Cape Breton political blogger campaigned for Democratic Party in midterm elections
Parker Donham campaigned for the Democratic Party this month in Texas during the U.S. midterm elections. - Contributed
SYDNEY, N.S. — Parker Donham doesn’t hesitate when asked why he just spent 10 days in Texas campaigning for a Democrat candidate in the U.S.’s midterm elections.
“I am really concerned about the political situation in the United States right now,” said the 73-year-old communications specialist, political blogger (Contrarian) and former independent journalist.
“I think it’s very dangerous and very ugly and it seems we’re at one of those points of history when people need to stand up and be counted.”
About a month before Tuesday’s elections, Donham began researching Democrat candidates running in what are referred to as “toss-up” congressional districts. He whittled his list down to two, one in Albany, N.Y. and one in Dallas. He chose the Texas district.
“I figured Dallas was warmer and I was right about the heat — it was very hot,” he said, in a reference that could be applied to both the climate and the politics.
One might wonder what could possibly compel a resident of Cape Breton to travel to the United States to work on behalf of a political candidate.
Those who know Donham are unlikely to be surprised. But, for those who don’t, he’s an American who moved to Cape Breton almost half a century ago. And, he’s been keeping an eye on his native country’s political landscape ever since.
Although he’s a Canadian citizen, Donham also retained his American citizenship which allowed him to skirt the U.S. rules that prohibit foreigners from working on election campaigns.
He ended up door-knocking for Colin Allred, a 35-year-old, black civil rights lawyer who was raised by a single white mother. Allred ended up knocking off a longstanding Republican incumbent and is now the member-elect of the U.S. House of Representatives for Texas’ 32nd district.
“I didn’t have any unnerving incidents and I never felt menaced in any way,” said Donham, of his experience of campaigning in suburban Dallas neighbourhoods, which he noted were far more integrated than communities in Nova Scotia.
“I knocked on almost 1,000 doors and I had only two doors slammed in my face because I was a Democrat.”
Donham noted the areas he worked in had already been fairly well canvassed and many people gave him little more than a few seconds before shutting their doors.
“But about one of every six people would engage in conversation and would always be interested to hear the great story that my candidate has — he’s a former member of the Obama administration, he’s a former NFL football player who was raised in that area and caught a few breaks and now he just wants other people to have the same opportunities,” he said.
He also made a number of interesting social observations, including that of ethnic awareness in Texas.
“If I were to generalize, I would say that black people there were quite engaged — they were quite aware of the racist, dog-whistling that Trump is doing,” he said.
“That Trump has so much support is hard to grasp, it’s really hard to grasp and the more I think about it the more I believe that racism is at the root of it.”
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Donham admitted that his candidate’s win was tempered somewhat by the news that Beto O’Rourke, a rising star in the Democratic Party, had narrowly lost (50.9 per cent to 48.2 per cent) to Ted Cruz in the Senate race in Texas.
“But I think the election was pretty good for Democrats,” he opined.
“Having control of the House of Representatives means the Democrats can stop Trump from passing stupid laws, so it’s a very different situation than when the Republicans controlled the presidency and both houses.”
Donham said that while he is still uneasy about the Trump administration, he’s looking ahead to a brighter political future south of the Canadian border.
“Never underestimate the resiliency of the United States — it’s been through a lot of crises, including the hideously bloody Civil War, and they’ve always managed to come back from it,” he said.
“I don’t think the situation is hopeless although there are days when it feels hopeless.”
david.jala@cbpost.com
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