old fogies for barack

[mopinko]

i have an interesting day in davenport iowa yesterday. (not all good either- my new iphone crapped out just as i was going to collect my canvassers! oy!)
a lot of the voters that i and other canvassers have talked to say that they are undecided. mostly, i do not think they are actually "undecided". in some cases, it means- i am not going to tell you what i really think about your candidate. go away.
in many cases i think what it really means is- i know mc same will be a disaster. i wish i didn't have to vote for your guy, even though i know i have no choice.
the latter are the ones that you can engage in conversation. mostly, i think they need something to make them feel a little more comfortable about what they know they must do. i think most of them will vote barack in the end. but in the meantime, they are nervous, and a little unhappy.

i ran into 2 such voters yesterday. a woman, (aged about 60) was on my poll sheet as a "sporadic democrat". her husband answered the door. he invited me in. i accepted this invitation. as we waited for his wife to come in from the other room, i asked if he was registered. he was not on my list. he said not only was he registered, he had been an election worker. but he said that he was a registered independent, but had mostly voted republican. hence, not on my list.
i asked how they felt about barack. their answer was mostly- we are in a mess. we need to do something completely different. so we chatted a little about the mess we were in. i pointed out that not only did barack read books, unlike dimson, he had actually written 2. they had not read them, and i urged them to do so. they nodded to this. yes, maybe they would.
i pointed out that he was a constitutional scholar, and a scholar of any sort in the white house would be a nice change. i got a little eye rolling ascent to this. the husband had to say that he made him think about jfk.
we all agreed that the federal government was in a meltdown, and they agreed with me that when we don't even pick up the dead bodies in the street after a hurricane, we do not have a functioning government.
at the end of our very pleasant chat i chided "you know you are not going to pull that lever for john mc cain", they both gave my wistful nods.

now, here is my point. i think that my visit helped these 2 over some of the uncertainty about who they were voting for. part of the reason, i think, especially part of the reason that they invited me in- i am 54, with very white hair, a little pear shaped, and although they were a little older than me, we are basically the same generation.
i love all the "kids" that are a part of this campaign. i do. but they would not have invited any of the other canvassers i was with that day in in the first place. us old fogies have to get out there and talk to the other old fogies. they are a demographic group that we are having trouble getting, and i do think we can reach them. i know that i connected with these people. i know they would not have stayed home. i know they would not have voted for gramps. but i also know that i changed the conversations that they were gonna have with THEIR old fogey friends in the next <100 days.

this campaign really needs us aging boomers to dump our cynicism, and get out there. WE can make a difference.

i think i will whip out an "old fogies for barack" button.

[Breeze54]

1. Don't you mean, "fogies'? -- ' foggies' would be low lying clouds...

:P

[mopinko]

9. damn schpeilcheck.

thanks.

[graywarrior]

2. I start this week with the Obama people who just set up office in my town

[Frustratedlady]

6. I will be working ours, too. Had to stop for some other business, but

I hope to get back on a regular basis. Good kids at our office.

Oh, and I'm one of those old fogies! Go Obama! :bounce:

[Bluzmann57]

3. You were in Davenport, IA yesterday?

I live in Davenport, IA. Although I was at work yesterday and therefore not home. Anyway, glad you had such a nice conversation with that couple. Incidentally, my "old fogie" parents, aged 78 and 75 caucused for Obama from the start. I guess the oldsters have wisdom which comes with age.

[mopinko]

11. you know, i meant drop you a note.

it was a drive in, drive out thing, so i knew i wouldn't have a lot of time. if i come back, i will be sure to let you know. it is a damned long drive, tho, and i am wasted today. i would really rather stay over and spend more time knocking doors and less time driving.
although when you drive this-


you are always campaigning.

more pics


there were over 100 people who drove all the way from chicago to canvass yesterday.

[mucifer]

4. Great post Mo!

[mopinko]

12. we missed you, muic.

gonna go again?

[mucifer]

15. yeah I need to do that. Tho this month is bad. Working lots of weekends.

But, I am proud to say I have traveled in the Momobile. It is fun. And in the back there is a huge sign that says honk if you want to impeach bush. So things can get noisey at times, but in a good way.

[mopinko]

16. gotta lot of honks, and 2 middle fingers. which makes my day.

aggravated a couple of people, who are probably still grumbling. yeah!

[Frustratedlady]

5. Because of the long siege of the primaries, I think Iowans are just accustomed...

to holding of committing their votes until the end. Deep down, they know who they are voting for, but just in case something rears its ugly head and all but disqualifies a candidate, they will hold off.

At least they study the field closely and take their votes pretty seriously. Now, if we can just make sure the one we voted for is actually the way the vote was counted. That's my fear...not so much for Iowa, but other states.

[gateley]

7. I agree with your assessment.

Sounds like you did GOOD!

A new DUer had a great suggestion - to get some 'sound bite' type points out there regarding taxes, for example. Instead of saying "McCain's "tax cuts" favor only the wealthiest 10% of our citizens", say, "With Obama's tax plan, 90% of us will receive tax cuts."

May be very simple and obvious, but I thought it was brilliant, so thought I'd pass it along for your next meeting with the old fogies.

Keep it up, and thanks for sharing the story! :hi:

[gblady]

8. I'm checking out....

the local office that was set up in my small town in WA. today...
they are having a get out the vote Birthday celebration for Barack today...

[DFLforever]

10. That's an encouraging report

Overcoming 'uncertainty' is a key to voting for Obama for a lot of people, especially the older ones.

I'm older than you are and will be doing some similar persuasion, targeting seniors in my area.

[zanne]

13. Old fogies relate to each other on the phone, too!

When I'm phonebanking and I know that the voter is around my age, I can refer to historical events and they'll understand; especially the JFK events. I remind them that JFK was not elected by a wide margin and that alot of people thought he was too "risky", being a Catholic and quite young. Then they say "Oh, that's right; now I remember".

Sometimes being an old fogie has its perks.

[mopinko]

14. good points

yeah, fogiedom has it's rewards.
i haven't done much phone stuff. i love the doors. i love the handshakes. and most of all, i need the walks. the long drives, otoh.......

[Kittycat]

17. Hey Mo - I missed you there..

I was in Davenport as well, along with 3 other people from the Oswego Area. I'm so glad you went, and what an excellent point you made about relating with people your own age (and/or gender).

Lucky you to have "sporadic dems"... I had nearly 100% "persuasion" on my list of 118 names - AKA, I'm an independent that has probably voted Republican since the dawn of creation. Good response though, only one rude person, and a few McCain supporters (19 Obama supporters from the open). I tried to find a way to chat with some, especially those with skiddish dogs, because I think their dog made them uneasy and gave them the feeling like they had to hurry up. I'd bend down to pet the dog if I thought it was friendly enough, and compliment them on how cute he/she was - anything really to make them more comfortable. I love flowers and gardening - so I found that to be a great talking point with a few women, etc. Most of them were unknowns, but they were very nice and almost appreciative that I took a little interest in them instead of just showing up trying to push my Obama brochure on to them.

I figured if they had a chance to meet and talk with everyday people, that actually related to them and wanted to listen to them - then that would give them the chance to open up a bit and share stories that might help them identify with Obama as well. Most did - issues with gas/grocery prices, health care and jobs were on the forefront. The priority depended mostly on age, I noticed - but some where hit really hard right now. One woman hadn't had a raise in 10 years. She's making $12.50/hour, and retires in 3 years. Her husband (whom I also met) is on disability, they have no savings, and their car just broke down. It's hard even gathering the words together to try and support them.

I also had a great conversation with someone that had voted republican since Reagan. He reminded me so much of my grandpa before he got sick (he's now 80). Long Haul trucker, early stages of emphysema, loves traveling around and camping with his wife. He's 61 now, and trying to keep working until he's 65 so that he can get his full pension and not lose his health care. Great guy, has a bunch of little grandkids. Said that he was "supporting that Obama Guy" this time around. I shook his hand, and then gave him a big hug - told him that I'll keep him in my thoughts, and tried to give him a little hope. It was really hard talking to this guy, understanding what is facing him in the coming years. It's like I turned the clock back 17 years and was standing there talking to my grandpa. I'll never forget that guy.

I have to say overall it was an excellent trip. I'm looking forward to doing another one :)

[mopinko]

18. damn, i forgot you were going.

that's what happens when you get me out of bed at 6am. not my usual.

funny about the dog. that was part of how i got invited in- by laughing at the idea that i was going to be eaten by the shit zu. anyone who is a afraid of dogs operates at a real disadvantage. i love dogs, and i speak fluent dog. when someone's dog likes you, it is a lot easier for them to trust you. and they pretty much all like me.

well, see you next week.

[Kittycat]

20. How many people do you think were there?

We got in around 10:45AM, and there was a full group training. We were in the next group (full & overflowing), then there was a third group (also full). I'm not sure if there was a complete 4th group training, but people were still signing in when I left, and while the 3rd group was starting.

[mopinko]

22. i was told 100.

and i don't know if they were counting you guys as "chicago" people. i know there was a lot of empty pizza boxes.

[Cha]

19. What a sweet "ol fogie" you are..and 10

years younger than I am.:P

People do like to have a rapport of some kind with campaign folks they invite into their home and you've find your niche, mopinko!

[mopinko]

24. hi zidzi

:hi:

:hug: to you sweetie.

[DemocracyInaction]

21. Hi darling

I'm a 64 year old foggie---I'm having trouble with fucking yuppie 30-something-year-olds not my friends!!!! These yuppies have made it. They keep telling me to "get over it because our country is entirely too racist to ever elect a minority", blah, blah and then take me to some yuppie brew pub where they are all sitting around pissing on Obama. Obama is a joke to them. McCain will save their investments. McCain will take away FINALLY this ss and medicare crap that is such a burden for them to pay for, blah, blah. So before everyone thinks that "the young" are in the bag, you better take a stiff drink. And you better get over the crap that "all the old are for McCain"---Obama needs to keep trotting around telling the "elderly" that he's for no income taxes on the elderly making under $50,000 and he will roller skate into the Oval Office.

[mopinko]

23. hey there. watch what you say about brew pubs!

i know my post is an oversimplification. but it has been my experience that many people my age and older are having a bad reaction to obama. they have swallowed all the fear of the last 8 years, and they are staring at a retirement that is not what they thought it would be.
but my point was really about getting in the door. about getting that moment of trust that can turn into a conversation.

sadly, i must agree a little about brewpubs. in my experience, minority patrons are scarce. and you have to have some money to go there, as they are a little spendy. but, also in my experience, they are populated by (and run by) pretty down to earth folks. i have met many friends in the ones that i frequent.

[mopinko]

25. kicking just for the hell of it.

don't think you can recommend this anymore, but i thought i would give it one more kick to see if it floats around gd-p for a while.

[Adelante]

26. I'll help another old fogie for Obama

:kick:

[mopinko]

29. thanks.

[L0oniX]

27. Bucket list: vote for Obama

[mopinko]

28. no no, not vote

get out there and knock on doors.

[watercolors]

30. Believe me, a lot of us old fogies here in Fl

I talk to them every day at the gym, I'm thinking Fl just might go Blue this year! Only have seen i mcsame sticker and many Obama signs.

[mopinko]

31. good on you.

i think the fogies are right for the tipping. i have heard more than a couple say- it is time for something completely different. they just need to see that others of their kind have also flipped.