Opposition research

In the field, if you come across a guy with orange socks and multi-colored hair it's not a Halloween child, it's an Obama supporter! This friggin fruitcake was out dropping info, looking like rainbow brite. Wow, this guy obviously wants to be laughed at and not taken seriously. Stay on the look out!

Ground Warfare

Day - two. On the trail, DD coffee and a bunch of flyers. Just finished one section done already. In the car heading back to HQ. Keep you updated.

Day Two - 'Responsibility'

Good Morning,

I just need to say that this sleeping in stuff is great! The sun is actually up before we leave to get to campaign HQ and that is not something I have gotten used to recently.

Today we have some more walking to do in the morning and then we are going to be thrust into positions of responsibility. Project Joshua (I think that's the name of it) is sending 60 volunteers to help out starting today at 12:00 and we are going to be helping to organize the chaos. Jamie (campaign manager) has asked us to pair up with people from his staff to take leadership positions with small groups of volunteers. Each of us will help shepherd a group of about 6 volunteers around in a rented van all the way through the election. These are mostly kids and some parents from a home-schooling program in Alabama so this could be interesting.

We will be sure to update you!

First day

OK, one down but a week is gonna be interesting. Stay tuned, gonna be fun. Nate did a great job yelling at us from the "CAR" to HURRY UP! Ya, all day, to his credit based on the position of the sun and the winter solstice coming up, he knew where we were going. By the way Lisa is a COMMANDO/ STORM TROOPER- she keeps moving non-stop! Got to give a shout, you know who you are ladies nails, wow, looking good. Prim and proper! By the way Jarrett is quick and nimble like a 6'2 Clemson sprite, but still makes the trip more fun than it would be. Ohio, we got you covered.

Verbatim of the Day

Nice guy who flaggged me over when dropping info on the other side of the street(Bald by the way). "I don't know who he is trying to fool with that ridiculous comb over, seriously! Don't get me wrong he's got my vote, but it is the only thing I don't like about him. You work for him, tell him to get with it!" I mentioned that the reverse "mohawk" is in these days. He agreed!

1 down, 5 to go

Well, day 1 is over. I'm tired.

(I'm tempted to end the post right there, but I figure the guy who paid for me to come out here wouldn't like that. So I continue).


After enjoying a nice continental breakfast/chat with a lovely elderly couple, I meet up with the rest of the group and we head to the Chabot headquarters. (Side note: Nathan's little plan to scare me did not go as he had planned.)


We get to the campaign headquarters, and it resembles everything that any movie which invokes politics and campaigning suggests it should (Man of the Year, Primary Colors, Dave, Swing Vote, Definitely Maybe...yep, I have seen the last one... -10 guy points). We meet with a few people and then head out to drop fliers off at specific houses. After Father Time figures out how to get to the precinct we are going to, we head off and get to work.

We drop fliers at 700* houses today, spending about 8 total hours doing so (there is a morning run, back to the HQ for lunch, and then an afternoon run). For the most part it goes well and without incident, but I have a few encounters worth mentioning.

(*Rough estimate-author not so great with numbers)

As I am starting to get the hang of what we are doing in the morning run (walk up to house, put flier in door/under doormat, turn, walk away from house. Repeat.), I walk up to a house that has the main door open but screen door closed. As I am leaning over to put one of the fliers under the doormat, I am startled by a thunderous bark. I look up to find myself looking into the face of a not-so-welcoming German Sheppard. Not trusting the screen door, I find out just how fast I am. Usain Bolt has nothing on me.


In the afternoon, an elderly lady comes out to greet me as I am going up to her house. We strike up a conversation and she invites me in for some hot cocoa she has just made. I almost say yes, but realize I have 50 more fliers in my hand, and Lisa "the dictator" Valentine will not approve of this. So I move on.


Later in the afternoon, yet another elderly lady strikes up a conversation with me. As we are talking (she tells me she thinks John McCain will make a wonderful President, and "that Palin...well anyone who tries to say you have no experience after popping out 5 kids clearly has no idea what they are talking about...plus she hunts!" Yep, I love this lady), her husband wanders out. He is sporting calf high tube socks, mid thigh high shorts, a white t-shirt, and bed head at 4 pm in the afternoon. This is the guy I hope to be after I retire one day in the distant future. He is mumbling about something, notices me, and asks "well who the hell is this?" The lady tells her husband I am volunteering for Chabot's campaign, and that I am "just so polite and pleasant to talk to" (POS'ers, you know it's true). So after my exchanges today I've concluded that should I ever decide to run for office in Ohio, I've pretty much got the +65/female vote locked up. Fantastic.

We finish up with the afternoon precincts and head back to the campaign headquarters, thinking they will have more for us to do. They tell us to go home, and who are we to argue? So we're now back at the hotel and getting ready to head to bed. More to come tomorrow.

On the trail!

200 more votes for Chabot, count-em! Ground game is in full swing. Back at headquarters fueling up! Action picks soon to come!

Well, Nathan is off to go harass Jarrett and it is my turn to blog.

Last night after the Phillies game, I started going through the local channels and I have probably already seen 25-30 political ads. Mostly negative and a few contrast, so it looks like the campaigns up here are doing something right. It will be interesting going door-to-door today for lit drops, because Ohioans in this area are getting blasted with tv and radio for every office and I am sure are sick of it. And Kentucky ads too apparently, since we have seen some for McConnell.

All right, nothing else too exciting to post. Though I am sure batman and robin will do something today that will be noteworthy.

Fun times

When we went to bed last night we figured we should get to campaign headquarters around 9:00 am, leaving the hotel at 8:30. We learned this morning that they don't need us there until 10:00 but Jarrett doesn't know yet since we have let him sleep in due to the circumstances. But that is all about to change when I run into the hotel room screaming that we're going to be late on our first day!

I'll let you know how it goes.

Mariah sang beautifully as always. Nathan "father time" Klein refused to use modern technology, and instead relied on maps and sticking his finger out of the window. He is currently trying to blog with a chisel and piece of granite.

We just finished dinner and we are sitting in one of the rooms watching the World Series (yes we are pulling for the Phillies grandpa Ruch).

We are heading over to the Chabot headquarters at 9 tomorrow morning. This of course means we get to "sleep in." Other than Lisa, this is a new experience to us. So we're excited to see what happens. It will be a new experience to see a campaign from this point of view.

Well, the Phillies just won it all...Jeremy may or may not be into work tomorrow.

Alright, I'm off to bed. We'll try and have something up mid-day tomorrow. Pictures to come in the next post.

*Special thanks to Becky, who helped Lisa out big time today!

Gearing -up!

Recap: Nate drove, Lisa navigated, Jarret operated the tunes(Hey, in his defense Mariah Carey is catchy). Great start - to a great week!

On the road!

65 miles out side of Columbus on the road and going strong!

Knighted

I hereby knight this blog and declare it open for business.

Test

Test post.