A Day That Will Go Down In History

Nov 4, 2008

Election Day, 2008. This will be one to remember. The day we turned our country around and saved our world. I really believe that. Don't get me wrong. I don't believe that Barack Obama is our saviour. No I don't. He's a great candidate but he's not perfect and I never believed that he was. For example, it's a little frightening that he wants to leave Iraq (Yes!) only to step up the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan (No! - yet another quagmire in the making and how the hell you gonna save the economy, give our people health care and decent schools, invest in alternative forms of energy -- all that while you're waging a new war in Afghanistan?? Get real!) And his health care plan, while far better than McCain's (if McCain actually has one)doesn't go nearly far enough - truth be told we need Single Payer Health Care like most of the rest of the industrialized world.

No, Obama, as good as he is and as progressive as most of his program is, is not a saviour. But here's what is true about a vote for Obama -- It's the people stupid! That's right - it's the fabulous and unprecedented movement of our people - Black, brown, white and united - that has surrounded and propelled his campaign - Therein is the promise of great things to come.

The fight will begin tomorrow because the Right, defeated and disgraced, is not going away any time soon. You can rest assured that they will be doing their dirty best (as only they know how) to demean Barack Obama for the next four years; to lay down as many obstacles as they can possibly find; to bring phony charges against him (as they did to Bill Clinton for years) to the extent that they can. But I believe that the movement of people that has been born in this historic campaign can be the bulwark of opposition to that mean-spirited force and push our country in the direction that it must go if we are all to survive and prosper in the years ahead.

So here's what we must do - We must find our voices. We must organize. We must let the Democrats, newly-empowered, know what we want. And we must not relax until we win what is needed to set our country on a new course of progress.

~~~

We awoke at 6 a.m. this morning, dressed and walked outside. Already we knew something was up. People were streaming down our usually quiet street. When we arrived at P.S. 9, two blocks away, the line was enormous. It stretched from the school entrance on Underhill Avenue, half a block south to the corner of St. Marks Place and then half-way down St. Marks. Wow!

It took us just over an hour to vote! A word to the wise: know your Assembly District and Election District before you get on line- you'll save yourself some time inside by not having to have a poll worker look it up for you via your address. Our neighborhood had one of the highest concentrations of Obama voters in the primary so it was no surprise. But the excitement, the determination of voters, the energy were all palpable standing on that line. I suspect that this will be duplicated throughout the country even in so-called Red states. That is why I can optimistically write this post today, before any results are in. I know that we are on the cusp of great and exciting times over the next four years.

Go Obama! We will be the wind behind your back. We will push you on to greatness if you listen to our voices for change!

P.S. One last thing - if you're a NY State voter - you can make your Obama vote even more meaningful by pulling the lever on ROW E - the Working Families party. This serves notice that your vote should not be taken for granted and that it's a vote for an end to the war and against any new wars. It's a vote that says you expect and demand a change in priorities away from war spending to spending for jobs, schools, health care and affordable housing and that you want a bailout not for the greedy banks and stock firms but for working folk. Voting on Row E, thus, stands out from all the other votes for Obama yet still goes into the same total count for your candidate! Thanks - Matt

It took us an hour to vote. The line stretched around P.S. 9 on Underhill Avenue around the corner of St. Mark's Place and way down the block. Unprecedented. It was 6:30 a.m.

Parents brought their children along to share in the history of today's vote.

Swinging on the scaffolding while daddy waited on long lines to vote.

Occupying your time while waiting on line to vote.

Yes! Omigod- even the NY Post! Wassup with that?

A Day In Philly - Working For Change

November 1, 2008

As this historic election loomed closer it became clear that every last vote would count. The Republicans, master of filthy tricks (dirty is too clean a word), would spare nothing and have spared nothing in trying to hold on to power for another four years. I flip-flop (pardon the expression) between elation and depression. One minute I believe that there'll be a landslide - that the polls, showing Barack Obama to be somewhat ahead are wrong. They're surely not counting all the kids with cellphones (you can't poll an unlisted number, right?) who are out there and going to vote. And, I reason, there's deep, deep disappointment and anger in the land that the pollsters are not reading and that this will volcanically erupt on Tuesday in an outpouring of determination to change the country's direction. Halevai!

The next minute anxiety sets in - Fox network and the GOP have so poisoned the atmosphere that people are confused. So confused that too many of them will be fearful of voting for Obama The Unknown and will elect McSame - proving, once again, that you can fool enough people over and over again, actually convincing them to vote against their very own self interests. Not to mention the Republicans' well-known techniques of voter suppression of which they are masters.

A visit to a swing state like Pennsylvania to volunteer for the Obama campaign was meant to elevate the positive side of my outlook. And it did! Seeing the number of volunteers (in person) involved in this historic campaign is exhilarating. Young people have been fired up by the millions. We saw this not only in the volunteers who are predominantly young but in our visits to houses where, time and again, older people might answer the door but would reference their support for Obama to the influence of their children or grandchildren.

One woman who I engaged in discussion, confused by the claims of McCain that Obama would increase her taxes, asked me if I believed what Obama was saying. I told her I wouldn't have driven down from New York to spend my Saturday in a Philadelphia suburb if I thought that he was an impostor. To which she shouted inwards to some interior room behind her - "Christine, who should I vote for?" "Obama!" came the reply from a youthful and exuberant voice. "That's my daughter. She wants me to vote for Obama and I probably will." This theme repeated itself in several of the houses I visited. Young people, I believe, are the vanguard of huge change that's coming to our country. Not imbued with the racism and cynicism of many of their oldsters they look at Obama and see a positive symbol of change, honesty and compassion. When they look at his McCain/Palin they feel they're looking at the past. A past based on anger, division, distortion and selfishness. That bodes well for our country's future and, likewise, our world.

We arrived at the Obama campaign office to find crowds of people signing up for the day's work. This was just one of many offices in and around Philadelphia and throughout the state.

This campaign worker had the presidential race all buttoned up.


Checking out the campaign packets before training.

Mark Dowd, the regional coordinator, trained us. He gave us instructions for the work we'd be doing for the rest of the day.

One of many New Yorkers who came down to Northeast Philadelphia for the Saturday before Election Day.

We came to Philadelphia on the urging of my friend Diane who had been there several times before and who has been working the phone banks up in New York as well. We drove down in two cars, leaving New York around 7:00 a.m. After training by a campaign worker, we drove to our assigned neighborhood and, following the lists supplied in our packet, knocked on the doors of identified Obama supporters. The idea at this late date was to get out the vote on the coming Tuesday. Many people were not home on a Saturday morning - out, I suppose, doing their family chores of shopping and schlepping. But those we did speak to were friendly and receptive. Most stated their intention to vote for Obama. Some wanted their privacy and didn't want to share their choice with strangers at their door. One heavily tattooed man, working on his car in his garage, told me he had had it with Bush and would never vote Republican again. It was an exciting day of meeting different folk with whom we normally do not rub elbows. That was an education indeed and one I highly recommend.

Lunch was at one o'clock at a neighborhood institution, the Mayfair Diner. Just why it was an institution we couldn't really figure out. The food was mediocre (although very inexpensive). But right across Frankford Avenue was a Philadelphia pretzel factory (the city is famous for its soft, twisted pretzels which one slathers with spicy mustard - a non-nutritious but very enjoyable treat). We had several for dessert.

In the afternoon, we headed out again. In the morning, if no one was home, the canvasser would check off "1st pass." So the afternoon campaigners would hit those addresses again for a second attempt at talking to someone at that address. We were impressed at the very high level of organization in evidence. Sometimes, it seemed, they were over-organized. The morning's route had us covering the same addresses as a team of AFT/UFT (the teachers union) campaigners who we met on our streets. But the feeling of camaraderie and good cheer was high as we exchanged chit-chat with the teachers, gathering on the lovely tree-lined streets of our assigned neighborhood.

Jane and Stacey knocking on doors. Our job today was to visit known Obama supporters to guarantee they vote on the coming Tuesday.

The campaign office was located in the Mayfair neighborhood of NE Philly. This famous old diner took the name of the neighborhood. Famous it was, but great, um, not.

Our friend Jane perusing the lunch menu at the Mayfair Diner.

Across from the diner was a pretzel outlet. We had some of those great Philadelphia pretzels, topped with spicy brown mustard. Yum!

Pretzels for dessert after a disappointing lunch at the Mayfair Diner.

After a day's work of knocking on doors in Northeast Philly, we returned to the office with our clipboards and lists. These young people were hanging out on the sidewalk shmoozing.

Driving back to New York through the Holland tunnel.

We headed back to New York Saturday night, tired but excited by the days' work. We were looking forward to dancing in the streets on Tuesday night (keeping our fingers crossed and having faith in the American people to do the right thing). We'd been boosted in our belief that next Tuesday was momentous and would be seen as one of the most important dates in our country's history. Halevai!