Stephen Yeargin

Almost six years ago, I was huddled in the front seat of one my fraternity brother’s car riding down a very dark and cold west Tennessee road. It was about 1 a.m. when we left the headquarters in Dresden with a trunk full of campaign signs to set up along the roadway and intersections on the eve of Election Day. We pulled over every few miles and at near overpasses to quickly shove the thin metal frame into the ground and stretch the plastic sign over it. It was mostly a last ditch effort to bolster the visibility of a US Senate candidate that was lagging behind in the polls.

I eventually bailed at Dyersburg and rode back with another volunteer, deciding that the purported plan of riding until sunrise was not in the best interest of my academic future. This was one of the many times that I found myself engaged in some aspect of the political process, whether it be campaigning, covering for the newspaper or simply observing as a citizen. Many of my close friends have gone much further down that proverbial highway than I ever did, taking legislative internships and managing statewide campaigns. All did their jobs remarkably well. I prefer to stay just far enough outside of the political system to still have a high opinion of it, but close enough to have people to celebrate with on election night or share a rant with between cycles.

In about a week, I will start getting a flood of e-mails and text messages from these same people about the election looming large on our horizon. I am really looking forward to it.