all right hi hi what's your name it's Kevin Pomeroy well nice to meet you
Kevin we are here the truth for you yeah yeah and like I was telling you we're
collecting stories from people in the community so you know are you from
Madison I am yeah I live on the near west side okay help you've been here your
whole life no no I've lived in Madison for 17 and a half years lived in
Stoughton for about 10 years before that and I lived in Minnesota for a while
and actually was raised in Des Moines Iowa okay perfect so midwest all the way
yeah yeah exactly but I was born in Tolhaio which I guess is midwest too but
no further to these so anyway yeah and so what do you do here in Madison I am
mostly retired although I do a bunch of stuff I mean during the day I you know
I'm an activist you know I've worked a lot on you know on the campaign kind of
in my own way because I think we I mean I'm I'm a Democrat of 50 years okay
yes and and this opportunity that we have right now is unprecedented in my
entire life so that's what I'm doing like I'm gonna spend a good part of every
day from now till November you know to make certain you know that the
Democrats prevail because I think if we don't it's it's a big big problem right
yeah and so what kind of work are you doing as far as that goes over I guess how
do you approach it to talk to people to get them energized I feel like it might
be easier now yeah well you know it is I'm you know I'm doing a lot of one on
one stuff I mean I have an active Facebook presence but I have a small
number of you know I've like I don't know 560 friends but but I reach out
from that considerably to all these different arenas where I just comment you
know on stuff and I'm not trying to you know you know I'm not trying to smack
anyone down but I you know I try to if there's an opportunity you know to
provide you know some information I'll do that you know sometimes you know we
discover that's a waste of time and then I won't do that anymore it's like you
know you know I mean sometimes it's a fact for universe that I mean and I
recognize that right away and I get out I mean because there are persuadable
people out there and those are the folks I'm gonna be working with from now
until November and what what kind of message are you finding resonates with the
people you talk to that are persuadable like you know how do you like to
frame it yeah I mean what I've been doing is I tell stories you know I tell the
story of my dad you know who died 18 years ago and he was a a vet a World War
2 vet and in his photo tech unit he actually processed the negatives of the
atom bombs in in Hiroshima Nagasaki okay so I mean he's you know he saw those
images like come up in the developing trays and everything wow yeah and he
didn't really talk about it much it's like I've been talking with my brother
and sister about this some because I think you know he was really damaged by
it and I know he was damaged by it and I was really close to my dad I mean I
miss him every day his phone number's still in my you know my phone books at
you know in my contact list 17 years later and I think about we've done road
trips together and all this stuff and it's like I'd loved him to death and you
know I know what he would be talking about right now because in 1992 for the
you know the campaign Ross Perot spoke to my dad I mean I mean I I mean he
didn't come up speak to him but I mean just you know metaphorically he he loved
that guy like you know Ross brings out the charts it brings out the graphs and
you know talks with this you know this kind of nasally thing and my dad would
actually like do impersonation of Ross Perot and quote him yeah you know you know
and I forget I you know I've got him on my you know my sight and everything you
know some of the quotes because I remember these quotes it's like you know
because my dad and I talked politics a lot and he always framed himself as an
independent leaning left you know and you know you know so Ross Perot was
kind of in his wheelhouse and I mean I I watched some of that stuff with him it
was fun it's like Perot was a showman and you know you know a lot yeah I don't
know it was an interesting time and yeah so anyway that yeah that that got you
started in the in the sort of the analyzing politics right well yeah part of it
I mean I I signed up as a I signed up as a damn at the Iowa State Fair yeah you
know when I was a high school student you know in I think like 1974 73
yeah terrible I say 50 years you know I've been a damn I think it's really
cool I think was 73 so yeah the Dems had a booth yeah at the Iowa State Fair
and you know I knew what they're up to and everything and I just went you know
they had all these different booths you know I mean everyone from the John
Birch Society to the you know Republicans to you know yeah you name it and
and yeah they're the Dems and I knew what they're up to and my mom was a
really staunch damn like she you know she caucused in love that whole process
and you know she was a major influence you know for me as well I mean I mean
she was not independent she was like a damn right right and yeah so you know
it all started then 50 years ago yeah and so what you can't hear can you hear
me now okay sorry what are in terms of like that influence right like do you
think a lot of those thoughts and I like an ideologies and policies that the
Democrats have espoused like how have you seen that evolve over time and kind
of when we're at now yeah I mean it's an important question when I thought
about a whole lot because you know well I mean you know I you know I'll
use an example of my high school class you know I went to Des Moines Technical
High School class in 1975 and you know I was you know I call myself kind of a
unicorn or the anti-Christ as far as my you know my politics there I mean
well no I was a pretty red state and and my classmates tend to be pretty red
so you know you know there were a few of us dams but you know you know it's like
we had to like kind of sneak around and say oh yeah yeah we can go like in the
closet over here and talk and you know but you know the difference is I mean all
of my classmates of you know of the right persuasion it was fine like all
those years it's like we never can we talk a little bit of politics but nobody
cares you know and that's what's different now it's like Trump has created a
toxic environment where where you I mean you know these were front I mean
there's a lifelong friends basically friends of 45 almost 50 years and and we
for 40 years or you know 38 years or something everything was fine like we
were different we knew it and it was okay but then all of a sudden when you
know Trump was elected and and his whole platform of kind of hate and division
and everything else all of a sudden yeah we didn't get along anymore so I'm
assuming you talk anymore and I don't even know if I want to go to my 50s
sometimes I mean that's in a couple years and I will you know because I've
actually started a discussion with that group on hey you know it's like I'm not
the devil and you know I you know I think differently than you and and I just
you know I think you know there's a there is common ground that we have that
you know that we can come to so I'm trying to find common ground I spent a
lot of time trying to find common ground you know so I respond you know to the
whole host of people on social media you know the right extreme left you know I
mean everything and I mean I get irritated by the extreme left I get irritated
by the extreme right they both and I mean I'm a staunch Democrat yeah and I mean
both sides you know can really really dogmatic and turn people off and you know
just be crazy sometimes and you know so so my strategy is kind of one voter at
a time from now until November just make as many connections as they can
that's why I'm here at Woodfest and I made I don't know I talked to hundreds
of people here today yeah I mean you know it tends to be a left crowd here but
there you know there were a couple of persuadable voters here that weren't
really fully on board with you know Kamala Harris and all that so you know so
that's that's my plan is you know and I think it can matter and you know because
I really you know the power of storytelling I really see that kind of you know
it's gonna heal it's gonna help heal my family because we got some of those
stories and I kind of starting that that discussion and I'm gonna start that
discussion with people I don't know like I came up you know to the truth booth
here to share my story and I didn't know anything about the truth truth booth
and talk to the fine people here and it's like yeah I'm in yeah I think I think
the story you know we're just story driven creatures right and ultimately the
story we tell ourselves our internal story projects what we tell others and
unfortunately we have been sort of like too much in the dark side of the
storytelling and and so one of our goals here was just to like open it up and
like I said there's no agenda other than you drive the conversation and we
enjoy talking to people yeah I mean it's awesome because I you know because I
think it really is about that I think that's how we're gonna win this election is
is all of us telling stories you know I mean we all have family members and
friends and neighbors and whatnot and it's like just you know don't be nasty
about it just tell stories and you know you know I'm trying really hard to be
civil on all those discussions and I you know I don't I don't use like the
angry emoji very often at all if I use like the laughing one is because
something's really funny and and part of what I post is funny stuff too like I
mean probably three-quarters of the stuff I post is funny like I mean be it you
know I mean I mean this whole thing with the Olympics now in this kind of I
mean this kind of meltdown on you know the supposed it you know parody of the
Lord's Prayer which I mean actually they just got a plane wrong they don't know
their art history and their you know and their you know and their religious
history it's like no it's like the French it's the most amazing show I've ever
seen for for the Olympics you know inclusive and all these things and it was
brilliant it's like using this you know the San River as you know the stage but
but there was this big message you know you know you got a hand to the French I
knew they'd pull it off because I love them that they you know that they did
something just it was beautiful I mean the whole thing I watched it twice yeah I
mean I watched it live you know you know from French streaming and there was so
blown away that I watched it the second time at night when you know the
networks you know clip it all together and do a compilation for prime time
right and it made both just I mean I was in tears sometimes it was just so
amazing yeah definitely was a different framing for what we were used to
from a for you know opening ceremony essentially yeah yeah because usually
that's a complete snooze I mean usually I don't watch it and quite frankly yeah
they it reminded of your see the movie Emily yeah it kind of parts of it
were so like kind of like just you know French film yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I totally
agree and you know so I you know so I just loved it and I you know so I posted
about a bunch on that because there's all this kind of I don't know kind of
Christian righteousness about that and you know I mean I was raised
United Church of Christ I have a family that you know it was very religious and
I you know and I tend to be more in the questioning side of things but I you
know I'm spiritual in my own way and you know I've just surprised at how like
during this election and also you know the French example of you know the
intolerance of of art and and I mean throughout history you know we've made
fun of stuff and that's okay it's like we live through it and you know it's
like what's the big deal here folks and it's I mean I always refer like I'm
I'm a bread you know so I always go back like Monty Python and and and one of
the things I posted today was was this amazing it was a sing-along for always
always sing on the bright side of life so it's it's a huge audience with an
orchestra and I mean I don't know how many people like 10,000 people or
something and they're all singing along to that famous song it's from a life of
Brian I remember it which is you know it's a yeah okay you know it's got some
issues yeah yeah I actually owned a theater for a while I showed it and and but
it's it's just that kind of encapsulated for me it's like you know you know the
Brits have the Brits have done this really well and like yeah nobody died or
anything like nobody you know you know we laugh about it and we talk about it
then and they're they're all fine with it it's like I don't know why we're so
like crazy about this notion that we can't you know you know we can't critique
religion we can't critique our politics we can't critique our organizations we
can't critique you know the corporations we can't critique you know yes we
have to critique all of those because there's a bunch of it that's really broken
right yeah and I think the tolerance for dissenting points of view is
hopefully it's almost like it's a muscle we need to exercise and we haven't
been exercising it as well yeah yeah and that's that's what's really exciting for
me because every where I look around here you know at your booth here and with
my friends and even family members I'm seeing it you know it's like there
there's a whole new wave of coming and it happens to be blue yeah well you know
you know you're hoping right yeah yeah all right well thank you so much and you
will actually get a t-shirt so yeah thank you so much for stopping by and it's
been pleasure speaking with you and keep up the good work because we need people
talking to each other yeah yeah thank you so much it's yeah you could find me on
Facebook it's just Kevin Pomeroy and that's P-O-M-E-R-O-I that's you only
place I'm at right now but I'll be standing so yeah perfect already bye now thank you so much
yeah thank you it was fun