[Oe List ...] A day of canvassing

[Adam Thomson]

Thank you for your posting, Marsha, from this 
particular non-American (with an American-born wife Gayle Wright).

I think we have to gnash our teeth corporately 
over this one - so your report is much 
appreciated. (Reminds me of my days on 
"Development" in the USA: happy memories, would you believe...)

So, as a global movement, we have to gnash our 
teeth together "over" (or is it "about"?) the 
plight of the US (a.k. the planet).

Those outside the USA - not just "us", but 
everybody - are hanging on every twist and turn 
of this election, and are agonising as you are. I 
think you all - the sensitive and responsive - in the US are aware of this.

This means that we are THIRSTING for stories from 
the Front, as Marsha has just supplied.

We are deeply grateful for all postings connected 
with the election on this site. They keep hope alive. More stories please.

Love to all,

Adam and Gayle in Dover UK.

END OF MESSAGE

At 02:01 22/09/2008, you wrote:

>A preface to all of you non-Americans: Thank you 
>for your forbearance as we gnash our teeth over the mess we have made.
>
>
>
>Pat and I took a three hour drive to Davenport, 
>Iowa yesterday to volunteer with the Obama 
>campaign.  We were responding to a request for 
>Illinois residents to help in the “battleground” states that surround us.
>
>We arrived to join about 40-50 others, some from 
>Illinois and some who were local.  Pat and I 
>were given a packet with a map and list of 80 
>addresses, along with literature.  It was very 
>organized.  Each address had the names of the 
>resident with whom we were to speak, the 
>person’s age, gender, and whether or not they 
>identified as a Democrat, Republican, or claimed 
>no party affiliation.  We had very specific 
>instructions about whether to try to “persuade” 
>or to give information about “early voting.”  As 
>a rule, we were talking only with Democrats or unaffiliated people.
>
>What a day:
>
>·         One woman greeted us with “I’m for 
>Obama.  How can I get a yard sign?”  Then she 
>told us she had voted for Bush the last two 
>elections as she pounded her forehead with the 
>palm of her hand (as in, “how could I have been 
>so stupid!”)  She said, “If I put out an Obama 
>yard sign my neighbors will KNOW it’s okay for 
>them to vote for him.”  She told us she had been 
>trying to persuade her brother, who had 
>staunchly held out for McCain until Sarah Palin 
>was chosen.  “Then he called me and said, ‘That’s it.  I’m on your side now!’”
>
>·         One elderly Korean-American woman came 
>to her door and smiled broadly.  “Forty-two 
>years I’ve voted Democrat!  Just like my husband did!”
>
>·         One man, retired, told us he was “on 
>the fence.”  But he stepped outside and started 
>talking.  He didn’t have a lot of education – 
>spoke like a good blue-collar guy.  He told us 
>how appalled he was at the Palin pick, how she 
>clearly wasn’t up to the task – this while 
>continually looking back at me to emphasize that 
>it wasn’t that he was against a woman being VP, just not this woman.
>
>·         One guy saw our Obama buttons and 
>yelled at us, saying he didn’t want any 
>Communists or Socialists.  So I smiled and said, 
>“So I guess you’re voting McCain?”  “No, I can’t 
>stand him either!”  He was the only person who was belligerent.
>
>Lots of people weren’t home, but we figure we 
>helped a few who were undecided move a little 
>closer to Obama.  And we cheered on those who 
>were already there.  We wished the few McCain supporters well.
>
>Doris and I were talking and she was saying how 
>silly our election process is here.  It’s kind 
>of true.  Think of all the time and treasure 
>that is spent on this.  But it’s what we have 
>right now, and there’s no changing it this year.
>
>Our testimony is: there are a hundred ways you 
>can do something to make a real difference right 
>now.  Volunteer locally, phone battleground 
>states from home, contribute what you can.
>
>We were hot and tired when we finished and 
>started our 3-hour trek home.  But we felt great.
>
>Marsha Hahn
>_______________________________________________
>OE mailing list
>OE at wedgeblade.net
>http://wedgeblade.net/mailman/listinfo/oe_wedgeblade.net

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