A  ne  w A ppr o a ch t o Poli t ics  

 a s us u a l... 

2012, an election year, brought out the best and the worst of theGough family. It may come as no surprise to you but the Goughgenetic profile contains DNA that can cause strong political opinions.This year, those opinions could not be contained to dinner table pontificating or snarky Facebook posts. The Goughs were hittingthe campaign trail. 

 As the year began, everyone was busy building their support base. Matt used his publicposition as an associate pastor to garner support. Teaching youth & young adults inaddition to some extra preaching time due to a colleague on maternity leave, gave him aleg up and he led the polls among mainline suburban church goers and, inexplicably, dog-loving octogenarians. 

Christine soon surged ahead in the polls, however, when she positioned herself as a 4thgrade job share teacher in a local Sunnyvale Public School. With the support of the teacher 

union, all other unions fell in line, save the Clergy Robe Seamstress Union (who endorsed Matt) and the Lego Engineers Union(who endorsed Alex). Their campaigns weren’t without scandal. The broken school laptop debacle tarnished Christine’s imageand hurt her standing with the technocrats. Meanwhile, Matt’s cell phone rang while he was praying in church and he lost thepiety vote.

 Alex jockeyed for support among the 4 year old vote and the grandparent base. While sometimes overbearing in his approach,many responded well to his “take charge”, uncompromising leadership style. Drew quietly observed the race and simply ran onthe pledge, “Choo Choos for Everybody.” 

 As Spring warmed the air, the campaign started to heat up. Mother’s Day and abirthday celebration gave Christine a short boost with moms and florists, but it wasquickly overshadowed by a festive camping themed 5th birthday party. Alexshowed a ruggedness and simplicity that scor ed well among America’s tentdwellers and park rangers. Matt strategically used the love of camping to try anddistract Alex from the race by showing him Star Wars IV for the first time on anoutdoor movie screen. Alex fell asleep in the tent within the first 10 minutes andMatt feared all was lost. Luckily, the seed had been planted and the next morning Alex left his tent and fell quickly into an unstoppable Star Wars addiction. Strangely,this obsession only endeared him to the Gen X and younger vote. 

Needing a boost in the polls, Matt showed his foreign affairs abilities by co-leading a group of 40 high school students toMexico where they built three houses. Unfortunately, when pictures of Matt surfaced that showed him hoarding freshly-made

 Amor Ministries camp churros in his one man tent, he lost any lead he may havegained. The campaign was becoming contentious. Despite these setbacks, the familycommitted to sharecampaign transportation asthey traveled south along theCentral California Coast.Beaches, missions, andculinary delights filled thetour as the Gough familywere neck-in-neck to win the

Gough family endorsement. While traveling, they were surprised by avisit from the party patriarch, Kerry Gough, AKA Machopop. He tookDrew and Alex on a short train and zoo tour and it was clear that somepolitical maneuvering was afoot. It was then announced that a Gough

 

Party Convention would be held at Stinson Beach under the guise of “Machopop’s 75th Birthday”. Goughs traveled from all over the state to the beautiful shores of Stinson Beach. The hope was that theconvention would garner unanimous support for one Gough family member as anominee for the general election. While celebratory, no one could agree whichGough would be the best candidate and the convention failed to produce anominee. Drew, however, never gave up hope. He kept “beating thepavement”, sand style, with purpose and determination. 

 A few more campaign stopswere scheduled, including anall church camp in the SantaCruz Mountains over Labor 

Day weekend and the Olympia High School Class of 1992 Reunion. Christinewooed fellow graduates during homecoming football games, over beersshared and lattes enjoyed. Memories were recounted and faces examined for familiarity.

 Alex attempted to infiltrate the “common world” again as he left behind the nurturing &supportive world of preschool for the new stage of kindergarten. Unbeknownst to himat the time, he was entering ANOTHER, similar environment---one filled with equalcreativity, new academic focus and lots of love. Without seeming too sentimental, heoften asks to go to school on weekend days too, never wanting to slow down or losechances to spread the message of his platform. 

Unexpectedly, there was a last minute October surprise. Alex proved himself to bequite crafty by adopting a new persona as Darth Vader. Donning the familiar black

mask and cape, Alex jumped from a nearly unknown independent candidate to worldwide recognition. Other Goughs would notbe left behind and Yoda, Princess Leia, Han Solo, and even Chewbacca were suddenly making appearances. All of them werealso jockeying to bring on C3PO as Secretary of State, R2D2 as Chief of Staff, and Lando Calrissian as Labor Secretary. As theelection approached, they even went door-to-door seeking votes. If candy represented a vote, than Vader was the clear leader.

Something had to be done to stop Vader’s impressive, VERYIMPRESSIVE, campaign surge, so Han and Leia separated from therest for a caucus in New York and Pennsylvania where they met withtrusted advisors and even got advice from John Adams, Ben Franklin,and Thomas Jefferson impersonators while sharing in the nuptials of some East Coast compatriots. Perhaps they should combine forcesand run as a team? 

 As 2012 comes to a close, the candidates have had to come to termswith the inevitable end to the campaign. Who knows if it was thecostumes that threw folks off or if it was the communication strugglefacing Chewy & Yoda, but 2013will not dawn with new leadership. No matter your thoughts on the outcome, we hope and pray that 2013 is filled with Hope. ObiWan Kanobi aside, we hold fast to the Truth that our Only Hope is found in someone much bigger than any other force. May theTrue Force be with you as you enter 2013 with the challenges, adventures and joys to come.

 Me r r  y Chr is  t m a s a nd H a pp y N e  w Y e  a r ! 

Han Solo (Matt), Leia (Christine), Darth Vader (Alex, age 5.5),Yoda (Drew, age 2) & Chewbacca(Sally, age 9.5 in dog yrs, 47 in human yrs)