Happy Day!

Julie got here this morning to spend a few days helping canvass, phone bank, enter data, whatever the campaign needs. And hang out with me and help me be less whiny. It's working already!

She flew into Omaha, Nebraska, rented a car, was here in Denison by 11:30 this morning, and didn't hit any deer on the way. (When I requested a state bordering Illinois, I didn't necessary think about the fact that it would also border another, much further away state!)

We headed to my home-away-from home, Onawa, in Monona County. Julie drove, as my car looks a little the worse for wear and still has little Bambi tufts sticking out of the hood. It drives fine, but I may take it in to a mechanic in the morning. (Random unrelated recollection, a few days ago I was talking to a dad who had his 10 and 12 year old sons with him. He suddenly looked over my shoulder and yelled "Prius!" Then he explained that he and his boys play "Prius" instead of "Slug-a-Bug". People watch me getting out of the car and walking up to houses, but I just figured it was because I was a stranger. Now I realize that the car is unusual around here.)

So, Julie and I decided to to do our walk packet together, instead of splitting up, since I knew we could finish it an a couple of hours and we only had one packet to do. As soon as we got out of the car at the first house, the first thing she did was set off the car alarm! For some reason, this struck us as so hilarious that we couldn't stop laughing. I was basically doubled over. As I read this over, I see that evidently you had to be there. But it was actually a great start to the door knocking, and we definitely had a good day, so the mood stayed.

We encountered a number of strong Obama supporters, several of whom agreed to let us put out lawn signs. A couple of people seem likely volunteers for the GOTV next weekend, which is a real boon - Marlene is a bit demoralized about how few local volunteers we have for Monona County.

But rural areas are hard. It's not just that this is a heavily Republican area so there aren't so many Democrats. It's that in a small town being overt about your politics is harder. There's not just no anonymity, but business and family relations are so intertwined. Two different guys in the construction industry have told me that they thought they would lose business if they advertised that they supported Obama. The one I talked to yesterday, who has his own company, told me he lost a $10,000 job when the client found out he was for Obama. And a lot of people here seem to feel strongly that the ballot is secret, and that talking about political affiliations is akin to bad manners. Of course, I've only been here a week, so I don't have a way to judge whether they just don't want to tell ME! Anyway, it makes it harder to get volunteers, I think.

 Julie and I giggled our way through the day, but when I asked her just now to remind me of some of the stories, neither of us could remember any. Random things strike us as funny and we can't stop laughing. But one great experience was right at the end of the day. We were at Ken's house (the county democratic chair) getting some extra yard signs for Christie Vilsack (running against King) that a couple of voters had requested. Turns out that the yard sign had disappeared from the house of someone he knew (if you're reading this, Ken, nothing nefarious, it just blew off - Julie and I put in a new one and anchored it with the metal holder from the first sign) and so we were going to bring a new one over. Ken looks at Julie's car, says, "oh, what the heck, it's a rental," and sends us across his lawn, over to the edge of the bordering farm, along what seemed to be a neighbor's yard, and then onto a gravel road paralleling the railroad tracks for about three miles, until it turned into a surfaced road that led right to his friend's house. Fairly mild as off-roading goes, but still not what I encounter in Chicago!

Bedtime. We have a meeting at the office tomorrow morning to be trained in the "ballot chase."