The Lonely Republican

There's a man--nicely dressed in that searsucker suit '50s kind of way--that stands outside the front entrance of Union Station every morning, holding a placard and at least a thimbleful of knowledge. Everyday he says the same thing: "Conservatives opposed to Bush." It's delivered not so much as protest call as a statement of fact, with the same intonation as a stadium vendor saying, "Hot peanuts here." I know this man well because I used to walk through Union Station on my way to work in the morning. One day, as he turned to me and said, "Conservatives opposed to Bush," I pointed to myself with my thumb and explained, "Liberal opposed to Bush." In my view, his persistent yet less than impassioned plea comes about 6+ years too late. Where was this man when we needed him? I will, however, settle for notarized documentation that he was standing in that spot before the 2004 election. Yet now that I've moved--I've moved!--and no longer walk but take the Metro to Union Station, I never see him. And, you know, I kinda miss him.