My picture is on the front page of The Kansas City Star today. I'm off to the right of Mark Funkhouser and I look like a banshee on ecstasy.
We won!
Barely.
After I lit my cigar, I wrapped my arm around Jeff Simon, the campaign committee chair, and said, "I can't believe it."
It seems like six years ago when I first met Jeff in Funk's dining room last November. I went to the meeting not sure what to expect. I'd gotten an e-mail from Mark saying he was running for mayor and he wanted my help. I thought it might be fun, but I didn't think we'd have a chance.
But then Mark leaned across the table, looked me in the eye and said, "I'm going to win this thing."
And I instantly believed him.
I'd like to say I believed we were going to win all along. And were it not for the frequent moments of extreme anxiety along the way I'd say that's true. There was just something supernatural about this campaign; there were too many perfect accidents and coincidences. And the buzz and enthusiasm around the campaign was so intense that I felt certain right up until the Jackson County results started coming in that we would win in a landslide.
Now that it's the day after it's dawning on me how close we were to losing it, how Brooks really could've crushed us if he'd done just a few things differently. If the mayor hadn't freaked out and made our main issue front-page news. If...
Right before Allie and I left the Beaumont Club last night Funk leaned over and shouted in my ear, "It's like a movie."
Damn straight. We pulled off a damned big Frank-Capra-style upset.
A Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year
A Publisher's Weekly Best Book of the Year
One of Kansas City Star's 100 Noteworthy Books of the Year
Winner of the William Rockhill Nelson Award for Nonfiction
Winner of the Harry Chapin Media Award
. . .
Forget the nerdy reputation that debate has. Instead think of a scenario as exciting as a sports game with high stakes like triumphing over racism. bad politics and abject poverty... An important, thoughtful and provocative look at race and class in America.
- The Boston Globe
Joe Miller's enthusiasm is infectious and the plot creates the suspense of a good courtroom thriller.
- Entertainment Weekly
The minute I finished Joe Miller's Cross-X, I held the book out in front of me -- amazed, rapturous, and hopeful... Miller's mesmerizing, vivid accounts of the debates will leave you crouched in your seat, holding your breath... An incredibly powerful, daringly hopeful book.
- Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Irresistible... Miller begins breezily but is soon deeply invested in the Central squad's mission to not only master the debate game on its own terms but revolutionize it with flashes of poetry and hip-hop wordplay... If all these kids could run things, Miller implies, imagine what could get done.
- Elle
5 comments:
Hi Joe - I was hoping to get a chance to talk to you at the party yesterday, but didn't. Thanks for the work you did on the campaign.
I've liked Mark since the days my job took me to City Hall for meetings and Council hearings. Then in one of your posts I learned that his campaign was grassroots and underfunded. That was a big part of what inspired me to get involved.
I'm looking forward to being thrilled and inspired by the Funkhouser administration. Thanks so much!
I found out about Mark Funkhouser on your blog and since I tend to agree with what you say I checked him out. My boyfriend and I loved his ideas immediately. We asked for a yard sign and handed out pamphlets to 50 of our neighbors. We're so happy to see him win and begin a better era in Kansas City. Thanks for writing about Mark!
So it is true. Funk started planning to run for Mayor 6 years ago. So much for open, transparent government. More than anything, I hope he makes a great Mayor. But, sadly, he is a hypocrite...the hallmark of a politician.
I just reread...it "seems" like 6 years ago. Thank god it wasn't. My bad. Good luck.
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