Wrap Up

I write this from my home in Fairbanks. A few notes:

Orange County, where Orlando is, went to Kerry, but not by much. The mood in Florida went from jazzed to suddenly sullen. I decided to spend my last day in Florida going to Cocoa Beach. The hurricane damage there was very evident. I parked my rental car in front of a gutted Best Western Motel. All the doors to the ground floor units were removed as well as the carpeting, furniture, etc. The showers still worked and provided a nice way to rinse the sand off my feet after a swim in the ocean. The beach and town felt nearly empty, like the entire place was hung over from the election.

When I was waiting for my plane at MCO you could tell who the Democrats were. Quiet, very quiet. People were watching the airport CNN. John Kerry's concession speech was being digested by reporters. My clip from the previous evening did show up. No one noticed me sitting there watching myself. I was glad. I wanted to be invisible.

Flying back across the lower 48 seeing all the towns my thoughts dwelled on the election and who these people were that voted for Bush. A Salon.com reader named Jay Hipps wrote a haiku that sums up my feelings:

Gullible Red States
You know not what you have done
Too bad for the rest

The President says he wants to earn my trust. Liar. He never had my trust. He never will.

The 2006 midterm elections are only two years away.

Election Day Rush

I awoke today an hour earlier than I needed to. That was actually good as I took an extra hour to find the place I needed to go to today. I was to meet up with other Kerry people at a satellite office. My job for the day was to be a runner. A runner brings supplies and information to the people working the polls. In each precinct the Democrats had two poll observers who also happened to be volunteer lawyers. They noted any irregularities and attempted to resolve any voter issues with the elections officials on site. The Republicans usually had one lawyer present. The democrats also had greeters. These people were wearing Kerry T-Shirts and saying hello to people as they entered the polls. In many neighborhoods this can help create a friendly atmosphere and visibility. There were greeters for the R's as well, sometimes for Bush sometimes for the Martinez campaign. Neutral Organizations were present also, the NAACP, the "Right to vote organization" and others. They handed voters the Florida Voter's Bill of Rights.

My job was to bring the Kerry people food and water. It was well appreciated especially in the hot weather. Near the end of the day I provided some emergency transportation to some voters who were in the wrong precinct. With 15 minutes to go they made it to their registered precinct. 3 more votes saved.

During the day around lunch when I was picking food and water up at the distribution center, John Edward's motorcade whizzed by on the street. The first time by I only saw a silhouette. The second time on his return trip he was sitting on the sunny side of the car and I could see him. Damn, that guy never stops smiling! I talked with some of the women greeters at the precinct he visited. They were very happy to see him. One 71 year old woman was saying how she got to "hug his neck". He has some kind of Beattle mania going on there. The woman also said how wonderful it would be to have kids wandering around the White House again. As a third issue she mentioned minimum wage, but I think the woman would have been sold with the hug.

The campaign volunteers are pretty jazzed. On the second floor in the HQ the lawyers, wonks, and campaign directors are coordinating various activities still. Poll watcher lawyers are bringing in incident reports from the field. Voters are still in line at Date County about 2 hours after the polls have closed. They will be able to vote since they were in line.

At the very end of the polling time I was interviewed by a CNN reporter. Her name is Susan. I wonder if it will air. She asked questions about the whole, "Why are you here thing". The edited aired version would be interesting to watch.

Oh yes the felony sign. Florida election law is messed up. In Alaska you can vote in any precinct and your vote will count for the people you could normally vote for in your own precinct. Ex. I live in District 7. On the ballot was President/Senator/State Rep. I could go vote in another District, and my choices for President and Senator would be valid. This is not a big deal, why doesn't Florida do this? Instead they let voters know they would be committing a felony. I really think Federal election reform is needed.

I'm going to crash for a bit then hopefully celebrate.

Later,

Dan

Water and home

You never know what kind of work you'll pick up on a campaign. A truck load of bottled water came in to be distributed to poll workers and perhaps voters waiting in lines tomorrow (all voters not just Dems). 8 pallettes loaded with 500 cases of bottled water. Reminded me of my warehouse days.

You can never step to far away from home. After unloading the water I checked my email to find about the third message today from the Alaskan Senate Race. For those Alaskans reading don't get so hyped on Kerry nation wide, that you forget about our good state candidates. Please make a personal phone call to your friends and make it your responsibility for them to get to the polls. I've absentee voted already. Of course.

I've got to say that I am getting a bit tired of Florida weather and Florida traffic. If not for the very kind people down here this place would be just plain rotten. I bet the coastal communities in Florida are much more pleasant. This picture from back home in Alaska is making me eager to get back on the airplane home Wednesday morning.

Signs of the day

This sign is located at the junction of FL 408 and the Orange Blossom Trail. It is paid for by the folks at http://environment2004.org/.

I had read about this on the net myself, but when I saw the sign I just had to get a picture of it. The traffic near the sign is extremely heavy I had to park in a motel parking lot. The owner of the hotel and his security guard didn't like what I was doing, until they saw my Kerry button. The owner fo the motel is from Palestine. He spoke at length telling how people abroad love America and Americans yet have a disdainful view of our government. I responded that many Americans feel the same way.

The sign itself is very timely hear in Hurricane Alley. Oh yes, The motel owner is voting Kerry, so are his 5 family members.

The Orlando office is now a complete three ring circus. There are many, many volunteers here. They spill out into the street, around the parking lot and behind the building. Sign waving and literature drops are being organized and getting ready to go out.

I picked up another absentee ballot this afternoon. I've scheduled another two pickups later for today. On one a senior from high school was about to mail hers. It would not have arrived on time, her vote would not have counted. It will now. Another young man was at work (as a pharmacist at a Walgreens). His brother told me were he worked, so I went there and visited him. We're hooking up later tonight as well. I'm heading out to get the rest of the "not homes".

One day to go.

Days in the Field

I've finished all the database work I'm good for. The office has about 4-5 database programmers now and they more or less have things under control. More than that, there are only two days left for the election. After matching the voters list from Orange County (Orlando) to a list with phone numbers, my work on the computer was really done. The other programmers continue to produce lists, tabulate daily results etc. That's half of the work. The other half lies out in the neighborhoods.

Yesterday we broke out into teams of two to knock on people's doors, urging them to early vote, explaining their rights as voters, and picking up any absentee ballots that they may have had.

I've knocked on many doors before, for many campaigns. I've never seen such a reception for campaign workers. People are genuinely glad to see volunteers from the Kerry-Edwards campaign. They are eager to express their desire for change. They are determined to vote. I spoke with one man who was about 70 years old. He's been a citizen for about 50 years. He said this is the first election he has ever voted in. He is not being polled by Zogby/Gallup/CNN/etc. He is not a likely voter.
Or so the pundits believe.

Many things have happened over the last four years.

Tax cuts for the wealthy.
A lack of vigilance to terror threats.
The most horrific terror attack in history.
Wasted opportunities for foreign cooperation.
Destabilization of the Korean peninsula.
Iran on the verge of becoming a nuclear power.
Failure to capture Osama Bin Laden.
An attack on overtime pay.
Weakened pollution standards.
No progress on Peace for Israel and Palestine.
Fuel prices through the roof.
Rampant corporate greed and corruption.
Promises made and broken on education.
Net loss of jobs.
Rape of Civil Liberties.
Health benefits not provided to Veterans.
Corporations rewarded for shipping jobs overseas.
Iraq.
Not enough troops.
Foolish Expectations.
Abu Ghraib.
Troops not protected.
Troops over extended.
No plan for peace in Iraq.
Implausible Deniability.
Lies.

Each and everyone of these things can be attributed to Bush Administration policy.
Each one was a slap in the face. We've had enough.

There is a way to slap back. The tyrant must go.
The man who is voting for the first time in 50 years, is fighting back, with one vote. He has friends.
The voters who've been waiting for hours and hours in lines are fighting back. And they are not discouraged.
The people who didn't get their absentee ballots sent to them in time are sill going to vote. They will not be denied.

Let the spin meisters spin. Let the President's men say what they will. One voter at a time we're taking out country back. You think this sounds goofy? A little hype-ish? Try going to a voter's house at 10:30 pm and being greeted with a hug and a smile.

I'll take hugs and smiles over smirks and lies anytime.

Two days. Hope is on the way.

Picture descriptions: Team 3 of the absentee ballot chasers (the other 2 already are out in the field), Kids trick-or-treating in the neighborhoods we were covering.






Tomorrow's work: Get more votes and more voters to the polls.

Early voting, downtown Orlando

I went to one of the early voting centers in downtown Orlando, or I should say the early voting center there. Outside the library the place looks a bit quiet, only a few Karry volunteers with signs, people dropping off voters, other waiting for the bus. Inside the library lobby only a small sign announces that the early voting center is upstairs on the third floor.

It's a bit of a shock exiting the elevator once up on floor 3. I was greeted by a line of voters extending the length of the very sizable interior. I counted 163 people at 11:30am. More were arriving by the dozen. My estimate after speaking with a few voters was that not all of the voters in line were going to make it inside the voting center by 1pm. The new arrivals surely weren't. I hope these patriotic people will try again on tomorrow, Monday, or of course, on election day. You wonder why the elections supervisor doesn't make an attempt to lengthen the hours of operation for the early voting centers.

Thinking optimistically, these voters are probably faring better than others. They have a nice cool place to wait, out of the sun, and of course there is lot's of reading material at hand. I can't vouch for the other voting centers.

Two Election Links

For those reading that like to look at numbers you might check this link out that lists early voting numbers for various centers in Orlando: Early Voting Statistics. The Orange County Elections Office is located at: http://www.ocfelections.com/.
3 days to go.

Friday in the Office

I've spent the majority of the day today in the Orlando office. Some good and potentially hopeful news. We are starting to get information about the number of people early voting. There are lots. One statistic that is interesting to see is the number of Republican and Democratic voters who vote each day at the early voting centers. I don't have access to all of the figures and they are of fleeting importance, being replaced the next day by more current figures. But the good news is that in many of the counties that went for Bush in 2000, there are more Democrats voting than Republicans. No one knows how these people vote but we assume most vote for the candidate of their party. If this keeps up through Tuesday Florida will be blue.

One question no one knows about is where these early voters are coming from. Sure we know their addresses, as it is public information, but are these the people who would have normally voted on the regular election day? Or are these genuinely new voters? Could they be older voters that don't want to risk bad weather or sickness on election day? We will know on Tuesday. I know that having extra days allows volunteers to call many voters and ask if they need rides. Count that as a Democratic advantage.

I also learned from someone here in the office that has been reading my blog that most of these people are indeed true Red Sox fans. That's good, it's always better to be working with the committed.

The balance of the day

I spent the rest of the day crunching voter lists. One has telephone numbers, the others don't. There are more people in the Orlando area than all of the State of Alaska. It's taking me longer than I wanted to, but these numbers will be passed on to a phone bank and those voters will be contacted. They might be reminded to early vote (people can do that in Florida), or be offered rides to the polls if they need that.

The end of the day the entire office took off to the airport. The Kerry plane is followed by the another plane filled entirely by press and other staff. As the Kerry plane lands first come all the staff out the back of the plane, and the big man comes out the middle. The crowd goes wild, although the "Kerry, Kerry, Kerry" chant is a little bit lame. John Kerry came right over to the line where the crowd was waiting for him. He spent quite a bit of time trying to shake hands and speak to the kids in the front line. Some people had him sign some voter cards, one woman had Kerry sign the "Rolling Stone" cover. That could fetch some money at a future auction.

Oh yeah, I shook the future president's hand. Mostly though I was busy trying to get the camera to work.

Then he took off and was followed by two buses, secret service vans and about thirty or so motorcycle cops. Don't like the color of Kerry's campaign plane? Wait a few months, he'll be flying around in Air Force One. Much better colors. The other photo is the local press on the bandstand behind the crowd line.

Tomorrow more work, 4 days to go.

Congressman Jesse Jackson Junior

The Office here just received a visit from Jesse Jackson Jr., congressman from Chicago. He seemed like a really nice guy, but his Dad is a better speaker. Give the kid time, he'll do ok.

Back to work.

Arriving here in Orlando

Things are really busy here. First the flight in. I knew things were warming up weather-wise as I started to see Thunder storm clouds. The one in the picture is the classic anvil shaped thunderhead. The other thing I noticed while flying into the airport was the extensive roof damage. See all those blue tarps on the roofs? That's almost more blue tarps than I have in my yard in Fairbanks!






The Orlando Kerry headquarters office is typical of many political offices. These pictures do not convey how busy it is. I can't spend all day taking pictures though, I need to get to work. I let it slip that I know what to do with computers, I've already been put on a job to put together some voter lists from public data available from some Florida Elections office.







Tomorrow there will be a rally with Senator Kerry attending. I was asked if I wanted to go. What do you think?

I also have to mention that the Red Sox victory was well received here. People here seem to glom on to the personal habits of the candidates. I see many males wearing the yellow arm bands and I can't help but wonder if these Kerry workers like the Sox because Kerry does. No matter, the Red Sox have reversed the 86 year old curse and I can only imagine the celebration in Boston.

We're all hoping that the Red Sox magic will spill over to the campaign.

Later,

Dan

Great Video for Election

I'm in my office putting things together for the trip in just a few hours. I couldn't help but read the last few entries to the Salon War Room. One had a pointer to a site hosting an animated Eminem video. It's interesting animation, the message more so.

Check out the video at:
http://www.gnn.tv/content/eminem_mosh.html, you can save it as a quicktime and look at it later, and pass it on to friends.

Get Involved!

Feel Like doing something to affect the election? You are voting, right? Are all your family members voting? What about your friends? Neighbors, Co-workers, That guy down the street, anyone you know. OK, so you've done that.

Time to move on and start talking to strangers. One of the really innovative features of the JohnKerry.com web site lets you call potential volunteers in battle ground states. These people you can call have already contacted the campaign in some way during the past year. They want to help out, they just need to know how.

When you sign up as a volunteer for the Kerry campaign you can begin making phone calls to potential volunteers in key battleground states. All you need is a web browser and a phone line. It helps to have a calling card as you will most likely be calling long distance. The person you call could be the one that makes the difference.

Does this sound interesting?
Sign up as a volunteer at JohnKerry.com. You'll find directions on how to start making phone calls from there. It's easy, you'll be speaking with great people and be helping out in a huge way!

Why?

Why am I traveling to Florida?
It is the most heavily contested state in the Country and it will tip the balance of the electoral college. I have done all that I can do in Alaska as a voter but still feel that I need to do more. Whatever the outcome of the election on November 3rd (or later if there is any legal wrestling like in 2000), I will know that I did everything I could to get out the vote. Elections are not a spectator sport and I'm traveling to Florida where I believe my efforts will matter the most.

Why this Blog?
Some of my friends have asked me to take some pictures and write some stories. I'm not even sure when I might do this as I know I will be working hard on the campaign, but I will try to jot a few things down. So here it is. I'm hoping that directly and indirectly my actions in Florida will help inspire people to get involved in this election.

How did this get arranged?
I signed up as a volunteer at the JohnKerry.com web site and let the campaign know that I wanted to help out in this way. The National campaign connected me with the State campaign in Florida. I will be working in Orlando. I am not sure of the specifics yet. Most likely I will be participating in various get out the vote activities through election day. I return home the day after the election.