halloween

republicans and democrats apparently both celebrate halloween

obama rally tomorrow

b.o. will be in pueblo tomorrow morning and we'll work the rally.  we'd like to set up the mobile phone-banking station and see how that plays out.  this should be his last rally in colorado before the election and our first chance to see michelle obama.  

clean coal

at all the rallies there have been the clean coal guys handing out hats and t-shirts (see my profile photo). they managed to do pretty well at the biden rally, with almost everyone at the front donning their gear. the t-shirt is something. its a graphic of a chunk of coal with a gas pump coming out of it.

cortez

we were a new era of conquistador in montezuma county. the office on main street in cortez was the most laid back we've seen in colorado- staffed almost exclusively by students from berkeley. on the first night we opened up the staging location (extra space for the get-out-the-vote operation that will be happening on election day) which was down the street from the main office and across the street from the republican party hq. it was an old house, and each of us had a room to make phone calls out of.

colorado west, trailer 14

perhaps my greatest success in the campaign came today in a cortez trailer park.  a mother and daughter had already filled out their mail-in ballots for mccain and i decided to challenge them on the decision:  would you mind telling me why you voted for john mccain?  it blows me away that someone living in a trailer park on medicare would vote for mccain but that's what was about to happen.

they decided to indulge me and invited me inside.  the mother was convinced that by Revelations an obama victory would hasten the end of the world, and why would you want that?  (somehow the idea that he was a muslim and then having control of the country was projected to bring on armaggedon).  her daughter was more concerned that his running mate was an idiot and had only one thing decided for sure:  to vote for anyone except mark udall (democrat for senate), who taxes dead people.  the two also had a relative in the military who had recently been beaten by a black man.  

we went over the issues:  tax breaks for the middle class, grants for college in return for service, a universal health care plan.  i had them ask me questions about any policy of either candidate and explain them in detail.  they started to get concerned that i was too convincing and that they could hear the same thing from a mccain supporter, so i decided to play a new role:  i pretended to be a mccain supporter and they would ask me the same questions.  i answered them with how i would help the middle class:  no medical plan, no tax breaks, no money for higher education.  they enjoyed it.  it was hard for them to argue.

some interesting confessions followed.  the daughter mentioned that she had the whole ballot filled out and she went through 3 pens to finally get one to mark off mccain on the ballot.  she was convinced something was wrong with that.  

the result:  the 2 of them will go to early voting tomorrow and trade in their pen-marked ballots for early ballots and vote for obama.  and they will try to convince the rest of their family to do the same.

video of hillary rope walk

jobs baby jobs

loryn, witt, judy (our denver host) and i were front and center for the rally.  hillary started off her speech with 'we are gathered in the shadows of this beautiful medical facility.' after she said it she seemed a little unsure of why she said that.   i yelled out 'new york in the house' but i'm not sure she heard me.  it was a pretty rip-roaring partisan speech for the next 20-30 minutes or so.  some choice lines: 'rising from the ashes of the bushes' and 'our new rally is: jobs baby jobs'.  

overall she was a very smooth speaker, really digging into republican ideology in general and mccain in particular.  much more proficient than biden, i'd say, but all the less personal for it.  i personally liked governor ritter and senator salazar better in terms of message but they didn't quite have the same weight.

after the speeches the 3 of them walked the rope line.  i told ken:  'love the hat.'  and bill ritter:  'good work.'  and to hillary:  'keep up the good work representing new york'.  i think she acknowledged that.

governor ritter and senator salazar introducing hillary

mobile phone bank

my dream realized- these folks are making calls for barack at the front of the line at the hillary rally.  it caused a bit of a stir as i went up and down the line recruiting volunteers for the effort- giving these guys VIP status for the event.  

doc

there were five of us setting up for the rally, including this man pictured here, doc.  he was attending a halloween party later in the evening and wore his tuxedo as we set fence, roped off circulation areas and set up the media section

setting fence for the hillary rally

pre hillary rally

imagine it is friday.   i am writing in that mindframe.

there is a hillary clinton rally in aurora today (just east of denver) and we're in ft collins.  witt is flying in from austin at 9:30 am.  

i had a vision when i woke up in the morning- to set up a mobile phone bank in line at the rally.  at the biden rally we had 2000 people waiting for 3 hours outside..... what if we had some of these folks calling voters to turn in mail in ballots, getting people to early vote, or to persuade some republicans?  maybe it could work.

we head out early from ft collins, pick up witt from the airport, and head to the arapahoe office to pitch the phone bank plan.

they dig it.  the rally is at 5:30, gates are at 3:30, and we've got a group of volunteers heading to the site at 11:00 to join them.

i touched him

jerry and sharon reinan

our ft. collins hosts. upon arrival we were showered with scotch and root beer floats, friendly conversation, and a mutual appreciation for the virtues of obama.

they have been hosting around the calendar for this election season, most recently a group of utah natives that, not understanding how to work the shower, decided to take baths instead.

mr. jerry reinan used to carry water for the elephant. he was the former county chairman and treasurer of the republican party, having in the last decade understood that the party has left him. he is an amazing wit and has a great appreciation for the better gender.

mrs. sharon reinan is an earlier convert to the progressive cause and a very charming personality. she is active in pottery making and a devotee of the huffington post.

el burrito

i left with a stomach ache

shameful white flaggers

canvassing ft. collins

the morning of wednesday the 22nd was clear and windy as hell. the clipboard could barely keep straight my map, canvass list, obama early vote door hangers, colorado for change campaign literature, volunteer sign up form, tax plan, and economic plan flyers.

the highlights- helping a guy fill out his ballot in full- there are more than 20 amendments and we went through each one and made suggestions. he was party faithful so i don't feel too bad about that. and then at one apartment building i had about 9 people i was supposed to talk to. i finally got hold of the property manager (it was the middle of the day and most people were at work) and we went down the list:

hmmm, A4, not here, A5, not here, B9, not here, C4, well that's kind of complicated. sophia isn't here anymore. well, i don't know what to say about that.

should i list her as moved?

well, not exactly. i haven't seen her awhile and i don't know what the status is on that one.

well, if you're not sure maybe i should leave it.

the thing is, she was sophia, now she's chris. i mean, she's had a sex change and i don't know how she'll be voting. does she get a vote if she's in-between?

a conversation with mike the plumber

my biggest success today was a conversation with an undecided voter who began the conversation with 'obama's gonna take my gun away. i've read about it online.' well..... not the most promising start. but he listened to me explain barack's position on the recent supreme court ruling on the D.C. handgun law and he support for protective firearms and sport rifles and he began to ease up when i explained the line where restrictions for automatic and semi-automatic weapons won't affect his shotgun.
he then surprised me by saying 'you know i'm a union plumber and this whole joe the plumber business is really pissing me off.' i wasn't quite sure what he meant by that at first, but he was offended that the mccain campaign was using what was essentially his background for political gain. the discussion turned to experience and his doubts about barack's readiness to lead, and i explained his early judgment on the war in iraq combined with his recent steadiness in the financial crises versus mccain's erratic behavior showed how ready he was.
after all this he said, 'well, i'm leaning your way. i think you got the vote'

favorite lines from phone conversations with republicans

i wouldn't vote for that son of a bitch if he was the last man on earth

you obama?
no, i'm calling from the obama office
you obama?
no sir, i'm not barack obama i am an obama supporter
you're an obama supporter? you're fucked up

that asshole disrespected my brother's 28 years in the service by refusing to salute the flag and say the pledge of allegiance.
i respectfully disagree, sir, but mr. obama does salute the flag and pledge allegiance
i saw a picture of it on the internet, i know.
(how do you see a picture of someone saying the pledge of allegiance???)

the bears are coming out of the woods

and finally joe emerged. the bears are coming out of the woods was his energized opening to the crowd which had been waiting for more than 3 hours to see him.

having made a strange comment the day before about barack's mettle being tested within six months of assuming the presidency it seemed that joe was trying to avoid any major gaffes. with a raucous start and impassioned talk about the need for change and the failure of mccain to provide it joe began to speak softly, earnestly about the problems facing americans.

we got some typical biden-stump speech lines: 'you know my daddy always said: champ, no matter what you do, get back up, get back up. if you get knocked down, get back up.' and 'my mom used to say: joey, if it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, and talks like a duck, then its a duck. when mccain sounds like a bush and votes like a bush, well they he is a bush.'

literally.....joe biden in greeley

we were browsing co.barackobama.com aimlessly looking at pictures of our 2 favorite people of the moment when there was one particularly striking banner with joe biden's mug: early vote rally with joe biden- greeley, colorado. what is this? tomorrow? joe biden's first visit to colorado? a fierce determination on the part of loryn and myself was able to get us from vail to greeley for a morning rally on tuesday. doors at 10:30am, rally at 12:30. we repacked our bags and planned for the day as we watched the original manchurian candidate. and where did sarah palin come from again?

so we hit the road and made it to the campus of the university of north colorado at 11:00am. our heart sank a bit as we saw at least 1000 people in line ahead of us. well, 2 hours later we found ourselves in the auditorium of the unc bears. a little shimmying and we were about 6 rows back with a good line of sight to the podium. first speaker: mrs. mark udall, wife of democratic candidate for senate. at the rally the previous saturday he had mentioned how she was a tireless campaigner. looks like it. second speaker: a centenarian republican member of the greeley city council, riding the obama wave. third speaker: betsy markey, democratic candidate for congress, colorado district 4. http://www.markeyforcongress.com/ i hadn't heard about this race for this district, which encompasses areas north of denver (ft collins and greeley, along with the entire eastern portion of the state. i guess that would mean the whole flat part of the state. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CO-4 there's been a fierce catfight between incumbent marilyn musgrave and betsy markey for this seat. when you come to the door of a die-hard democrat and they express reservations about their candidate based on attack adds you know it's been brutal. fourth speaker: joe biden.........

behind the vail

sometimes you get lucky. our gracious host judy in denver presented an alternative to our camping in rocky mountain national park for monday and tuesday: her condo in vail. with rain and snowstorms in the mountains and temperatures from 18 to 40 degrees that sounded alright to me. and what it change it was from denver.
on the way into town we read a a bit about the history. the honorable mr. gerald ford (former president of the united states) bought some land in vail as a congressman and used it as his western white house after the dishonorable mr. richard nixon resigned. he lent the town a grandeur and sophistication that continues until this day.
we browsed the high-end western clothing boutiques until i really started to believe we were in the old west for dinner? elk stew.

aint skeered

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/20/mccain-camp-looking-for-way-to-win-without-colorado/

a typical canvass

the day starts for a morning session at of the obama office (there are 50 in colorado).  each volunteer receives a canvassing packet with list of names, addresses, and data on registered voters in a group of blocks that are being targeted that day.  a google map is included with a pinpoint on each house (about 50 per pack) and the message we deliver to voters changes by day.  ideally each volunteer is to tackle a packet in a morning session and another in an afternoon session.  

mail in ballots were mailed out last week in colorado and early voting started today, for the next two weeks.  the campaign is trying to reduce the confusion, especially among the huge amount of newly registered voters.  when we can identify those who have already voted, we can take them off the list and make more accurate projections of support.

in reality things are much more complex.  especially in the low-income neighborhoods there are a slew of people who are no longer living in their registered address, and new voters at those houses who are registered elsewhere, and no one knows what to do.  but, with all the variety of people i have talked to i have yet to talk to a mccain supporter.  

why colorado?

this could have been taken care of earlier but an explanation is certainly due.  why campaign in colorado?  it was summed up prety well last week by david plouffe, the obama campaign manager, when he said: 'our best hope for success in red states is virginia and colorado.'  

must every presidential election be a battle for ohio and florida?  if we can make some movement in the electorate in other parts of the country, educating new voters and changing the minds of others is that not real change?  

if obama wins the same states as gore, plus a colorado or viriginia then he is president.  

loryn's post

http://canvasschronicles.wordpress.com/

i guess i can't keep this a secret any longer.  check out loryn's parallel blog of the colorado trip; her way with words shames me.   

western art

this sculpture greets you upon exiting the denver international airport.  

is it a metaphor for the democratic party in colorado or is it just awesome art?  

heaven in your mouth

obama has run a very smart campaign in many respects. another sign of this made an unexpected appearance today as we arrived at the five points office in denver (a neighborhood immediately north of downtown).

the office is directly above one of the best soul food restaurants i have ever dined. coincidence? surely not. further proof that this man understands the complex issues we face. hungry? go downstairs and you'll have heaven in your mouth.

recommended: rice and beans (some of the best in my short life), frybread, catfish sandwich, jerk chicken, collared greens

saturday oct 18

on the flight into denver i thought it would be interesting to meet mark udall (democratic congressman running for senate in colorado.)  

it happend much sooner than i thought.  we had a rally at the stapleton office in the neighborhood where we are staying and mark was there pumping up the crowd.  see the attached photo.  he was an animated speaker and had a very engaging style.  but there was certainly something about him that set him apart from the city council member and state representative that introduced him.  i told him that we need to get to work on global warming.  he said he would.  i said wind power is key.  a good start for sure.

after the rally we headed to canvass in montbello, a lower-income african american and hispanic neighborhood in the eastern parts of denver.  this is a very pro-obama area but, like a lot of lower-income neighborhoods, has a hard time getting out to vote.  in colorado things are complicated by the fact that over half the eligible voters have requested mail-in ballots, the first time in the state its been used widely.  and then early voting starts monday.  lots of confusion.  and we have to clear the story with people that want to vote.  

we drove around with couple from, of all places, austin.  i talked for awhile with a jehova's witness who doesn't believe in voting because got should rule as we looked over a very interesting landscaping job he had just finished.  he said the end was near.  the why all the indulgence in the mulch?  

the only undecided voter i talked to was an 18-year old black kid.  he said he was concerned about government spending.  i was a bit surprised.  when i got back to the office i wrote him a letter and included some information sheets about barack's economic and tax plans.

friday night

arrived in denver.  campaign signs and references are everywhere in this city and i'm looking forward to the trip as it unfolds.  a campaign rally tomorrow morning with senate candidate mark udall will be a good start.  i had just been thinking he would be an interesting guy to meet.