I had the great pleasure of sitting down for a few beers with people who are in politics as a profession or a significant hobby. If you have never met such people, you might be surprised by how they do things.

I know a lot of people like this in part because politics has been something of a hobby for me as well. Most of the people involved are hobbyists, which is my way of saying they have real skills that they never attempt to make a buck off of; it’s the fun of it that keeps them going.

People who have these strange hobbies start into them for different reasons. Usually, there’s one issue that puts them over the top, like a project in their neighborhood they want to stop or a question of civil rights. Often, they are dragged in by a friend and stick around longer than they planned. Politics has an addicting quality because you can make a difference just by showing up and being involved. Once people are hooked, they stay.

What we talk about amongst ourselves is not at all what people see on teevee, for example. It’s not about ads that skewer the opponent or what kind of tricks can be pulled. It’s all about people, and who the people of a district are and how to reach them. Occasionally, we stray off into strategy since it can be hard to knock on every door in a congressional district; choosing your precincts wisely can make all the difference. But the key remains the people and where the message is likely to be well received.

This is what the teevee nooze people call the “ground war”. It is their way of distinguishing between the junk they put over the airwaves in the form of ads and the real work. Make no mistake about it, however; most races that matter have no “air war” that anyone can afford. If you’re running for city council, the only thing you can do that counts is to knock on every door in the district and really listen to what people have to say. The voters themselves will tell you what’s important, and you’ll learn a lot from them. If you learn enough, you may even be qualified to represent them.

Those of us who already know all this talk about the people we’ve met over the years and what they are passionate about. That’s what keeps us immersed in this strange hobby. If it weren’t all about people, it would be dull and frustrating. If you like meeting new and strange and exciting people, get into local politics and see who it is that writes stories written into the city council. They are your neighbors and other people just like you.

Think of it all as a kind of participatory writing exercise, a performance art version of storytelling. It is compelling enough to make a hobbyist our of a lot of different people.