There was a lot of discussion on the mailing lists of a few of the groups I'm in about the Power resignation. For anyone who's interested in further reading and some good bloggy analysis, I recommend the following:
Obsidian Wings' in-depth analysis of why Power had to resign, why it's a shame, and why the reporter should have thought twice before publishing.
The Economist's Democracy in America blog's brief summary of the comment and the fallout. And a follow up about the reporter's explanation about what she did and why (and why it was still a poor choice.)
(Sorry this post has little zombie content. I'm off to dine on a brain-filled lunch, but I wanted to post this first for people interested in more information -- especially as I didn't cite my sources during the mailing list discussion.)
I went canvassing in Pawtucket, RI this weekend to get out the word about the March 4th primary. It was snowy and soggy and cold, but still a heck of a lot more fun than when I went canvassing for Kerry in 2004 in NH. (That time I was accompanied by a whiny, sullen little freshman, and we were sent out for 6 hours of continuous canvassing without any food. I was eventually forced to eat his brains for sustenance, and to make him stop whining.)
This time was great. I was with cool people, I was working for a campaign I was truly enthusiastic about, and I felt like I really made a difference. There were a lot of people who didn't know where their polling place was (the local location had changed recently), so we helped a lot of people figure out where to go. And we also answered some other questions and maybe even made a difference to some undecided voters that we talked to for a while.
Things that were not cool:
* Competing with a Campfire Girl when knocking on doors. We didn't have any candy and weren't nearly so cute. I eventually had to eat both her and the candy.
* The bus that drove through a giant puddle instead of around it and completely soaked us.
* The Hillary supporters who took our brochures (where we had carefully written down polling information for people) out of people's screen doors and replaced them with their own!
Seriously, that last one in particular is NOT COOL. Please, Obama volunteers, do not use this tactic yourself. It's much better to make our case fair and square, and not steal information from voters that others have worked to get out there. However, if you get into a confrontation with Hillary canvassers directly, then it's every zombie for themselves, and I fully encourage you to go for the brains. Om nom nom.
