Theater: On the Trail With the Thinking Man's Candidate

“So who are you voting for?” the girl asks me. She’s a 12-year-old family friend, and I’m in a good mood, so I indulge her. She then responds, “I’m voting for Obama.” So I remind her she can’t vote. She reminds me she doesn’t believe in kickin’ it literal.

“I mean I like him. I want him to be president,” she explains. When I ask why she says, “Because if he wins, he’ll be the first African-American president.” She then trots away.

Of course a 12-year-old shouldn’t be expected to have deep philosophical reasons for why she likes Obama. She just does. But we can’t rely on the same doe-eyed excuses. Many of us can’t express a solid reason why we prefer one canidate over another either (except for flimsy reasons like a good smile or bowling skill). It’s proof positive that it might be time to admit we’re not thinking intelligently enough about why we vote the way we do. Enter actor Brian Pickett and the Vote Debs in ’08 campaign.

Several years ago, Pickett got his hands on a copy of A People’s History of the United States and was immediately taken with Eugene V. Debs, a socialist and presidential candidate for five elections between 1900 and 1920. Debs ran a $3-a-day campaign from prison in 1920, and Pickett was intrigued by the story, believing it had potential for a play. But it wasn’t until a few years later, during the 2004 election, that he stumbled upon a Debs quote that motivated him to do something: “I’d rather vote for something I want and not get it than vote for something I don’t want and get it.”

He began rigorous research into Debs’ history and started brainstorming with co-performer Sophie Nimmannit to find a way to resurrect Debs for the ’08 race. In May of 2007 Vote Debs in ’08 kicked off at an East Village restaurant with Pickett as Debs and Nimmannit as “Red Genie,” a modern, left-wing politico and the mastermind behind the plot to exhume Debs as the passionate and thought-provoking man who can save us from the terror that lurks behind the voting curtain.

This summer, as the primary battle has raged on among Democrats, Vote Debs in ’08 has begun fighting the good fight as well. The most recent event took place May 1 at the East Village restaurant-bar Jimmy’s No. 43. Designed as a “townhall with a twist,” it would further acquaint the modern voter with Mr. Debs.

The humid room was packed with like-minded admirers of the late politician, all of them curious about this passionate, dead socialist and what he could tell us about who we are as voters. But I was still uncertain whether this was to be a play, a speech, a cabaret? In time, it was clear that the answer was a bit of all three: a politically driven smorgasbord of creative expression.

The evening was peppered with skits that alternated between frustrated voters, labor songs and parodies. It all began with a mock “search” for the man of the hour since Red Genie somehow “lost” him. As she frantically searched, others in the campaign did their part to deliver a Debs history lesson, and to examine the relationship our country has had with its leaders from the beginning. We were treated to razor-sharp original songs and a parody of “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” that morphed former U.S. presidents into former lovers (we sure had a lot of Johns).

Another clever highlight was Nimmannit’s narrative about what’s in our “cereal”—our choices being McCain Flakes, Hillary Wheats or Obama O’s. Tempting, but the ingredients in each were as confusing and vague as the components of a Lucky Charms marshmallow.

When Debs/Pickett finally took the stage, he spoke effortlessly to a room of sweaty, hypnotized patriots, and his message was clear: Don’t count on me to lead you. Lead yourselves. Easier said than done, especially when it came time for the juiciest part of the evening, the “audience participation” segment, where we as voters were asked to write down what we were voting for, not who. Cake, I thought, until pen met paper. Suddenly it was my turn to be 12. I could have written who I was voting for with my toes, but to express what caused me to grind my wheels a bit. I needed to proceed with cauthion and not just pick a pretty face. Pickett’s mission exactly. “We’re constantly trying appeal to a more unconventional audience, one that’s not necessarily expecting to be coaxed to observe and think,” he says.

The next campaign event is scheduled for June 13 at the Catholic Worker Residence and street performances are planned for Washington Square Park this summer, though no definite dates are set yet. But as far as an end result in November is concerned, Pickett could give a flying fascist whether he gets your “vote” or not.

“We’re not going to change the ways of modern politics with a small performance piece,” Pickett admits. “In a modest way, we want to see what we can offer, and are always asking that question, wanting to challenge people to examine how they are choosing their candidates.” Debs didn’t care if he got your vote and would rather “be a socialist than be president.”

Eugene Debs just wanted the voter to think, and Vote Debs in ’08 asks us to do the same—before we all start voting like 12-year-olds.  

Next event June 13, Catholic Worker Residence, E. 3rd St. at 2nd Ave.; 8pm. Visit [www.packofothers.org/votedebs](http://www.packofothers.org/votedebs)