In 2004 I got off the sidelines and volunteered for the Howard Dean presidential campaign, and then for Democrats Abroad in Australia. I spent a lot of time volunteering, but kept my employer and my co-workers in the dark about what I did after hours. 1

In 2006 I did a little volunteering for Steve Young‘s congressional campaign, in California’s 48th District (which, unfortunately, was an hour’s drive from where I lived), and did some phone-banking against anti-union propositions on the California ballot that year. I didn’t do enough to attract anyone’s attention, so my politicking passed unnoticed by my colleagues. (Some of them found out later, after the company shut down our project and we all parted ways, but they didn’t know at the time.)

This year I was a delegate to the Washington State Democratic Convention in Spokane, so I took a day off work to attend; I didn’t really keep secret where I was going and why, and so — for the first time in my career — some of the co-workers around me became aware that I’m politically active.

And then this happened.

I happened to be volunteering at Darcy Burner‘s campaign office the day she was shooting “stock footage” for commercials — Darcy sitting with a crowd, Darcy walking down the street, etc. — so there are now several ads, airing on local television, in which Darcy Burner is walking down the street talking to… me. (I’m the guy walking next to her at the 0:16 mark.)

This did not escape the attention of my co-workers.

So, for better or worse, it’s now common knowledge at work that I’m a Democrat, and that I do Democratic things during the off hours. I’ve always tried to separate work and politics, in part because I don’t want to make any co-workers uncomfortable,2 and in part because of horror stories about people who find out their CEO is a vindictive McCain bundler or something, but this year I’m a Democrat even at the office.

1. My Australian employer barely noticed what I did during work hours, much less afterwards, which was one of the reasons why we parted ways in 2005. [↩]
2. …which hasn’t happened yet, as far as I know, since my colleagues are all passing around Palin jokes (is that a redundant phrase?) and if anything seem supportive. [↩]