Talking politics in the grocery bean section

I walked to the local grocery store to do some shopping yesterday.

I was checking out the bean section (one of my favorite places) and a woman saw my Lisa 4 Maine button on me and asked who it was.  So I proceeded to tell her about Lisa Savage.

The woman is in her late 70's and is from Mexico.  She told me she used to be a domestic worker for one of Maine's leading families.

I liked her immediately - a kind smile and she listened closely as I answered her questions.  She asked me Lisa's position on abortion and I told her that Lisa supported leaving those questions to the woman, her family and her doctor.  She explained that she is against abortion and a Republican.  We talked about immigration, war, corporate control of Washington and more.

She listened closely to me while I answered her questions and I respectfully listened to her as well.

Then she asked me about Ranked Choice Voting (RCV).  She said most older people are confused by it.  I asked her if she'd like me to try to explain it.  She said yes, please try.

So I took three cans off the shelf - one can of black beans, one can of artichoke hearts and one can of white beans.  I said when you go to vote you rank the candidates by your preferences - say the black beans is your first choice, then the white beans is your second and the artichoke hearts last.  She got that part.

Then I bumbled around trying to explain what they do if none of the candidates get more than 50% of the vote in the first round - they drop off the last candidate and shift their votes to the others.  This is where I didn't do so well but my new friend was extremely patient with me while I floundered.  For a much better explanation of RCV go here.

In the end we had a very pleasant good-bye with each of us forgetting why we had been standing in front of the bean section of the store.

I wished I had got her contact information.  MB spent several years in Mexico and loves the culture and the people there.  She would have liked this nice woman even if she was a Republican.

I told her that I had once been a Young Republican for Nixon in 1968 so I don't judge folks based on their political affiliation.  In my life I went from Republican to Democrat (have not voted for a Dem for prez since Walter Mondale in 1984) to Green Independent.

I try to meet people on face value.  You show me respect and you get it back from me.  We can talk politics all day long and we don't have to agree.

In the end this kind woman told me she would keep an eye on Lisa and would likely pick her as #2 choice in the RCV election for US Senate in November.

Bruce