Well, Well, Well

I guess I've started a blog. The thing I said I'd never do.

So I guess I'll say a few basic things about myself and what I intend this little journal to be.

I was born and raised in Gallatin, Tennessee, just about 30 miles northeast of Nashville, and that's the place that I'll always consider to be home (no matter how Republican it may get). I'm a proud product of public school primary and secondary education, having graduated from Gallatin High School in 2004. Both sides of my family have roots going back for generations in Middle Tennessee, and I feel that about as strongly as I feel the wind on my face or the ground underneath my feet. I'll probably talk a lot about Tennessee's past and my family's past as I continue with this exercise, so be prepared.

Since 2006, I've been actively involved in Democratic politics in this state. I fell more or less randomly into a position as a field intern on Harold Ford, Jr.'s campaign for US Senate in the fall of that year, and quickly realized that it was a path I wanted to pursue further. The next year, in the summer between my junior and senior years at Vanderbilt, I was a field staffer on Karl Dean's mayoral campaign here in Nashville. After graduating, I worked briefly for Mike Padgett's primary campaign for US Senate before moving to the Tennessee Democratic Party's coordinated campaign, doing field work for 4 state House and Senate races in Middle Tennessee. After that, I helped get the campaign to defeat the English Only ballot initiative in Nashville started, before moving to DC early in January 2009. I spent a year there at George Washington University's Graduate School for Political Management, and while there (after a lovely spell of unemployment) I worked at the Change to Win labor federation. After helping them figure out that they couldn't afford to pay me anymore, I moved baczk to Tennessee last February, and in April, began my job with the Tennessee House Democratic Caucus as its Deputy Political Director, where I served through the 2010 elections. Now, I work for the Southeast Laborers District Council, where I'm focused on helping the locals in our District develop their political programs, among other things.

My other great interests are history and music. I majored in History at Vanderbilt, and while my degree says I concentrated in European History, my focus shifted while I was there to American History. I wrote my Senior Honors thesis on the breakup of the Democratic Party and the rise of the Republicans in Tennessee between 1948 and 1970. I'll probably talk about that a lot, too, as well as Generational Theory, which I think is the best interpretation of American History out there. As far as music goes, I love listening to it, and I love playing it. My mom is a piano teacher (let me know if you're interested in lessons), so I started playing piano at the age of 4. Since high school, I've taken up guitar, as I've found it to be a little bit more portable. I'll probably talk a little bit about music, too, but maybe not as much as other stuff.

Anyway, there you have some bullet points about me. As far as this blog goes, one item I guess should be clear about is that I know the only thing I will be right about almost 100% of the time is that my opinions are correctly represented here. I won't claim to be the absolute arbiter of truth in media, and if you read this and think I'm getting too big for my britches, let me know, civilly.

I also will not be endorsing any candidates here. I'm a Democrat, and have given Democrats my blood, sweat and tears. But while I might occasionally criticize or praise individual politicians, pundits and parties, such talk should not be construed as a recommendation that you or anybody else vote one way or another.

As I get more familiar with this, I'll probably set some other guidelines for myself. But for now, this will suffice.

Welcome.