Last night I wrote that I will be going to Cincinnati to campaign and then to act as a poll observer. Cincinnati is a good example of a place where a lot of good, well-meaning people are held back from voting for Obama because of things like "his wife is so radical," "I don't know if I can trust him, especially with a pastor like that," and "I think he's a good man, but I'm just not sure the country is ready for a black President." When you unpack these concerns, they basically translate to: "I don't really think it is okay for black people to talk about the role race plays in our society," "I'm a little more comfortable with racist and political white preachers than bombastic and political black ones," "It isn't okay to suggest that black people have a different experience in America than white people do," and "I know he is well qualified, smart and a good man, but I just don't know if I'M really quite ready to be led by a black man." I wrote about the persistent role of unwitting racism in my own life -- well into my late 20s, and possibly up til this time -- despite having been raised in the 60s and 70s, and despite having an endlessly patient black college roommate who became my best friend. I wrote and wrote -- for six or seven pages, about my well meaning but insular family, about how equality doesn't mean an equal right to act white, about how equality is not the "right" to be "the same as everybody else" but the right to stand up and be who we are--culturally, religiously, intellectually, politically, and as part of a community -- and have that be accorded the same respect and validity for everyone. That to refuse to listen to someone speak about their own experience because it insists on being non-identical with our own is the heart and soul of racism and bigotry. And then it disappeared --poof, gone into cyberspace. My fault. Unitl I can re-write it, off-line this time, here is an article by Rosa Brooks in today's LA Times that is thought provoking.
The 'real' America, reallyAmerica today looks less and less like the one extolled by GOP mythmakers.
Rosa Brooks October 23, 2008 » Discuss Article Will the "real" America please stand up? According to Sarah Palin, she and John McCain "believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hardworking, very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation." Um, very, um. ... Yeah.Palin later backed away from these remarks, but the McCain-Palin campaign's staff and surrogates -- and even the guy at the top of the ticket -- keep hammering the same message: Some parts of America -- and some Americans -- are just more authentic and "pro-America" than others. On Saturday, for instance, McCain advisor Nancy Pfotenhauer suggested that although northern Virginia may have "gone more Democratic," "real Virginia" (the "part of the state that's more Southern in nature") will be "very responsive" to McCain. Rep. Robin Hayes (R-N.C.) joined the chorus, telling the crowd at a McCain rally, "Liberals hate real Americans that work, and accomplish, and achieve, and believe in God." Hayes, like Palin, later forswore his remarks, but on Tuesday in western Pennsylvania -- one of the few parts of the state where Barack Obama doesn't hold a clear lead -- McCain worked the same theme: Western Pennsylvania "is the most God-loving, most patriotic part of America." The GOP code isn't hard to crack: There's the America that might vote for Obama (a suspect America populated by people with liberal notions, big-city ways and, no doubt, dark skin), and then there's the "real" America, where people live in small towns, believe in God and country, and are ... well ... white. The divisive GOP rhetoric we've been hearing lately is hardly new. But with each passing year, the "real" America of GOP mythmaking bears less and less resemblance to the America most Americans live in.About 80% of Americans live in metropolitan areas, not small towns. A third of us are ethnic and racial minorities, but that's changing: Already,nearly 45% of children under 5 are minorities. Although 88%of us believe in God, 70% think that religions other than our own are equally valid routes to truth. And while 59% of us think that wearing an American flag pin is a decent way to show patriotism, even more of us (66%) think that protesting U.S. policies we oppose is a good way to show patriotism. These days, more than half of us say we prefer the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. Given this, why do McCain, Palin and their team keep pushing the message that the America where most of the electorate lives isn't "real"?The GOP hasn't been the party of reality-based thinking for some time now. "When we act, we create our own reality," a "senior Bush advisor" (assumed to be Karl Rove) told journalist Ron Suskind in 2002, and this became the administration's version of a game plan. Thus Donald Rumsfeld's conviction -- shared by McCain -- that we would be "greeted as liberators" in Iraq. For GOP leaders, the Iraq that erupted into a violent insurgency just wasn't the "real" Iraq. We're now seeing the same pathology at work in the McCain-Palin campaign. McCain and Palin look at America and see what they wish was there, rather than what's actually there: an America in which they'll be greeted as liberators and rightful heirs to the mantle of leadership. America, after all, has been led by white Anglo-Saxons for the last two-plus centuries and, for the last 40 years, mostly by Republicans. For that to change is almost unthinkable. And so Team McCain just edits out the inconvenient America that doesn't seem likely to vote GOP. That America's not real. It just can't be. I'm not entirely without sympathy. Behind the anger and the us-versus-them rhetoric we've seen at recent McCain-Palin rallies, there's a palpable sense of dislocation and anxiety: the anxiety of those who feel that things are slipping away from them, that the world is changing too quickly and too uncomfortably. Change has come fast -- and change hurts. But that's how it's always been. Our culture was built by immigrants and shaped by wars, social upheavals, economic crises and further rounds of immigration, each time from places that seemed deeply "foreign" to those who had already settled in. Each round of change was painful to those used to the temporary status quo -- but each round of change also gave us a richer, stronger nation.That's the real America: a land of change and perpetual renewal.Let's stand up for it.rbrooks@latimescolumnists.com
Early on in her fascinating new career as McCain's alter-ego pitbull and hatemonger, Sarah Palin winked and said she "doesn't do the economy thing." Poor old John McCain doesn't either, he just never could quite get the hang of it. And now when all Americans want to hear about is the economy, poor "I didn't have a house once" McCain finds that he's got to get right down in the mud with Palin to avoid talking about it.
Just how stupid and mob-minded do McCain and Palin think this country is? More frighteningly, just how stupid, angry, fearful and mob-minded will they have to make it in order for the lies, irrelevancies and outright absurdities to overpower the fact that neither of these people understands the first thing about economics or job creation? John McCain thinks you don't qualify as being "wealthy" unless you make more than $5 million a year. What on earth can he understand of the fear and confusion of families of four who until recently made less than $100,000 a year and considered themselves "comfortable?" Sarah Palin has always lived in an environment subsidized by oil, where the governemt writes the citizens checks every year based on that windfall. She left a thriving municipality in debt with a pork-barrel project they neither needed nor particularly wanted. What on earth is she going to be able to tell people about how to get by in tough times? The answer, as McCain and Palin have demonstrated again and again in the last three weeks, is "not a damned thing." So what do they do to hide their complete inability to handle this situation? Sow doubt, create fear, appeal to racism and ignorance. It's all they've got.
Right now, Sarah Palin is smiling and whipping the crowds of pitch-fork wavers on as they shout insane things such as "terrorist," "he's an Arab" (and if he WERE?), "he's a Muslim," "kill him," "Obama bin Laden," "bomb Obama," and "cut his head off." You mean, like they did to Danny Pearl? Is that really what they mean?
We only have to look to the financially weak Germany of the 1930s to see where this kind of fear-mongering will lead. We only have to look to the United States history of the last 60 years to find racially motivated bombings and assassinations. And McCain and Palin are out there acting as if this kind of hatred, these kinds of threats, are normal, that they share the mobs' fears. If one of the idiots at these rallys decides to solve the "problem" McCain and Palin have trumped up with a rifle, we'll know who to blame. And we will. And how does John McCain justify the campaign that leads people to believe that Barack Obama, who is a a ringing voice for respect, civility, integrity and peace, is somehow a danger? McCain has said he knows that of course Obama has no connection with the Weather Underground; he says that of course he doesn't for one minute think that Obama does now or ever has in any way approved of Bill Ayers's activities. So why on earth is he still talking about Bill Ayers? Because fear is all he's got to sell right now.
He claims it's because Obama hasn't been "open" about the relationship, and that that somehow has some relevance -- even though McCain says he knows that Obama doesn't share Ayers's views. I'm sorry, at this point I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a fifth grader who doesn't know the full extent of their acquaintance, and who hasn't seen the multiple reports from FactCheck.Org, the Washington Post and numerous other independent sources which make it clear that Obama has been open and consistent about the fact that they (as well as several Republicans) sat on the same education board, and that early in his career as an Illinois senator Ayers's living room was one of the dozens that Obama visited while campaigning. John McCain doesn't claim that there is any more to the story than that, so again -- why is he still talking about Ayers? Because John McCain is so afraid to talk about the economy that he is willing to whip up fear and ignorance, even to the point of the horrific suggestion that Obama is somehow a terrorist by association, at the same time that he tries to distance himself from it.
John McCain and Sarah Palin quite simply are out for blood. Palin won't mind if she gets it--she is narcissistic and meglomaniacal enough to believe her own deranged bombast as soon as it comes out of her mouth. McCain, however, knows damned well that what he is doing is dispicably dishonest, morally wrong, and terribly dangerous. Which is why he is trying to clean his hands at the same time that he is digging himself, and all of the rest of the country, neck deep into filth.
Barack Obama is a man of courage, honor, even temperament, and great intelligence. Unlike McCain, he has actually studied economics at a leading university, and taught at the most intensely economic-minded law school in the country. Unlike McCain, Obama understands the workings of Wall Street, and the Fed, for that matter. Also unlike McCain, Obama knows exactly what it's like to be living on Main Street -- or well off of it, as the case may be. Our country is facing the most difficult financial period that any of us under 70 can remember. We need to grow up. We need to be serious. And we need to work together to ensure our country's security as well as its economic and societal future. John McCain and Sarah Palin have nothing left in their bag of tricks but hatred, doubt and division. America needs vision, integrity and calm leadership. We need Barack Obama.
I was trying to work out for myself what the most critical states were for the Obama campaign, based on electoral votes, closeness of the races, and the moral victory boost that could be achieved by bringing a formerly conservative state to Obama. This in an effort to figure out where I should plan to travel to in the last days before the election. I realized a number of things in this process.
First, this election is still far, far closer than it ought to be. in the past couple of months we have seen ten point swings in states that are now said to be leaning to Obama by margins of only to 5%. That simply isn't good enough. With the 4-5% margin of error, the Bradley effect, the huge swings we have seen in the past, voter suppression efforts and historically low Democratic turnout, we could see MOST of the states with leads of less than 9 percentage points fall away. And most of the leads we have are less than 9% -even in the states that are "solidly" Obama. There is no room for complacency folks. These two candidates' popularity polls have criss-crossed each other all year, and McCain, unbelievably has been NARROWING Obama's lead in states like Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Second, I realized how many of these states I have either lived in, or lived close to, or travelled to more than once. I grew up in New Jersey, the child of a Philadelphia father and a Virginia mother. I went to college in Massachusetts and law school in Illinois. I've had summer jobs and careers in Boston, Washington DC, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. I've spent my vacations in New Mexico, Colorado, New Hampshire, Vermont, Texas, Oregon, Washington, Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Wyoming, Montana, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin. I have driven across the country six and a half times, on three different main routes. And this summer we saw the country from Amtrak's Southwest Chief, Capitol Express, Empire Builder, and Coast Starlight trains. Looking at this map of battelground and swing states I felt a huge desire to travel back to ALL of them. There wasn't a state that I looked at where I didn't know people whom I like and admire and enjoy. Each state has its own history, it own personality, its own individual beauty. Looking at the list and thinking about what would be important for the people I know to hear, I was struck by the importance to nearly everyone of hard work and integrity, and of being a "stand up guy." And you know, I felt how blessed I am to be an American, and how important it is to shre with all of my fellow Americans my pride and confidence in Senator Obama as the candidate to lead us all into a renewed era of fellowship, civic pride, international honor, and economic strength.
So to that end, I started putting together this chart of battleground states, the poll spreads (mainly as of a week ago, when I started, but with some updated from the NYT electoral map today), and goals and ideas for campaign activities in those states. Obviously my comments on the personalities and traits of the states are highly biased and unscientific, as they come from nothing but my personal experience. But that experience tells me that our America is a beautiful country, full of people worthy of our regard. If you can travel during the last weeks of the election, do so. You'll be giving yourself a gift as well as doing what may be the most important work of your life.
Let's win this thing, for all of us.
(Note 1: for what it's worth, one professional organizer has advised me that in choosing a place to campaign outside your resident state, you should choose the state to which you have the strongest connection -- someplace you know well, where you have friends -- out of the states that are the closest races and the highest electoral stakes. So for instance, he advised me to campaig in the Philadelphia suburbs where many of my friends grew up, even ahead of going to Ohio or Florida. I hope to do both.)
(Note 2: Sadly, the chart format doesn't copy into the blog. Below numbers preceded by a plus (+) or minus (-) sign indicate how far the poll in question showed senator Obama to be ahead or behind in percentage of vote. For almost all, poll information came fro RealClear Politics.com as of October 5. Some have been updated with numbers from today's NYT (although some of those numbers are no more recent than October 8) the number in parantheses after the state name is the number of electoral votes at stake in that state.)
State
Colorado (5) +1 (10/03/08), 0 (10/12/08)
Spread the word! Obama for all Americans. Coloradans are fair-minded, hard working and friendly and this one is just way too close. Let’s make Colorado where we start winning the west back over to a unified country. Drive to Colorado, call, send postcards and let them know why you feel that Senator Obama is the leader for a healthy, united, prosperous and proud America! A ten point advantage in Colorado is my goal. But right now, McCain is actually gaining in Colorado by appealing to the fringe elements. Let’s get out there and talk about the things that really matter – jobs, the economy, respect for each other, national unity and pride, re-tooling America to get those jobs back from overseas. This would be a good time to go to FactCheck.Org and memorize the response to the McCain ads claiming that Barack has lied about Ayers or his voting record – both absolutely false claims according to FactCheck.
Nevada (5) +1 (10/2/08)
Spread the word! Drive for Change, Californians! Nevada is backsliding! It was +3 for Obama on 9/29. I’m going back out to talk to more people! Nevada can and should be a 10 point advantage for Obama! Nevada is fascinating state. The Nevadans of 15 years ago were fiercely independent contrarians. Then and now, landholding Nevadans don’t seem to think too much of the federal government, which owns a huge amount of Nevada land. Respect for individuality is important here. Nevada has had a huge housing boom and enormous growth in urban/suburban population. It also has suffered commensurately in the housing bust and subprime loan meltdown. I saw at least 2 foreclosures per block in the remote north Clark County suburban neighborhood I recently canvassed. Nevada’s newest homeowners are wage earners –usually hourly wage earners –and they are thirsty for a President who actually understands what it is like to have to scrape to pay the mortgage. They are impatient with America’s “we’ll go it alone” attitude to our allies – they meet a lot of foreign travelers in Reno/Tahoe and Las Vegas and are saddened and embarrassed to hear what people think of us abroad. Two thirds of the heads of household I met were women workers, and they didn’t have anything nice to say about Sarah Palin. We absolutely need to turn Nevada blue to show Obama’s broad connection to the American people, so let’s DO this thing!
Ohio (21) +1 (10/2/08)
GO TO OHIO!! Spread the word, get out the vote and monitor the elections. Ohio has been fluctuating this week, and this margin is down from 9/29. Ohio is where the Republicans will manage to put some conservative hot button issue on the local ballots to increase turnout, and where there has been monstrous vote tampering by the Republicans in the past three elections. Ohio is absolutely critical and we can’t be led into false security by improving poll numbers as we have been in the past. Call your friends and family in Ohio and tell them why you respect Senator Obama and why he is the right leader to help us restore our economy and our position of honor and integrity in the world. New Yorkers and Connecticut, grab your sweaters and go enjoy some beautiful Fall color, Oktoberfest and heartland harvest festivals while you spread the word! Go find out about what life is like in Ohio. It is beautiful. Ohioans are some of the most honorable, thoughtful, and generous people in the country and they don’t like being played by the McCain/Palin ticket or anybody else. Tell them straight up why you are working for Senator Obama and what you personally hope and believe will come of his presidency. I want Ohio to be at least +8 for Obama, but really we should be going for a landslide here.
Florida (27) 0 (10/4)
GO THERE, GO THERE, GO THERE!! I’m hoping to go to Florida from November 1 thru election day, although I don’t know if I’ll be able to pull off the airfare from California. Florida is so important for so many reasons -- the huge number of electoral votes and the past election abuses there being two major reasons, but also because a Florida united behind Barack Obama could be a stepping stone to healing the extreme and bitter partisanship in some of the neighboring states. The Cuban expatriate community in Florida is obviously very powerful and up until now has thrown their vote behind the most anti-Castro ticket, often regardless of the candidates’ other positions. This appears to be changing somewhat, but it is still a huge block of voters who traditionally vote hard-line Republican. It is time for all Americans to start voting in the best interest of the future of our country, and not based on narrow personal interests supposedly served by longstanding, senseless and utterly failed foreign policies. If your parents or grandparents are Florida residents, for heaven’s sake go visit them – and talk to them, their friends and their neighbors about why you respect and admire Barack Obama and why he will be a great leader both here in the world. Floridians will be far safer, and their savings will be far safer, under an administration like Barack’s that will stand for accountability and responsible leadership at home and abroad.
Wisconsin (10) +5 (10/6)
Go There! Call! Obama is leading in Wisconsin, but his lead actually has been shrinking since September. How is that possible? I love the people of Wisconsin – they are warm and friendly and earnest and thoughtful. And they make things like fried cheese curds whish you really have to try to appreciate. I once wanted very badly to move to Madison, which is a gorgeous city on a lake, with a fine university, a lively arts district, and a deep, proud history of populism. And, oh, do they love their football. Fridays and Saturdays all over Wisconsin people are bundled up at high school football games right now, talking to their neighbors. And you know how it is in small communities, whatever was heard last and strongest often winds up becoming common opinion, and that gets hard to overcome when you are sitting in a crowd. Wisconsin is made up of farmers and philosophers, and the two are not mutually exclusive. Write to Wisconsin newspapers. Send postcards, make calls. I think the Democrats have suffered in Wisconsin possibly more than anywhere else by underestimating the intelligence and the seriousness of these folks. The cheeseheads the Packer fans wear are great insight into their self-referential sense of humor – but it’s like a lot of inside jokes. They can call themselves cheeseheads because they know perfectly well that they are a lot more than that. You would do well not to call them that. And in they end, the folks of Wisconsin know a good, strong, honest family man when they see one – and they may need to be reminded right up to the election that that man is Barack Obama.
New Mexico (5) +7 (9/15)
Spread the Word. Go if you Can! I wish I had more recent polling results for New Mexico. John McCain actually has improved his position in several states that are leaning toward Obama since October 5 – which I find incredible. But it’s true. He has narrowed Obama’s lead in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio in that time, and I think it is possible that the same thing has happened in New Mexico. Beautiful, beautiful wide open New Mexico tends to be more liberal in areas like Santa Fe and Taos, about split in Albuquerque, and more conservative in the huge stretches of outlying ranch and mountain lands. This is a place where there are a lot of sportsmen, and McCain has been telling them that Obama wants to take away their rifles (not true, of course). New Mexico relies heavily on tourism, and has a sort of love-hate relationship with the Hollywood community that has taken up residence around Santa Fe and Taos. I think when speaking to a New Mexican it is well to keep in mind that people are drawn to New Mexico for so many different reasons – the freedom and independence of large stretches of land between neighbors, the traditional ranching and farming life that gives rise to a certain rugged individualism, the beauty of the physical setting as an inspiration of artistic work, the spareness of the landscape as a soothing background and low-distraction setting for spiritual renewal. Perhaps the one generalization I can make about the New Mexicans I have met is that they are all very much individuals, and their takes on various issues may not clump smoothly under either Democratic or Republican platform points. Listen carefully. And, of course, if you can go there, do it. It’s one of the most rejuvenating places I have ever been.
North Carolina (15) 0 (10/12)
GO THERE! Not only is North Carolina staggeringly beautiful at this time of year, it has a fascinating cultural diversity and wide range of political traditions. And what a moral victory for Obama it would be to bring the great state of North Carolina on board with his vision for job creation, civility and pride in our country. This would be an excellent state for folks from Delaware, and northern Virginia, and, perhaps, southern Illinois to visit. North Carolinians are independent thinkers who take a great deal of pride in their role as a southern state with a broad view. Go there and talk about how proud you are that people like Barack Obama and Joe Biden are bringing civility and mutual respect back into our national conversations, and back into the Senate, and back into our relations with our allies. Even Reagan Republican Peggy Noonan has heaped praise on Barack for his “patriotic grace” and for bringing “the sweet smell of class” back into American politics. Barack, like North Carolinians, is a deliberate thinker who is slow to anger, but firm in principles. He is leader, and a consistent one, unlike the unpredictable, self-interested, angry and irresponsible “mavericks” who basically feel that rules and civility are for everyone but them.
Virginia (13) 0
Spread the Word! Virginians outside the Beltway really don’t like it much when people forget that Virginia is a southern state. This is a state with a hugely important political history, both in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, and Virginians are keenly aware of both – sometimes with conflicting political results. Virginia is very proud of its native sons, Madison and Jefferson as well as the great general Robert E. Lee who, although the political positions of the confederacy were wrong, was himself the soul of honor, courage, and self sacrifice. If there is one thing that all Virginians respect it is honor and integrity. They, too, value civility and grace, and intelligence. Send postcards, write letters to the editor, send copies of The Audacity of Hope and Peggy Noonan’s new book “Patriotic Grace.” Virginia is the birthplace of the City on the Hill speech and some of the greatest ideas of human governance ever to emerge in the western world. From Virginia farmers have come some of our noblest ideas and some of our greatest statesmen. Virginia should play a role in leading our country back into grace and dignity and mutual respect and true democracy for all the American people. That’s Virginia’s historical role and it should be Virginia’s future. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are the people to deliver class and intelligence and common sense to our Presidency once again. If you can, go to southern and western Virginia especially to talk to people about Obama and how he will make us once again a respected world leader rather than a rambling, swaggering world bully.
Indiana (11) -1
Go There! Spread the Word. Call Indiana Voters. We need to win Indiana. Getting Indiana behind Obama would be a huge moral victory for his Presidency. We want that stretch of blue to cover the whole stretch from Minnesota and Iowa all the way east. The “Map” would show undeniable broad popularity if we can do that. Hoosiers pride themselves on being no-nonsense, straight talkers so it’s no wonder that McCain is calling his campaign the “straight talk express.” But like Ohioans, Hoosiers know when they are being played or underestimated, and they don’t like it one bit. This is another state where a specious gay marriage bill or other hot button religious issue could bring more Republicans to the polls than Democrats, so we not only need to win a lot of hearts and minds in Indiana, we need to get out the vote as well! Go to Indiana, or write postcards or letters to the editor, and talk to folks about what you like about what Obama has to say, and how he says it. Point out that where Obama clearly lays out his plans, John McCain is so afraid of being wrong or offending someone he does nothing but claim without proof (and often completely falsely) “I know how to do that.” You might point out that, as we saw in the debates, when you ask Senator Obama or Senator Biden a question, you get a thoughtful answer. When you ask McCain or Palin a question, you get told they aren’t going to address what you are concerned about, they are going to give you the speeches they’ve memorized. Maverick apparently means “your opinion doesn’t matter.” Possibly point out that Obama is a man who understands faith and family values, but, unlike the hypocrites, does not belabor those points in public. Obama’s long-standing membership in a Christian church, his 19 year marriage and his and Michelle’s insistence on raising their children themselves rather than with nannies and housekeepers is really quite a contrast with John McCain’s affair with a younger woman, for whom he abandoned his children and his recently crippled wife, and that woman’s subsequent drug abuse and criminal abuse of the charitable organization she ran in order to feed her drug habit – all of which John McCain has managed to hush up pretty effectively whenever newspapers pick up on it. Point out how inconsistent and opportunistic John McCain has been throughout this election, and what a very different person he is now than before he decided he wanted to be President more than he wanted to be fair or honest or rational or responsible. The fact is John McCain used to speak publicly about despising the religious right, and now he wants the Presidency so bad he has selected a woman who allows witch craft to be practiced on her in her extremist church (which, incidentally that claims that Jews and people who voted for Kerry will all burn in hell) as his running mate –solely to appeal to those people he has claimed to think are crazy. That’s not straight talk, or straight behavior. Hoosiers don’t like liars and slick operators, and sadly John McCain has become both. John McCain has actually gained ground in Indiana in October, which is absurd. Indianans are too smart to buy Sarah Palin’s scare tactics and ugly epithets. They need to be reminded that the country looks to places like Indiana for examples of fair-mindedness, decency, and pulling together in tough times –values that Senator Obama has been speaking on all through the election, while McCain has tried to talk about anything but the economy.
Missouri (11) 0
GO THERE. Missouri is the heartland, and the gateway to the frontier. Missourians understand neighbors pulling together in hard times, and they understand and value rugged individualism. Our country always has and always will need to support both. That’s why we have both a national government and a bill of individual rights that keep powerful government from trampling the rights of ordinary people. No one understands and respects the rights of individuals better than Barack Obama. At the same time no one understands the power, value and responsibility un being part of a community than Barack Obama does. By contrast, John McCain and Sarah Palin have openly MOCKED both the bill of rights AND the efforts of community groups all over the country. Missourians believe in personal responsibility, steadiness and –very often—a sense of humility before God. They’d be interested in hearing a lot of things that the folks from Indiana would be interested in.Minnesota+4 (9/30/08)10GO THERE! A trip to Minnesota at this time of year is really its own reward. One of the most magical experiences of my life was riding northward along Minnesota’s Mississippi river banks this past summer as the sun was setting. As Oktoberfest and state fairs come around a visitor to Minnesota also could witness some of the most fabulous polka dances in the country (and if you have never polka ‘d then you must-you don’t know what you are missing.) One of my dearest friends is from Harmony, MN and my favorite clients are headquartered in Minneapolis, so I’ve had the pleasure of knowing lots of Minnesotans. Minnesota is traditionally a progressive state, but democratic wins in the past 15 years have been by very small margins. Minnesota has a republican governor, one Democratic senator and one republican, and its House representatives are almost evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. Minnesotans are big hearted and hardworking and generally easy going. But I think they got tired of being underestimated or misunderstood by the liberals on both coasts who were largely removed from lives that in many cases are centered on agriculture and family farming. (And many have lost their family farms since the 1980s and seen ticky-tack housing developments rise up out of their old corn fields, and had to retrain.) Minnesotans are smart, fun, and deeply conscientious. One thing that has struck me about nearly every Minnesotan I have ever met was their combination of work ethic and playfulness. I never met a Minnesotan who didn’t take his or her work (I’ve known several farmers, numerous lawyers, dress designers, artists, teachers, and real estate investment fund managers) and their obligation to it very seriously, and I have never met a Minnesotan who didn’t have a ready laugh and a quick sense of humor. What cool people! This year, the Democrats should be winning in Minnesota by a much larger margin than they are. An important duality about Minnesotans that I think the Democrats need to understand is that, especially in the rural areas, Minnesotans often like to describe themselves as “simple” folks – they are straightforward, and often impatient with highly theoretical discussions. But “simple” doesn’t mean dumb or even slow, and in large part the simplicity is a pose. While not much given to abstraction, Minnesotans understand things like integrity, credibility and civility. They are keenly interested in the economy, and they want to be sure that the candidate understands the particular economic situations Minnesota has faced and continues to face. That pose of simplicity is a demand to be met on their own turf, not an invitation to talk down to them. Go to Minnesota and enjoy – and if you can, read Michael Perry’s wonderful “Population: 485” before you go. Unbelievably McCain has narrowed Obama’s lead since October 5, so we need to get back there!Nevada+1 (10/2/08)5Spread the word! Nevada is backsliding! It was +3 on 9/29. I’m going back out to talk to more people! Nevada can and should be a 10 point advantage for Obama! We need to bring the western states to a more unified stance with the rest of the country, and winning handily in Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and maybe even Arizona could be a step toward finding common ground between the coastal and great lakes areas and landlocked, radically conservative states like Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Oklahoma. Pennsylvania+6-92121Spread the Word – Philly and Bucks County, travel West! The great state of Pennsylvania is beautiful huge and varied. The birthplace of the Constitution, people around Philadelphia really did NOT like hearing Palin and McCain dissing the 1st Amendment. While generally well-educated, there is a sort of shocking uncertainty about Obama in the traditionally wealthy “Main Line” suburbs of Philadelphia. Philadelphia has a history of racial tension and class conflict that needs to be overcome. This is a place to talk about the history of the union, the role of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia in particular as the birthplace of freedom, enlightened political thought, and the American dream. That Obama went to Columbia and then taught at one of the top 5 law schools in the country (and an extremely economically conservative one, to boot) may reassure Mainline PA that Obama is someone who speaks their language. The western part of the state traditionally has been more conservative, but they have clearly seen that it is Barack Obama and Joe Biden who know what western Pennsylvanians are up against – not the east-coast hating Palin or Slick Johnny McCain. Still I think a lot of western Pennsylvanians might still be attracted by Palin’s sass –although they are seeing the winking and gesturing and fake smiles for the camouflage it is. I’d like to see this lead at least 12%, so get out there to Pittsburgh and Harrisburg and Erie and Altuna, eastern Pennsylvanians, and talk to your neighbors about what’s important to them and to you. Obama is the answer.Washington+411Spread the Word! Only up 4% in Washington? That doesn’t even beat the margin of error--WAY too close for such a beautiful and progressive state! Washington should be solidly Obama by now. This is a state of hardworking, thoughtful people who lives are intertwined with the environment, both for their livelihood and their lifestyle. Responsible environmental management combined with job creation should be key issues here. As the closest state in the union to Alaska, they aren’t likely to be amused by the Caribou Barbie jokes, but they also are a cosmopolitan and sophisticated people who don’t want to be painted with the same Northern Extremist brush as Palin. Go there, and listen! California +10 (??)55Get out there, Californians! Only +10 in California? When McCain is like +35 and +55 in some of the most conservative western states? Come on! We can’t let New York and Delaware and Massachusetts outdo us in a massive demonstration of compassion and intelligence, this is just wrong! I know, I know, you’ve been calling other states and driving to Nevada and you should keep doing that. But don’t assume you are preaching to the choir at home! A 10% lead here is inadequate. We want to give Barack a popular vote landslide and show the world that America is capable of reflection and reason and real problem solving, as well as strength. l New Hampshire+10 to +12 (10/3/08) Go there! Spread the word! New Hampshire needs to be chaperoned from here to the election. The spread was -1 only two weeks ago, and the gap has narrowed again since 10/3, so these great numbers could change any minute. Luckily for you, few places could be more beautiful right now than New Hampshire and its fabulous fall color. New Hampshire is physically glorious, and its people often consider themselves the only “regular” folks in New England – they are fiercely independent, impatient with the private school style liberalism and academic jargon that is so often evident in this area, which is so rich in excellent universities. Like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and other states with a large forested area and considerable distances between homes, it will be hunting season. Please be respectful of the local culture—those of us who live in cities and suburbs aren’t often called on to consider whether to deal with overpopulation of wild animals ourselves, or to simply leave it to the fish and game controllers. (We usually just call the exterminator.) You don’t have to approve (I can’t), but do remember that a lot of New Hampshire Democrats and Independents will find it dreadfully ignorant and provincial (not to mention offensive and threatening) of an urban dweller to come to their largely rural state and lecture them about hunting. What you have in common with the people of New Hampshire is far greater: a bred-in-the bone of genuine democracy and a very healthy respect for individual rights and civil liberties, a disgust for flip-flopping and weasleyness such as McCain has demonstrated, and a keen interest in the concerns of the middle class, especially the economic concerns. New Hampshirites will not be told what to do, but they know a good thing when they see it. So go there and keep letting them see what Barack Obama is all about.Arizona-8 Spread the Word! That McCain is ahead by such a narrow margin in his home state is very telling. Obama is up 41% in his, for heaven’s sake. Given the 4% margin of error, there might be an opportunity for Obama here. Arizonans are the most familiar with how McCain has flip-flopped his way into a completely knew and utterly untrustworthy persona. They remember vividly (and many suffered badly) from Keating and the S&L collapse in which McCain was deeply entrenched, and in which he betrayed his constituents in granting government favors to a wealthy and corrupt friend and lobbyist. It may only be the people of Arizona who were really aware of the federal investigation and charges against Cindy McCain for fraudulently obtaining drugs to feed her addiction by using the medical staff and the names of her charity’s employees – and how efficiently McCain hushed it up by getting her a press conference minutes before the DEA released its findings and charges.Arkansas-9 I have to admit I have only driven across Arkansas, so I can’t give much travel advice other than to say that the rivers, trees and rolling hills are truly lovely – and were a very welcome relief after a long hot drive across the Texas panhandle and Oklahoma. But with a less than 10% edge for McCain, I think we should try hard to swing this moderate and increasingly urbanizing state for Obama. We don’t want a 2% victory, we want a groundswell! Texas-1034Whoa – Texas isn’t exactly loving McCain by past standards. Could we do it? New Hampshire changed 10 % pts this week, could we possibly swing Texas? Nebraska Send postcards! Call voters! There is an electoral vote out there for Obama. Nebraskans don’t like double-talk, and there has been a ton of that from McCain lately. Nebraska, like the Dakotas, has a real hard time hanging on to its young people because their just aren’t enough jobs in-state outside of farming. Barack Obama is committed to growing local business and creating new jobs, and the young and middle aged around Omaha in particular would like to hear about what they can do to have a more vibrant and varied economy, without sacrificing their traditional values of simplicity, hard work and stewardship of the land.
We have been trying to sound the alarm for months on illegal voter purging around the country, and seemingly nothing has been done. Now it is clear that, with less than a month to go before the election, hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of voters have been illegally removed from the voter rolls. According to today's New York Times, Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio have violated the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and have either used the wrong criteria for removing voters from the rolls, have illegally removed voters from the rolls less than 90 days before an election, have failed to notify voters of their removal and the need to clarify discrepancies, or all of the above. The chair of the Federal Election Assistance Commission, which oversees federal elections, says these violations present "extremely serious problems".
Damned right they do -- there are far more registered Democrats than Republicans, more new voters are Democrats rather than Republicans, and five of the above states are battlegrounds in this election. 37% of purged voters are Democrats, compared to only 28% Republicans. Something must be done NOW!
The first and most obvious thing that can be done is to have the Federal government order state compliance with the Federal election law. While doing that may in some cases require a lot of record review, something that can be done automaticall and TODAY is to have the states RESTORE EVERY VOTER PURGED WITHIN THE 90 DAY BLACKOUT PERIOD, IMMEDIATELY, AND RESTORE EVERY VOTER WHO DID NOT RECEIVE NOTICE OF BEING PURGED WITHIN THE REQUIRED NOTICE PERIOD, NOW.
AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov.
-- and Harry Reid
on all emails.
Senate Contacts:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
"Contacting the Congress"
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
House Representatives/Congressional Directory:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/
Speak out now, and demand fair elections!
Update: You can write to all of your federal representatives with one click by using the tools to find your reps on www.congress.com. Here is a copy of the (perhaps a bit too exclamatory) email I just sent:
Dear President Bush, Senators Feinstein and Boxer, and Representative Waxman,
Today's New York Times reports that at least 9 states have used impermissible criteria to purge voters from the rolls, have illegally purged voters within the 90 day period before an election, have failed to notify voters of their removal from the rolls and the voter's obligation to address the reasons fro removal, or some combination of all of the above. Millions of American voters have been illegally denied their right to vote in the coming election, a situation which the Election Assistance Commission says presents "extremely serious problems" for the Presidential election.
The purged voters are 37% registered Democrats vs. only 28% Republicans. If unaddressed, this situation will delegitimize the Presidential election. All states must be compelled to comply with the law NOW. While redressing the problems of voters purged before the 90 day lock-out period based on impermissible criteria may take time, states can be required TODAY to reinstate all voters purged since August 4th on any basis other than receipt of a death certificate, certificate of mental unfitnes, or certified notice of the voter's move out of state. Similarly, all voters who have been purged but have not received notice within the required time period can and must be reinstated NOW.
I do not exaggerate when I say that I believe the legitimacy of the American system of government hangs in the balance. The American people will not tolerate being disenfranchised again, and if they cannot obtain redress from their government I fear that there may be widespread violence this time. Please act IMMMEDIATELY to uphold the legitimacy of the American electoral system.
Thank you for your service,Patricia A. McBride
Maybe you've already read this in-depth article from Rolling Stone, once a major McCain cheerleader. I hadn't, and it astounded me. If you have friends who are undecided, consider sending them this article, and perhaps this blog.
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/23316912/makebelieve_maverick/print
No doubt about it, this story puts the “brutal” in brutally honest. But given that it addresses only those aspects of his character and history that McCain himself continually pushes into the media, it really is relevant and needs to be said. It’s a real disservice to other American soldiers not to speak out. There was a time – in the 90s -- when I had a lot of respect for John McCain. Even in the early 2000s I thought worse things could happen to us than to have him as president. He certainly sounded like an honorable guy. As the last several years have made clear however – and this story, sadly, abundantly demonstrates – John McCain will say and do anything that serves him, personally, and now will sacrifice every pretended principle he ever had if it will get him into the White House. He nominated Palin to appease and court Rush Limbaugh. What will he sell, what will he do, and to whom, if he has difficulty leading in the White House? The article makes clear that the flip-flopping of the last several years is part and parcel of McCain’s character as well as his political and personal history. If you or your friends are leaning toward McCain, as I have in the past, you may want to read this.
A lot of the article talks about McCain’s war record, and it’s pretty painful to read. When John McCain keeps saying he ”knows how to win wars” I have tried not to voice out loud all the uncharitable thoughts that come into my head. (Although I broke down and did it at home the other night, and found that my husband agreed.) The failure of the US policy that led us to Vietnam, and left us floundering in a guerilla war over ideologies and histories that we didn’t understand, obviously was not his fault. I’m hardly going to criticize him for the terrifying accident of getting shot down, although the television special on both candidates after the first debate and the interviews with his peers in this article indicate that he would have flunked out of flight training were it not for his father, and was hardly considered an ace pilot. Whatever the truth of what skill or judgment might have been able to do for him, I think most fighter pilots would agree that a sense of immortality and high adrenaline levels are common to the breed. You can tell from McCain’s stiff, choppy posture today that those old wounds have hardened and calcified and he probably still suffers a great deal of pain. It is small wonder that he is often angry, volatile, and erratic. I’ve never suffered that kind of pain or fear, or the kind of psychological and physical torture he suffered in the few days of isolation, so while it was his duty to his fellow soldiers and fellow prisoners to say nothing other than his name rank and serial number, I can only have compassion for the fact that he used his father’s name to get special treatment, and then broke under torture and made the televised confession that was put in front of him. We all can only hope that we can live up to our ideals of courage and honor when put to the test, and a lot of soldiers, like McCain, simply couldn’t. I suspect that I couldn’t – like McCain, I don’t think I have that kind of deep self-discipline ingrained in me. He failed in a fundamental way, and I’m sure it haunts him—or at least, I was sure, until this year. Until he has tried again and again to paint himself as a hero, and as a person who, by virtue of being captured and then betraying his country – however unwillingly – he is somehow morally superior to the rest of us, and that this dreadful, painful personal failure somehow makes him a leader we can trust. That his own failure in a failed war somehow means that “he knows how to win wars” and that, as he has said, “I know how to deal with our enemies.” I’m sorry, but it doesn’t. Sadly, if it means anything at all, it means the opposite.
I don’t like talking about this. I don’t think anybody likes criticizing someone who has suffered horrors that we all pray that we ourselves will never have to face. I wish to God that McCain would point to some other qualification for those claims of capability than this deeply sad and pathetic, in the truest sense of the word, episode in his life. But he can’t or won’t. He keeps doing it, and it really is time that we say, “we’re so sorry you had to go through that, but you absolutely must stop lying to us and to yourself about that experience.” You served and suffered for your country, and we honor that. Your experience as a POW demonstrates that, like the rest of us you are human and frail, and that your principles and courage are not always strong enough to carry you through in situations of extreme duress, and we all have compassion for that. It does not, in any way, shape, or form, make you a role model or a great military leader. And to continue to twist and distort this tragic existential experience for political gain reveals an ingrained cynicism and dishonesty for which I ultimately can have no respect or compassion whatsoever.
This speech by Bruce Springsteen speaks exactly to the reasons why I not only support Barack Obama and Joe Biden, I believe our country needs them and us:
I am glad to be here today for this voter registration drive and for Barack Obama, the next President of the United States. I've spent 35 years writing about America, its people, and the meaning of the American Promise. The Promise that was handed down to us, right here in this city from our founding fathers, with one instruction: Do your best to make these things real. Opportunity, equality, social and economic justice, a fair shake for all of our citizens, the American idea, as a positive influence, around the world for a more just and peaceful existence. These are the things that give our lives hope, shape, and meaning. They are the ties that bind us together and give us faith in our contract with one another.
I've spent most of my creative life measuring the distance between that American promise and American reality. For many Americans, who are today losing their jobs, their homes, seeing their retirement funds disappear, who have no healthcare, or who have been abandoned in our inner cities. The distance between that promise and that reality has never been greater or more painful.
I believe Senator Obama has taken the measure of that distance in his own life and in his work. I believe he understands, in his heart, the cost of that distance, in blood and suffering, in the lives of everyday Americans. I believe as president, he would work to restore that promise to so many of our fellow citizens who have justifiably lost faith in its meaning. After the disastrous administration of the past 8 years, we need someone to lead us in an American reclamation project. In my job, I travel the world, and occasionally play big stadiums, just like Senator Obama. I've continued to find, wherever I go, America remains a repository of peoples hopes, possibilities, and desires, and that despite the terrible erosion to our standing around the world, accomplished by our recent administration, we remain, for many, a house of dreams. One thousand George Bushes and one thousand Dick Cheneys will never be able to tear that house down.
They will, however, be leaving office, dropping the national tragedies of Katrina, Iraq, and our financial crisis in our laps. Our sacred house of dreams has been abused, looted, and left in a terrible state of disrepair. It needs care; it needs saving, it needs defending against those who would sell it down the river for power or a quick buck. It needs strong arms, hearts, and minds. It needs someone with Senator Obama's understanding, temperateness, deliberativeness, maturity, compassion, toughness, and faith, to help us rebuild our house once again. But most importantly, it needs us. You and me. To build that house with the generosity that is at the heart of the American spirit. A house that is truer and big enough to contain the hopes and dreams of all of our fellow people by our ability to accomplish this task. Now I don't know about you, but I want that dream back, I want my America back, I want my country back.
So now is the time to stand with Barack Obama and Joe Biden, roll up our sleeves, and come on up for the rising.
A friend forwarded this article to me. I know Republicans love to swagger around in the cowboy delusional belief that the US doesn't need or want the friendship or good opinion of any foreign country. Those of us who love being citizens of this incredible planet Earth, as well as proud Americans, would like to travel without even the lovely people of Ireland telling us sadly that we've become "the arseholes of the world." Let's work for an Obama landslide, and let the rest of the world know that America STILL stands for justice, integrity, fairplay, generousity and courage -- it's all just been hidden for the last 8 years. With President Obama at the head of the US governemnt we can again be world leaders, instead of increasingly pathetic world bullies.
EDITORIAL, The Guardian (UK), by Jonathan Freedland
> 'If Sarah Palin defies the conventional wisdom that says elections are determined by the top of the ticket, and somehow wins this for McCain, what will be the reaction? Yes, blue - state America will go into mourning once again, feeling estranged in its own country. A generation of young Americans - who back Obama in big numbers - will turn cynical, concluding that politics doesn't work after all. And, most depressing, many African - Americans will decide that if even Barack Obama - with all his conspicuous gifts - could not win, then no black man can ever be elected president.> But what of the rest of the world? This is the reaction I fear most. For Obama has stirred an excitement around the globe unmatched by any American politician in living memory. Polling in Germany , France , Britain and Russia shows that Obama would win by whopping majorities, with the pattern repeated in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America . If November 4 were a global ballot, Obama would win it handsomely. If the free world could choose its leader, it would be Barack Obama.The crowd of 200,000 that rallied to hear him in Berlin in July did so not only because of his charisma, but also because they know he, like the majority of the world's population, opposed the Iraq war.. McCain supported it, peddling the lie that Saddam was linked to 9/11. Non - Americans sense that Obama will not ride roughshod over the international system but will treat alliances and global institutions seriously: McCain wants to bypass the United Nations in favour of a> US - friendly League of Democracies. McCain might talk a good game on climate change, but a repeated floor chant at the Republican convention was 'Drill, baby, drill!', as if the solution to global warming were not a radical rethink of the US's entire energy system but more offshore oil rigs.> > If Americans choose McCain, they will be turning their back on the rest of the world, choosing to show us four more years of the Bush - Cheney finger. And I predict a deeply unpleasant shift.Until now, anti - Americanism has been exaggerated and much misunderstood: outside a leftist hardcore, it has mostly been anti - Bushism, opposition to this specific administration. But if McCain wins in November, that might well change. Suddenly Europeans and others will conclude that their dispute is with not only one ruling clique, but Americans themselves. For it will have been the American people, not the politicians, who will have passed up a once - in - a - generation chance for a fresh start - a fresh start the world is yearning for.And the manner of that decision will matter, too. If it is deemed to have been about race - that Obama was rejected because of his colour - the world's verdict will be harsh. In that circumstance, Slate's Jacob Weisberg wrote> recently, international opinion would conclude that 'the United States had its day, but in the end couldn't put its own self - interest ahead of its crazy irrationality over race'.> > Even if it's not ethnic prejudice, but some other aspect of the culture wars, that proves decisive, the point still holds. For America to make a decision as grave as this one - while the planet boils and with the US fighting two wars - on the trivial basis that a hockey mom is likable and seems down to earth, would be to convey a lack of seriousness, a fleeing from reality, that does indeed suggest a nation in, to quote Weisberg, 'historical decline'. Let's not forget, McCain's campaign manager boasts that this election is 'not about the issues.'> > Of course I know that even to mention Obama's support around the world is to hurt him. Incredibly, that large Berlin crowd damaged Obama at home, branding him the 'candidate of Europe ' and making him seem less of a patriotic American. But what does that say about today's America , that the world's esteem is now unwanted? If Americans reject Obama, they will be sending the clearest possible message to the rest of us - and, make no mistake, we shall hear it.'>
I haven't knocked on the door of someone I didn't know since I sold Girl Scout cookies in the sixth grade. Well, actually, there was the historic night 25 years ago that my college roommate and I got hideously lost and spent a snowy night wandering aimlessly back and forth between East and West Nyack, NY before finally knocking on a farmhouse door to ask directions to the Garden State Parkway. But you get the idea. I don't bother strangers. I don't particularly like it when strangers knock on my door. I'm essentially friendly, and I'm pretty smart, but the truth is I'm painfully shy and at heart a very private person. Were it not for the fact that I love my child and that I love my country deeply, and fear what it has become, I'd really be very content to stay home and live as much like a hermit as possible.
But that simply isn't an option this year. So I've been donating money to the greatest extent I can, volunteering, distributing signs and bumper stickers to anyone who will take them (now the numerous Obama yard signs on the modest lawns in our neighborhood greatly outnumber the FIVE McCain signs on the historic Mansion that dominates the neighborhood), and using Neighbor to Neighbor to recruit more volunteers. But it didn't feel like enough.
So this weekend I drove to Las Vegas, along with hundreds of other Southern Californians, to help register voters and canvass from door to door. It was over 115 degrees in the remote area of northern Clark County that I was assigned to canvas, and there was no shade whatsoever. There were a couple of times I was almost afraid I wouldn't finish. It was awesome.
It was the second most wonderful, second most rewarding experience I've ever had as a member of a community. Since first place in those categories involved helping to save a child's life, second in this case is a really, really amazing experience.
I spoke to people who said they had no idea who the candidates were. I talked to them about Senator Obama, and how he was making me proud of my country again. (Michelle, I know you meant "more proud;" I unfortunately haven't been able to have any pride since we invaded Iraq--love yes, pride, no.) About how his vision is for all of us to recognize each other as fellow Americans with a stake in the wellbeing and future of our country, and a responsibility to each other. To move past the hatred and fear of the last eight years. And to make America live up to its promise for all of us, not just the extremely wealthy. Some were impressed, some explained kindly that with both McCain and Obama it was all just "blah, blah, blah," as one very nice Latino man put it. He felt that they talk, but who knows what they will really do. He was going to wait to the very end to make up his mind. I respect that, and I told him so -- and I encouraged him and others to go to YouTube and watch the debate they had missed the night before, and to keep really listening to Senator Obama when he speaks, and to see what they thought and who they believed. And I said thanks and smiled, and you know what: mostly they smiled, too. They probably shook their heads and forgot about me as soon as I left, but hey, we had a moment. The young guy who said he knew absolutely nothing about either candidate and said-- in the friendliest possible manner, while he and his friend were working on his truck-- that he really didn't want to know, also said I probably could count on his vote. His girlfriend had made him register last week, and he figured she'd leave him if he didn't vote for Obama like she told him to. I was so sorry she wasn't home--my list said I was supposed to talk to her, too-- but it looked like the work was well taken care of in that household.
I talked to several wonderful women, white and black, who looked at me as though I was crazy when I asked if they knew who they'd be supporting for President. "Girl, whose hat are you wearing?" Um, Obama/Biden? "That's right. Of COURSE I'm voting for Obama. And let me get my son out here and you can get him registered. Do you want some water, hon?" "She's in the shower honey, but please come back in ten minutes, I know she'll want to sign whatever you got there for Obama." There was nothing for her to sign, she was registered and raring to go and she had to run to work--but she talked to me and answered my questions from the front door to the car and then said, "You, GO, girl -- get my mom to give you some water and go in the kitchen to drink it!" I talked to grandchildren living with hardworking grandparents, the grandchildren young voters in their late teens and early 20s. They were at home, the grandparents either out at work or sleeping as they had come off the night shift at the casinos only a few hours earlier. They were for Obama, and they were excited to hear about how they could vote early in Nevada and free themselves up to volunteer at the polls on election day. A young man carefully wrote down the rules for early voting and their two nearest locations, and assured me he'd tell his grandmother all about it when she woke up. "Don't worry, she'll vote," he said, "She told ME she wouldn't feed me if I didn't!"
I spoke to a delightful man, Victor S., who has been volunteering for ages and is downright joyful in his enthusiasm for Senator Obama and the kind of America he represents. He was just washing the biggest, bulkiest, galumphiest pitbull mix I'd ever seen when I walked up. I confess, I stear clear of pitbull anythings, even though I've heard that many can be wonderful pets. "Coco" must have weighed 90 pounds, maybe 100 wringing wet, which she was as she bounded out of the tub to waggle adoringly against my bare legs (and white shorts). Victor kept shooing her away, but I was in love with Coco. She might be big and hairy and doggy, but she was gloriously wet and cool and --unlike the McCain supporter I had just spoken with -- obviously thrilled to see me. Victor encouraged me to have Californians stay with him the next time we came out, and offered me a bottle of water for the walk. And make no mistake: I went out there with two bottles of water, and had drunk a glass of water half an hour earlier, and I was still ready for that next bottle.
I met a man who was registered as non-partisan who, when I asked if he knew who he was voting for in November, fixed me with what I took to be his stern, no-nonsense look (it was pretty good, stopping just a hair short of nastiness) and said, "McCain, and there's nothing you can do about it."
But you know something? He was the only remotely hostile person I met all day, and he was a definite improvement on the many homes at which there was no answer.
The next door down turned out to be another nonpartisan who spent ten thoughtful minutes with me, answering my questions, asking me his, and ultimately saying that for him, it would now all come down to the economy and he just hadn't heard enough yet from the candidates to make up his mind. I'm registered as non-partisan and I actually felt heartened by that kind of reflection and open-mindedness. The man was no fool. I do think he'll vote Obama in the end, and that was a kind of exciting feeling to walk away with.
But my favorite experience in the field was one I wasn't supposed to have. On my way to knock on the door of 3154, my penultimate door before I could quit, I happened to notice an older woman and two younger women relaxing in their garage at 3150. I called out a "Hi, how are you today" to which they responded with a graciousness that for some reason called to mind my southern great aunts sitting on their front porch. They weren't on my list of folks to talk to, but I was wearing my Obama gear and they were friendly, so I asked, "Are you all registered to vote?" They weren't. They had just moved in, and had planned to just go back to the old polling place of the only one of them who'd been registered up til now. What a way to end the day! I had registered two people earlier and that had felt great, but here I was about to save 3 votes for Obama! I explained that the grandmother, Anna, would need to re-register at her new address or her vote wouldn't count. And her two granddaughters had never voted before but were ready to register for Obama. So we stood in the garage and the women filled out their registration forms on the hood of a car, while I checked them over. I registered 5 people that day and not one form was error-free the first time around. The forms are cramped and hard to read and it is surprisingly easy to leave a blank. Fortunately, our field coordinator had put the fear of God in us about messing up people's sacred right to vote by not triple reading the forms and pointing out errors or omissions to them before taking their forms. (That field coordinator is a story unto himself, but he may have to wait for another day, another blog.)
Anna's grandaughters had just turned 18. They were sly and funny and slow-talking, and had been born in my home state of New Jersey. They thought I was crazy to drive all day just to walk around in the sun all day the next day, but they thought it was cool, too. And Anna, Anna knew her stuff. She wanted to know where the nearest campaign office was. She thought maybe she'd take the girls down there to see what people were doing "to make something happen this time." And she hugged me and offered me a beer. This was my kind of woman. I couldn't stay and drink the beer with her, though, as badly as I wanted to. First because I was late finishing my rounds and needed to report back to the field office to be debriefed, and second because, despite all the water I was light-headed and didn't think I could drive with even half a beer in me. So we wrapped the cold beer up in tin foil and put it in my trunk so I could drink it when the day was done.
By the time I left the field office and got back to my hotel two hours later, Anna's beer was approximately 80 degrees. I put it on ice while I poured a glass of water and then a glass of wine, and when the beer was cold, I drank that too. I fell asleep sometime before 8pm, in Vegas.
Hi All--
I'm sorry that my first blog post is about a side issue rather than about the presidential campaign, but since a number of women members of the campaign will be going to Palin's speech in Orange County on Thursday, I wanted to post a few thoughts -- and a few poems/songs/or chants that might give us some fun ideas for the protest on Thursday.
First, let me say that I think Sarah Palin gets infinitely more press than she deserves, and I think it is ludicrous for the press to even mention her name in the same sentence with Senator Obama. She is a petty, ignorant, self-promoting, vastly ambitious and completely unqualified shill vice presidential candidate for a desperate, cynical and morally bankrupt republican machine. Senator Barack Obama is a leader of great intelligence, courage, experience and integrity who by the grace of God will be the greatest President this country has seen in nearly a 150 years. The two have nothing to do with one another, and never should. The Obama campaign needs to stay on message and not bring Senator Obama down to the level of this nobody yahoo from the Yukon by engaging with her. You don't get to share a stage with one of the greatest visionaries of this century by shooting moose, shitting on the Constitution, and having a pretty smile.
I believe that the campaign should ignore Sarah Palin, and let those of us who have a real stake in taking her down do it on our own. Because really, Sarah Palin is an issue separate and apart from this presidential campaign, and she's a women's issue. Were there no Barack Obama to support (perish the thought!), were I even a McCain supporter (as I once was, sadly) I would feel compelled to stand up for myself as a woman in the face of the disgusting circus that is the Palin nomination.
The Republican party has insulted the millions of American women through this cynical nomination of a wanna-be Dick Cheney in drag in the expectation that we would flock to her because she is female. Palin, in turn, has betrayed and insulted us all as she has used eveything that three generations of women before her fought for to gain her position, while in turn denying that debt, lying and cheating in virtually evry aspect of her life that afffects her leadership role, and standing squarely tagainst he rights of self governance for other women that have made her own success possible. She is a joke, a stereotype, an empty suit and an affront to us all.
But none of that is pithy, or really any fun, and I am REALLY tired of Sarah "I can see your house from here, Vladi" Palin having all the fun in this circus. So I'm trying to to come up with some fun songs to sing at the protest on Thursday. I'm thinking maybe a short verse or two to the tune of "I'm a Woman, W-O-M-A-N" under the working title of "I'm a Conman, C-O-N-M-A-N". So far that is coming slowly, but in themeantime the following fragment of poem came fairly quickly. (As you'll see, very quickly -- it's rough and doesn't scan and isn't always very clever, much like Sarah herself) Feel free to add a verse of your own, or improve on the ones I've got!
Sarah’s Stand --(Take I)
Pam McBride
Why could I serve as President?
Well, duh-- I’m an Alaska resident!
Russia’s got snow and we’ve got snow
What else do ya need to know?
Yeah, Biden’s wise and battle scarred
But I see Siberia from my back yard!
I don’t believe in foreign travel
‘Cause all my arrogance might unravel
And raise the possibility
There's more to this world than me.
And we all know that that’s just crazy
‘Cause every foreigner’s vile or lazy
I won’t listen to your opinions
I only talk to my loyal minions
If you ask “Are you qualified, Sarah?”
I’ll say that’s sexist, and how dare ya!
Because I’m all woman, through and through
Just don’t expect that to work for you.
Just one more thing I want to say
What DO vice presidents do all day?
Do they get to hunt and fish and shoot?
If I do it, will Alsaka get loot?
That’s what I asked two months ago
And that is what I still don’t know!
