whatever the issue was, and then do nothing.
 
The Weasel is staying on as vice President, not up until next year, and the open seat is Secretary, who used to be Lynn until her mother got sick and she had to resign to spend more time taking care of her. President Bruce appointed Doc’s husband John as the interim board member to make a quorum, and he was expected to cruise to re-election unopposed.
 
There is a fierce anti-incumbent sentiment sweeping he building though, and a full slate of opponents is on the ballot. 007 announced his intent to run on the Green ticket, Bruno is representing the Lunatic Fringe, and some lady from the fifth floor who actually understands the issues is going after John.
 
I talked to 007 about the strategy over the weekend. He is thinking about throwing in the towel and taking a volunteer committee position, since he figures the triangulation could work out with Bruno and his geriatric supporters sweeping into office.
 
Bruno curries favor with the oldsters as part of his extortion schemes to shake down the Board. I have no idea what bacon he is planning on taking home from this one, but his tape-recorder and his cell phone camera at the Board meetings are intimidating.
 
 
His election would be a disaster, since there is literally a million bucks at stake in the building fund. He was the one who rallied anti-incumbent sentiment last year and tossed Dick off the Board after a record-setting eight terms.
 
It looks like there could be fireworks at the annual Meeting, and having sold the efficiency unit, I am down to only a single vote. That makes me feel a little nervous. My philosophy is to vote as many times as possible to get the desired end-state, like they do in Chicago, but we will just have to get where we are going on this election, one-man, one vote.
 
The management company always ensures there is complementary wine to keep us sedated at the annual meeting, and maybe it will work again.
 
Copyright 2010 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
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