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Edited on Mon Nov-19-07 03:02 AM by asdjrocky
Hi all of you smart, hard working Edwards supporters! This is long, long, long. And without pictures. (I'll be posting those tomorrow.) Sorry if this is all a bit "wide eyed". but that's how I feel right now. I just thought I'd write this here, instead of my privet journal, and share my experience with all of you.
Just got back to Sac from my two day Reno odyssey. What a trip!
The four of us, Zak, a staffer for a Ca Assembly man and our organizer, Matt, Dan and me left Sac at 8 am and we were call banking for Edwards by 10:30, talking to the great people of Reno and the surrounding areas, encouraging them to attend the town hall meeting at Hug High School. That alone was inspiring, there were so many people willing to talk and ask questions, and even take a look at the alliterative to the candidate the MSM is shoving down our throats. The headquarters was alive with smart, young, determined staffers and volunteers. The was John, a staffer with more than twenty years of experience working campaigns all over the country. He could could quote poll numbers the way a good preacher can quote scripture. Scruffy and sure John was, and he was sure the next POTUS would go by the name Edwards. Carter was a North Carolina boy, young and good looking with a full auburn beard, friendly and well spoken with a soft, slight southern drawl. His y'alls made all of us feel right at home. Oliver, the ever busy Oliver. The Nevada state Campaign Director, was quiet calm, well organized and always ready with more work for his eager volunteers. Leeam, (I'm sure I misspelled his name) and Beth, both staffers who I never saw stop working. I never saw them rest, I never saw them stop moving steadfastly toward the goal of making sure John Edwards was our next President. There were countless volunteers in and out of the place. What energy! Sandra, Kathy, Alesa, Yanica (another misspelling I'm sure) and so many others.
They canvassed as we phone banked, they tabled as others canvassed, they phone banked as we stuffed envelopes, took out the garbage, set up tables, whatever we could do to help. All of us working, all of us together, all of us doing everything that we can do to make America a better, more decent county, and the world a better place.
On that first day there it was nearly six before I realized I had eaten nothing for the whole day. But there was no hunger in my gut, my hunger was one of spirit. A hunger to make this happen. Next thing I know, there's a table full of food, lasagna, roast beef sandwiches, three kinds of salad. We ate. We talked. We shared in something special sitting there on old couches, in beat up chairs, or on the floor. We talked of great books, bad leaders, amazing men and women of our history, it was never dull. Carter held forth on college football. Dave, a brand new staffer that had started just that day, joked of the horror of growing up a Dem in Utah and made us laugh until we cried. But this was just a break, and a short one. We went back to work, we had a President to elect.
We were at Reno HQ, that's campaign talk by the way, until well past nine o'clock. Oliver rounded us up and thanked everyone, giving more hope with each word. Carter, standing on a chair as I've found he likes to do, outlined the job assignments for the next day and we started piling into cars headed for the Edwards supporters that had opened their homes for weary travelers.
Alisa and I stated with a lovely woman named Gayle, a retired spanish teacher with a wonderful and beautiful spirit, and a cozy home with a comfortable bed and an amazing collection of some very good books. A warm and comfortable bed for a complete and total stranger. A TV to watch for someone she had never met. A hot shower, for someones name she barley knew. A cup of hot coffee, and great conversation for the two sleepy eyed volunteers. She even offered breakfast, can you believe that?, but my stomach was far to nervous to eat. Today was the day.
We were at Hug High -please don't ask me who Hug is and why he has a school named after him, there was a plaque but I never took the time to read it- by 8:30 in the morning. The air was Nevada crisp and the sun was starting to shine. We moved six hundred chairs out of a U-hall van and set them up in the cafeteria. We set up risers, the sound system, papered the school with placards and banners, set up tables for voter registration, campaign informant ion, buttons, light bulbs we were giving away for the environment, t-shirts, you name it, it was there. By noon, I realized I was starving and took a quick walk to a fast food place near by, but I couldn't stop, even while I sat there and wolfed down a burger, I talked to total strangers about the John Edwards Town Hall meeting, "just around the corner, and starting in less than an hour." I'm certain they all thought me some kind of loon. When I got back there was still work to do. Cables needed to be gaffed, banners were falling down from the wind, fans -good God it was so hot in there because the heat was stuck in the on position- needed to be set up and powered. I found myself on the roof taping down banners, on my knees taping speaker, and mic cables, taping, taping, taping. I found there is a lot of taping involved in a town hall meeting. Someone noticed I had a pretty good gash on my finger before I even felt it and I didn't care, there was blood on my favorite blue button up, and it didn't matter to me.
I smiled at Kathy, looking quite like a wide eyed lunatic, without a doubt, "I'm bleeding for Edwards!" And she hugged me. There in the middle of that stuffy school cafeteria. I rinsed my finger off in the boys restroom and wrapped a paper towel around it. No time to stop, more work to do. At one point I walked up to John, a fella I had truly come to like a great deal in the short time we'd had together, and proclaimed: "We're making sure here, that John Edwards is our next President."
He didn't pause, and looked at me with grit in his eye, "You better fucking believe it," was his answer, "I don't have a doubt in my mind." And I knew he didn't.
None of did.
It was happening today in Reno, and we were making it happen.
I had to be called in, from outside where I was still working, when John arrived. John. John Edwards. The next President of these United States.
The room was packed. There were 600 chairs, and people standing everywhere. I was told it was about 700 in all, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, in a stifling hot high school, cafeteria. I looked around at all the regular, hard working Americans in that room. Young, old, African American, Hispanic, Asians... all Americans. Union, non-union, teachers, carpenters, teamsters, restaurant workers, steel workers, forgotten Americans in many ways. All looking to one candidate to tell them the truth, to teach them how to hope again, to show them, no US, how bright and true America can be. I looked around at them all, and I knew some of those people were there because they got a phone call from me, just some guy who needs to dream again, and I have to tell ya, it really choked me up a bit.
I won't speak of his words here in great detail. We booed the Bush administration, we cheered, a standing ovation actually when he said he would take the health care away from Congress and his even his cabinet if we did not have Universal Care by July 09, we laughed when he said No Child Left Behind reminded him of an old country saying, "You can't make a pig heavier by weighing it." No to a border fence, yes to a path to citizenship. Yes to immigrants speaking english as part of that path. He spoke of his plan for Iraq. He talked of Iran, and how to engage them. He answered questions. He told the truth.
Four standing ovations. And a roomful of dedicated Nevadians, now caucusing for our guy. John Edwards. I was inspired, moved, and totally certain I was looking at the next President.
He shook an endless line of hands, posed for pictures, touched and talked to many. Yes, I now have a picture of myself with the great American that is John Edwards. We even spoke briefly and he autographed a placard for my 17 year old daughters government class, stopping when I told him what it was for, and asking the teachers name, and of course, taking the extra time to add: To Mr. Peters. Wow.
Then it was over. The crowds were gone. We were left with a room to clean up, chairs to put away and banners and placards to take down. We were all high on IT. We all together, in the words of Dean Moriarty, knew what IT was. We were in IT. The work felt like nothing, the chairs were feathers, the risers, balls of cotton. I could not wipe the smile from my face, and writing this now, hours later, I still can't. We, us busy bees for Democracy, for a new America, our eyes would catch each others as we worked, and we all knew IT. We all absolutely, positively knew. We were proud of what we were doing. We were fierce fighters for a new way. And we had found IT in one man, John Edwards, but we also found IT in ourselves. In our hearts. We had IT. If you've had IT you know. If you haven't, then you must get IT. See this man. Work with these people. When you do, oh, and I mean oh man of loving' man, you will get IT.
But it wasn't all over. After everyone was gone, but the staffers and volunteers, once almost everything was cleaned up or put away, a mummer passed through us. A new excitement filled our hearts. John Edwards was still there, and he would see our small group, just before he was to leave again. We sat outside, sitting and whispering excitedly as he made phone calls. And then he came out into the sunshine and we applauded. He took a few more minutes to say hi and thank us all, more autographs, more pictures. As he left we cheered him.
"Go get 'em John!" We yelled.
"Just win John!"
Then he was gone.
We finished up. New friends. New fighters together for one cause. The people that had IT.
On the way back to Sacramento, we stopped and had a great dinner, the four of us, Zak, Matt, Dan and me. Now all good, true friends. And now we're gonna bring IT to California.
This won't be an easy fight people. This will be a long and hard fight. This will be the very battle for the future of this country. Don't shrink away, never tire. Never give up. And if you don't have IT yet, I'll tell you now, get off of your fucking asses and go get IT.
That's all I got.
Get your America back, vote Edwards.
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