It was another beautiful autumn day with lots of people from all over the globe walking along and choosing from all kinds of locally grown, baked, crafted and political flavors. The Obama table is one feature to many at what the New York Times mentioned "The Dane County Farmers' Market in Wisconsin is now recognized as the largest in the nation, and is still growing."
The night before the tabling, I made sure the weekly war scorecard was updated and very visible. I would assume that the candidates who voted for Bush's war are well aware of the results of their "experienced" decision. With the recent vote by Clinton to give Bush a green light to invade Iran, I only see this tragedy getting worse.
Here's this week's sad news:
Weekly War ScorecardCost of Iraq Occupation:(running total):
$455,793,673,692
American Deaths:3,802
American Wounded:27,936
Iraqi Body Count:74,339 (Min) 81,025 (Max)
As of September 29, 2007 at 12:00AM
Sources:
www.iraqbodycount.net
www.defenselink.mil
www.antiwar.com/casualties
www.costofwar.com
The day started off with a steady stream of people interested in seeing what was going on at the Obama table this week. Thanks to some fans, we had plenty of new bumperstickers ready to give away. The new large sign, which made its debut last weekend, made it very visible from a block or two away, due to being on top of the steps at the Capitol.
There was great news that Barack Obama was coming to Madison on October 15th, just a couple blocks away from the Obama table, at the Orpheum Theater. To get more info:
https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/C2Cmadison. The event is filling up so fast that the venue may be changed to a much larger location. That's still in the works. We handed out info to many very interested in the event, which I hope to videotape and share when it's all done. I had heard that 400 tickets were sold on the first day of the announcement and that with the venue holding about 2,000 seats, it could sell out by the weekend.
What made today very special for me was when DU's very own :hi:
illinoisprogressive and friend came by the table. What an absolutely wonderful person to see outside of a web browser and what a great conversation was had about the issues, the campaign and the possibility of having a fellow Madisonite nearby! That was very cool! We gave each other a big hug and they ventured off into the ever growing crowd to savor Madison's many offerings on a gorgeous day.
Aside from the DU connection in the real world, there were a lot of fantastic people that came by to chat, sign up for emails or return again (there were many) to grab a few more bumperstickers and such. People's eyes light up when they see a choice of either white or blue bumperstickers. The blue version is very popular.
Since Michigan State was playing the UW Badgers in football, there was quite a lot of Michigan folks that stopped by to see what was going on. We talked about the Michigan primary/caucus that was possibly moving up in dates to the chagrin of the Democratic Party. Still, despite the indefiniteness of the primary, there was still great interest from people to sign up and grab what they could to bring back home or wear to the game.
As has usually been the case since the Obama table was started this year (since last April), there were the many usual queries about the "Hillary" candidacy. Many expressed concern of the vote on the Lieberman-Kyl amendment regarding Iran and her recent laughter used as a ploy when answering a question. I would try to maintain a level of civility in the numerous discussions, just saying that I am out here in the street supporting Obama because he's the best candidate. But it certainly was a trend in conversation with many who stopped by.
There were a few that asked what I thought about a Clinton-Obama ticket. To be honest, that's not what I want at all. I joked with some Brits who stopped by that I didn't want Obama to be part of a losing ticket. They both laughed. While it might seem a laughing matter, in my view, the idea of such a ticket would still have what I consider the best candidate for the Republicans to want to run against. The more I see just how divisive Hillary Clinton is as well as the wet dream of Republicans having their base run against two Clintons, the more I feel that it would simply not be good for the Democratic Party due to the negative coattails and truth that political races where Democrats are poised to win would now be tough contests with Republicans out in droves voting straight down their party choices. Seeing Republicans like Newt Gingrich giving accolades to the "Clinton Machine" and essentially hoping to have Hillary Clinton as the nominee is enough reason to figure out the obvious: don't give the Republicans what they want to empower their base in 2008.
There were a few other very interesting exchanges at the table that made the day worth it.
At one point, a young man (probably about 18 or so) stopped by and sat on the ledge next to the table. I asked him if he wanted to sign up, get a sticker and find out about the upcoming event. He said he just wanted to sit there and watch people come up to the table and listen to Obama. There is an MP3 player with speakers playing Obama speeches and such. I let him listen for a while while other people came up to see what was going on at the table.
He then said he wanted to know a couple things. He wanted to know if it even matters who is President since the war is going to just keep going on anyway. He wanted to know basic questions about how the primary works and how a nominee is picked. He asked if Obama would be a good president or just like the others.
I realized that he had only known either a Bush or a Clinton since he was born who were presidents. Now the chance of yet another Clinton being president was possibly going to happen.
I told him that it's easy being cynical about the process and democracy in general when you see evidence of stolen elections, presidents lying to the American people, presidents caught cheating on their wives and embarrassing the American people, presidents who say one thing and do another against the American people's interest and people just being apathetic and not wanting to participate in politics. He agreed and told me that most people he knows don't care.
I then told him about how the primary season works. He seemed like a bright kid, but he didn't know some of the basics of how it all works. The fact that he had the courage to ask instead of just never asking was admirable. We talked about the first four states and how what happens then will make what happens on February 5th with 20 states voting come to fruition. We talked about delegates and how the nomination process works. I tried to make it as easy as possible to explain and he was eager to find out how it all worked.
I told him that I thought Obama would be a great president because he offers real change, is inspiring and wants to work together with others to get things done. His background and life experience would be a much better set of ingredients in his vision for America. Add that the World would breathe a sigh of relief seeing him as President. I also said it is going to be tough unraveling the horrible things that Bush will have left for the next president.
He then went over to the clipboard, signed up, took a bumpersticker, some issue papers and shook my hand for taking the time to talk to him.
There was some man who just looked out of place dressed in a quit with a bald head and abrupt mannerisms who walked up to the table. His English was pretty scattered and we couldn't really tell what he was asking. After just letting him look at a couple books by Obama and other things on the table, he grabbed a clipboard, gave a thumbs up and signed up. I gave him a bumper sticker and some information on the campaign and he said something like "A good man! The man is good!" I looked at his entry and he had an Russian email address.
An older gentleman came up to the table with a couple amazing cameras around his shoulder. I complimented his cameras and asked him if he would like any information. He asked in a heavy German accent "Where is Russ Feingold?" I said he probably was either in Washington DC or perhaps in Wisconsin somewhere, but not here. He then talked about how much he and "the people in Germany" love Feingold for standing up to Bush. I told him that Russ had stopped by the Obama table briefly once a few months ago on his way into the Capitol building. He then talked to me about how the people in Germany hate Americans because they think all Americans "are like that horrible Bush person". I told him that he is very unpopular here. He then said that he would take pictures of people with "Impeach Bush" and "No War" signs and show them back home and people wouldn't believe him. I told him that Obama was against the war well before the votes were cast in the Iraq War Resolution for Bush to go to war. He didn't know that or much else about Obama. We talked about how unpopular the war was here and I gave him a copy of the "Weekly War Scorecard" to take back to his friends. He even took a bumpersticker.
Talking with this man was not the first time I had talked to people who were either European or were in Europe recently and said that Americans were hated thanks to George Bush and his policies. It just made it even a more succinct reason by I feel Obama needs to be the next president to heal those differences and misunderstandings.
It's getting busier and people are getting far more engaged wanting to learn more about the election in 2008. I wouldn't want to stop being out in the streets doing grassroots efforts for anything. It's absolutely addictive.
Gobama!
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