And so it was that Rav and I found ourselves stood at Jimmie B. Keel Public Library, one of the larger early voting locations. Our role was to offer voters arriving at the polls a copy of the Democratic ‘slate’ (list of candidate and amendment recommendations). At any one time there were generally between 4 and 10 Obama supporters running a table with Obama campaign leaflets, stickers etc. By contrast, McCain supporters were comparatively thin on the ground. Their main representative was a woman who stood right on the perimeter of the 100 foot exclusion zone with a sign consisting of the McCain-Palin logo with some handwritten additions of extra pieces of card, all loosely taped together and flapping in the breeze. These invoked what she described as Obama’s ‘dangerous connections’ and ‘terrorist ties’, and implied he is a ‘Marxist’ (because apparently Obama’s plans to restore tax rates to pre-Bush levels are indicative of a commitment to Communist ideology). Her incessant refrain was: ‘John McCain – the true American hero. The only hero on the ticket!’ (She meant ballot, I think, unless she wished to emphasise Gov. Palin’s own lack of military experience.)
Being a polite individual and being stationed next to her to distribute our slates, I decided to be friendly and start a conversation. She asked where my accent was from and I told her. She then accused me of showing ‘disrespect’ to John McCain, just by being here. I assured her that I had great respect for Senator McCain’s past achievements and especially his sacrifices during his military career but that I disagreed with him about important issues about the future of America and the world. She then said she would never ‘interfere in your country’s election’. Later in this exchange, it transpired that she’s done missionary work abroad. So it’s OK to ‘interfere’ in another country’s religious affairs, it’s just politics that’s off-limits.
Under the Constitutional amendments, there’s one that both sides are campaigning hard on. Amendment 2, if passed, will define marriage as being between a man and a woman. This was put on the ballot by religious fundamentalists, and is primarily a way of ensuring the Republican base come out to vote (gay marriage is already illegal in this state). The implications of this are that unmarried couples will lose access to shared benefits such as health insurance and pensions.
When we were finished at the polling station, Rav and I headed over to a meeting of the North West Hillsborough Democratic Party, where Susan had invited us both to speak. There were 5 new members, who Susan had recruited earlier in the day at the polling station. Everyone was really pumped up and excited, but also rather tired as it’s been a long campaign.
Rav and I had decided that we’d have a go at emulating the American style of public speaking, which I’ve referred to in an earlier posting. Rav spoke first, about the shared values of the Labour and Democratic Parties, and especially about healthcare. I then talked about the historic connections between Britain and America, and why we’d come to support Barack Obama’s campaign for change. We’ll try and post video and transcripts of the speeches a bit later.
Following our speeches, the members asked questions and we had a long conversation about the socio-political differences and similarities between Britain and America. It was clear that they’d found the evening very interesting, and we gained a lot from it too. It was a great experience and we went back to our hotel tired but happy.
Then we had a few technical problems that meant we were unable to post but we continued to write entries to post later...................
Being a polite individual and being stationed next to her to distribute our slates, I decided to be friendly and start a conversation. She asked where my accent was from and I told her. She then accused me of showing ‘disrespect’ to John McCain, just by being here. I assured her that I had great respect for Senator McCain’s past achievements and especially his sacrifices during his military career but that I disagreed with him about important issues about the future of America and the world. She then said she would never ‘interfere in your country’s election’. Later in this exchange, it transpired that she’s done missionary work abroad. So it’s OK to ‘interfere’ in another country’s religious affairs, it’s just politics that’s off-limits.
Under the Constitutional amendments, there’s one that both sides are campaigning hard on. Amendment 2, if passed, will define marriage as being between a man and a woman. This was put on the ballot by religious fundamentalists, and is primarily a way of ensuring the Republican base come out to vote (gay marriage is already illegal in this state). The implications of this are that unmarried couples will lose access to shared benefits such as health insurance and pensions.
When we were finished at the polling station, Rav and I headed over to a meeting of the North West Hillsborough Democratic Party, where Susan had invited us both to speak. There were 5 new members, who Susan had recruited earlier in the day at the polling station. Everyone was really pumped up and excited, but also rather tired as it’s been a long campaign.Rav and I had decided that we’d have a go at emulating the American style of public speaking, which I’ve referred to in an earlier posting. Rav spoke first, about the shared values of the Labour and Democratic Parties, and especially about healthcare. I then talked about the historic connections between Britain and America, and why we’d come to support Barack Obama’s campaign for change. We’ll try and post video and transcripts of the speeches a bit later.
Following our speeches, the members asked questions and we had a long conversation about the socio-political differences and similarities between Britain and America. It was clear that they’d found the evening very interesting, and we gained a lot from it too. It was a great experience and we went back to our hotel tired but happy.
Then we had a few technical problems that meant we were unable to post but we continued to write entries to post later...................
No comments:
Post a Comment