Better Than Crack
By Samia Khan, Jayplay writer
Political junkies will never run out of their drug
College students don't have to binge on drugs, alcohol and cigarettes anymore. They can binge on politics. It's the easiest drug to find. Politics are on the cover of every magazine from Rolling Stone to Ladies Home Journal. Students are even beating each other up at weekend parties because of it. Politics keeps Blake Swenson up at
night. The Topeka senior, Kansan columnist and self-proclaimed political junkie says he often has trouble falling asleep because he is thinking about all the issues at stake in next month's election. Political addiction can resemble other addictions — junkies can be consumed by politics, and it's a habit that's hard to kick. But political junkies are an important part of the system, especially in election years. They help bring attention to politics and issues. It's hard not to notice the track marks on a junkie.
Swenson's first vivid political memory was watching the 1992 election results coming in while he studied for a fourth grade spelling test. But his first hit didn't get him high. For years, he didn't care about politics. "I think I might have voted for Ross Perot in our school election because he had big ears or something," Swenson says. Sports were Swenson's gateway drug early in school. His obsession with sports isn't surprising since it involves much of the same competition and strategy as politics. He was also surrounded by a political family that gave him access to his political drug. His father worked for Kansas Governor John Carlin in the early 1980s. Swenson slowly became more absorbed by politics when he decided to pursue it his senior year in high school. The idea of campaigning, strategy and meeting people appeals to Swenson. It is part of the reason he says he ran for University of Kansas student body president last year.
Addiction: It's in the eye of the beholder
fessor of political science, a true political junkie is more like an extreme fan. These obsessive spectators are usually not active in the process, he says, but devour information instead. They are like the fans with pictures of Cher—or Cheney—all over their walls. They are the fans, who think by watching they make a difference to the
Addiction to politics may not be akin to heroin addiction, but merely a deep passion for politics. In an article called What is Addiction: A Perspective for the Harvard Medical School Division on Addiction, Howard J. Shaffer says defining addiction is complicated. Some substances involve physical dependence and some involve addictive behavior patterns." Addiction represents an intemperate relationship with an activity that has adverse biological, social, or psychological consequences for the person engaging in these behaviors," Shaffer says. Addiction includes behavior ranging from craving to compulsion, in spite of adverse consequences and a loss of control. The average political junkie usually isn't out of control or clinically addicted, but like any obsession, politics can consume your life. Ask Swenson, who works eight to nine hours per day, six to seven days per week as the Johnson County Director for the Kansas Coordinated Campaign of the Kansas Democratic Party. For Paul E. Johnson, proare still too touchy," Lowe says. "People get too worked up over it. There are better things to be doing in life."
Illustration by Austin Gilmore
team. Johnson cites a case study of a woman in Connecticut who kept two running televisions in every room of her house at all times, just so she could get a constant stream of C-SPAN and CNN. The political fanatics who most people think of are actually involved in politics. "The issue public" is a political science term Johnson uses to describe the avid participants. These fanatics are rabidly interested in one or more issues, like saving the manatee. Johnson says these citizens are a vital part of the process. Their watchful eye helps monitor the behavior of politicians. The active junkies, like Swenson, enjoy being around people with like opinions and they want to make a difference. Secretly Kelsey Lowe admires political junkies, wishing she could find an issue to be so passionate about. But the Bloomington, Ind., junior and registered independent doesn't like to discuss politics, especially in social situations. "I grew up in a family where we didn't talk about sex, politics and religion. Not talking about sex went out the window, but politics and religion
The cure: It takes more than a patch
The cure it takes these more people are getting hooked on politics. There were signs when crack began hitting the inner cities and there this epidemic too. In a July 2004 artiare signs to this epidemic too. in a July 2004 article for Crain's New York Business magazine, Matthew Flamm reports that sales in the political category at the Barnes & Noble bookstore chain have grown by nearly 25 percent every year since 2000 and sales this year show no signs of slowing.
signs of slowing. In August, Ubisoft Entertainment began shipping a computer game called the Political Machine. Players become the manager of an entire political campaign. They must lead the candidate to victory. The game melds the addictive nature of competitive sports, computer gaming and politics into one designer drug.
gaming and politics
Swenson doesn't bank on feeding his political addiction for a lifetime. "I'm not gonna lie, I'll probably burn out somewhere down the road and move on to other things," he says. But this is coming from a guy who thinks about politics in the grocery store, while watching movies and when he's toasting John Kerry with a friend at the bar.
It sounds a lot like an addict who says, "Psssshhh! I can quit whenever I want!" Swenson thinks about it and admits he might be naive in thinking he will change, but quitting politics some day is what he ultimately foresees. Well, that's what every junkie says.
Read it
In Better Than Sex: Confessions of a Political Junkie, Hunter S. Thompson says, "Politics is like the Guinea Worm. It sneaks into your body and grows like a cyst from within — until finally it gets so big and strong that it bursts straight through the skin, a horrible red worm with a head like a tiny cobra, snapping around in the
air as it struggles to breathe."
Drug Dealers: Web sites for political junkies to feed their addiction
www.politicaljunkie.com
The name says it all. This Web site provides links to political news articles, wire and newspapers. You can even learn a little about the system and branches of government or "Meet the Supreme Court Justices."
www.politicalmachine.com
Latest news or on the Ubisoft game, the Political Machine, isn't all you can find here. Click on the link to the Web site and check out the political articles, message boards and features posted by other political junkies.
www.politicalinformation.com
It's the Google for political junkies. In addition to political features and articles, the main purpose of this site is the political search engine, which returns results from thousands of political Web sites.
14
Jayplay 10.7.04