Yesterday there was a rare knock on my door. My visitor was a young student lobbying for John Patrick Carney, Democratic candidate for Ohio House of Representatives, District 22.

Carney must be hoping the early bird gets the worm. My Taiwanese friends say, “Don’t get up early or you’ll be eaten by a bird.”

The flyer I was given says that Carney knocks on a lot of doors. My vote was requested, and a promise granted.

It feels nice to be wanted.

As I spoke with the student, my tuxedo cat Lacy snuck out the door. Having no screen door due to landlord negligence, escape was easy. She clearly wanted to be part of the conversation.

The cat’s questions

After I got Lacy back inside, she asked, “What does a representative to a state house actually do?”

“They do government stuff,” I answered vaguely.

“What kind of stuff?”

If you don’t have a cat, remember, before adopting one, that they are persistent in their questions.

“Local stuff.” I snuck a peek at the flyer. “House bills cover all kinds of state legislative issues like school lunches and blood donations.”

“Can Carney get us a screen door?” Lacy asked with feline innocence.

“Carney knocks on doors; he doesn’t fix doors. Fixing the door is the landlord’s job. If politicians had to do the work of landlords, they would be too busy to do much else.”

John Patrick Carney

Carney is running against Republican Andrew C. Hall. I haven’t yet found Hall’s date of birth.

Carney is an Aries sun and Pisces moon, like the mayor of Cincinnati Mark Mallory. You might call that combination aggressively emotional or emotionally aggressive.

Aries sun is competitive and Pisces moon is empathetic. Carney is probably genuine in his desire to meet and mix with the folks in the neighborhood.

Competition and empathy are not natural bedfellows so Carney might seem at times to be both a friend and a foe. Or maybe Carney hides that competitive nature under the mantel of concern.

There’s a lot of Pisces going on this election season. Republican presidential candidate and likely nominee Mitt Romney has sun in Pisces. The US hasn’t had a Pisces sun president since 1897 (Grover Cleveland).

Neptune, the planet that rules Pisces, is transiting Pisces bringing this emotional and passive sign into the spotlight. I’m eager to see what this Piscean energy will bring us as a nation.

Hopefully the Piscean energy will bring empathy and understanding of others. The shadow side of Pisces is manipulation and the blind following of charismatic figures.

Carney can help with understanding because he has five of the ten planets in water. In addition to moon in Pisces, Carney has Venus in Pisces, Mars and Saturn in Cancer and Uranus in Scorpio.

With Venus and moon in Pisces, as a child Carney probably carried home the books of many a cute little school girl.

Carney has one planet in air (Pluto), three in fire (Mercury and sun in Aries, Neptune in Sagittarius) and one planet in earth (Jupiter in Taurus).

With mostly fire and water, Carney is an intuitive feeler. That Pisces energy combined with Neptune in Sagittarius makes for a wandering dreamer. He probably has stared out of a lot of windows during class time thinking about how he can help others create a better society.

Others probably tell him, “That’s a great idea, but no one will do what you’re saying. I’d love for society to be like that, but others won’t follow.”

Saturn in Cancer suggests that Carney is seeking a sense of community and belonging because of a feeling of lack in these areas.

While Uranus was transiting Pisces for the last seven years, there were lots of water disasters. These disasters have brought us closer as a nation and closer in local communities. My guess is Carney is part of this energy pattern. He wants us to unite.

The current transit of Uranus in Aries is conjunct Carney’s Mercury and sun. He may feel sudden bursts of energy and may have some foot in the mouth disease. Moon in Pisces doesn’t like to express anger, but Aries must. Some suppressed anger may sneak out in caustic language.

Carney has just passed some relationship rough patches and will have some rest until about October.

Having written about a lot of politicians in the past few months, I feel this October timeframe when Saturn enters Scorpio will be a nasty time as last-minute pre-election mudslinging will be in full force. It may be ugly even by political standards.

Carney’s Jupiter in Taurus is the only earth sign in the chart. Carney, with a lack of earth, has some trouble grounding at times and also lacks detachment. Lacking detachment can mean you care, but it also means you have trouble letting go.

Jupiter is currently transiting Taurus so Carney can expect financial gain and property expansion. With Jupiter in Taurus, Carney feels materially secure, like he has “enough.”

Back to the cat

“You know, Lacy,” I said, “after looking at Carney’s chart, I do think he’d get a screen door for us.”

“Why don’t you ask him, then?”

“I hate to take advantage of a Pisces moon. Pisces will sacrifice itself for you to the point of victimhood.”

“If he’s a politician, he should do something for us.” Lacy said, tail in the air.

“If he truly cares, being in politics is enough of a sacrifice.”