This morning, Michael and I returned from four incredible days at the Democratic National Convention. I was (thanks to many of you) a delegate from Congressional District 9, Barbara Lee's district. Michael got press credentials from the New York Review of Books. Stay tuned for his report, due out in its pages sometime in the next month.
So much happened over these four days. We learned a tremendous amount, but more importantly we came away inspired. I wrote up some of my experiences for New York Magazine, and you can read about them here:
http://nymag.com/author/ayelet%20waldman
But with you guys I want to share other, more intimate moments. Like the birthday party for Nancy Pelosi at which James Taylor sang. Imagine, if you will, a room full of women my age, bellowing out the words, "You just call out my name, And you know where ever I am, I'll come running, oh yeah baby, To see you again." I tried to get Michael to slow dance with me, but for some mysterious reason he was less interested in reliving seventh grade than I was. At least not in front of Cornel West and Tavis Smiley. Tony Bennett rocked the house after James Taylor, and you probably won't believe it, but I swear to God that they sang a duet of "Put on a Happy Face."
That was wild -- way way fun -- but the parties weren't the highlights of the week (although the Vanity Fair/Google extravaganza was pretty amazing.) My personal high points were, in approximate order of magnificence:
1. Barack's speech
2. A briefing by David Plouffe on the state of the campaign
3. Michelle's speech
4. Stevie Wonder (Signed, Sealed, Delivered!)
5. Clinton's speech
6. Barney Smith and Company
Now, most of you have seen all this on TV, so I won't describe the speeches in too much detail. But let me tell you what it was like on the floor. We sat together, the California delegation, at this point Obama supporters every one of us, with almost none of the division that the media spent so much time scrambling to find. It was the most remarkable feeling, this, generalized good will. I have never hugged so many total strangers in my life. I have never cheered so unabashedly, boogied with such abandon, or screamed myself so hoarse. To say that Barack was inspiring, to call him presidential, is so grave an understatement, that it feels silly. This man is not only going to be president, he is going to be one of our great presidents.
So much for the inspiration -- now onto a little inside-baseball. David Plouffe, on eof Barack's partners in running his genius campaign, gave a briefing to the members of Barack's finance committees. He told us that while it might seem that the cable commentary is not going well (although this was before Barack's speech, about which none other than GOP Pollster Frank Luntz, on Fox News said, "I have been to eight conventions. I have never seen a convention where there are more people standing throughout the entire speech because they felt this was so historic, so special." And don't get me started on Pat Buchanan. He was plotzing with admiration. Pat Buchanan was OVER THE MOON) the truth is that all McCain has going for his is the news cycle.
Plouffe told us that he is focusing on two things: true undecided voters (most of them independents and women) and turnout. Those are the two things that matter in this election. There are 18 battleground states and each of them demands an approach that balances these two issues in different ways. For example, in Ohio with its 20 electoral college votes, there's less room to work the electorate and much more room to work on convincing independents. In states with large hispanic unregistered voters, if we can get a mere 4% of them registered and to the polls, we win. McCain, on the other hand, must win Independents by at least 4% in order to win. If we hold him under that, we're in DC watching our guy take the oath of office.
I know you'll have a hard time believing it, but in many ways the long and sometimes bitter primary worked to our advantage. In PA, for example, we gained 316,000 democrats. The Republicans lost ground. Just to give you some perspective on what that number means -- in 2004 Kerry lost Florida by 381,000 votes. That year, in Fla, 500,000 registered voters didn't make it to the polls. 900,000 eligible young people didn't turn out. According to Plouffe, we can get to our win number in Florida this time on turnout alone.
Plouffe told us that this election is going to be an "absolute dogfight." We are going to be fighting this to the bitter, bitter end. Races are close in this country. In 2004 Kerry lost by 2.46 points. Dukakis -- remember that blow out? Turns out not so much. He lost by only 7.7 points. This race is going to be very very close, people. The campaign is already planning on how to do real damage to McCain around the economy and around issues relating to his judgment. Today McCain made what will prove to have been a terrible mistake. Chuck Schumer called his VP choice a Hail Mary. I think Sarah Palin is more like a hanging curve just waiting for David Plouffe's swing.
But Plouffe doesn't even get up to bat if we don't come through for him. The Florida campaign alone will cost 40 million dollars. 40 million, on a single state. And we've got 17 other battleground states that demand attention. We need to get voters registered, to implement our turnout plans, to pay for voter protection programs and ads. We need to pay for the response to the ugly tactics the Republicans are planning -- just like they always do. When the thugs appear in front of polling places on Indian reservations to menace prospective voters, when the door hangers appear in African-American neighborhoods threatening people that if they have unpaid parking tickets they'd better not try to vote, when the robocalls with misinformation about polling locations set the phones in immigrant communities ringing, we are going to need to fight back and fight strong.
The only way we're going to do that is if we've got the resources. And that means, sadly, money. The next sixty-seven days will cost as much money as the previous nineteen months. And we've got almost no time to raise it.
Every one of us who can, should head out to the nearest swing state (Nevada, Pennsylvania, or Colorado, to name a few) and volunteer, but it's just as important at this point that we open our wallets. Look, I know you're sick of me asking you for money. But think about this. In two months, if John McCain takes the oath of office, and then proceeds over the next four years to appoint no less than THREE Supreme Court Justices, if the war goes on and on and more people are killed, more towns destroyed, more children robbed of the chance to live normal lives free of fear, none of us wants to be in the position of thinking, "If I'd just worked a little harder, if I'd just donated a little more." We can win this thing. We must win this thing. But we can only do it if each and every one of us is willing to shoulder the burden.
Click on the site and donate.
Yes We Can.
Love,
Ayelet
This evening our daughter Rosie, age six, was practicing her line for the I Have a Dream presentation the first grade is doing on Friday morning. Her line was "I have a dream that the world will be at peace." Sweet, no?
We realized, however, that she had not heard the speech that her quote was meant to be inspired by. I guess they thought it was too difficult for first graders to understand. We put the speech on (bless the internet) for her and her sister and two brothers, and stood in the kitchen listening to it. The kids were silent, all but the smallest one listening intently. Michael and I were overcome. We both cried, me from the first words, him at the very end. We were both, without speaking to one another, imagining the same thing. We were imagining the moment of Barack's inauguration. President Obama taking the oath of office on that very mall.
Can you imagine that? Can you imagine that moment? That glorious moment?
Earlier today, Michael gave a short speech as part of a larger press conference on the steps of the San Francisco city hall. He rocked, as might be expected, as did Kamala Harris (Harris '16!) and the rest of the speakers, including our beloved congresswoman, Barbara Lee. It was a moving hour, seeing this wonderfully diverse crowd all gathered to support our candidate. But my favorite of all was on the way back to the car, when a crowd control cop stepped up to Michael and said, "Hey man. Great speech." He's on board, too. We're all on board.
Fired up. And Ready to go.
I like to think that I was one of the first people in the world to utter out loud, and in public, the words “Obama ’08.” It was November 2, 2004, at about 9 in the evening. I was in the Oakland airport, having just arrived home from Colorado, where I’d been an election day poll monitor. When I boarded the plane in Denver in the early evening, John Kerry exit polls were calling Ohio for Kerry, and given what I’d been seeing all day, I had no doubt that he’d swept Colorado.
By the time the plane landed in Oakland, everything had changed. My first inkling of bad news was the groups of huddled, shell-shocked passengers in the airport, some of them crying. (This was Northern California, after all.) I ran through the terminal, keeping my eyes firmly averted from the television monitors until I reached the baggage claim, where I found my husband waiting for me, his ashen face telling me what I already knew. Before he could say a word, I raised my fist in the air and shouted, “Obama, ‘08.” Then I burst into tears.
I was fired up, but I had nowhere to go.
Flash forward a little more than three years, and I’m busy saying “I told you so” to anyone who’ll listen. When I first cried “Obama ‘08” the words they were an expression of my desperation. The worst had happened, I was saying. Only a miracle can save us now.
Well, I know Barack Obama wouldn’t tolerate being called a ‘miracle.’ He’s far too modest a man for that. But for those of us who never thought we would ever have the opportunity to cast an unambivalent ballot, for those of us used to settling for the best of a flawed field, this election is a miracle. Don’t get me wrong, while I agree with the vast majority of Barack’s policies (most especially his profound commitment to the Constitution, to Habeas Corpus, to the right of every person to be treated justly and with compassion) there are areas where I don’t share his views. For example, I support a single-payer, government-run, health care plan, although I’m not naïve about the chances of it ever happening. I believe whole-heartedly in the right of gay people to marry. Barack’s views on these issues are different than mine, but this does not bother me, because I trust him. I trust that his opinions are thoughtful and considered, and I know that he respects mine, even if we disagree.
One evening, not long ago, my husband and I took our two older children to hear Barack speak. When he walked out on the stage we all leapt to our feet, screaming, “Obama ‘08” “Obama ’08.”
No we’re not just fired up, but we are ready to go. Heck, we’re already going. Nothing’s going to stop us now.
