Friday, October 15, 2004
Vote
Today, thanks to Vote By Mail in Oregon, I finally did what I have been itching to do for 2 and 1/2 years. I received my ballot in the mail today and I voted to fire George Bush, and it felt grrrreat! Only 16 days until the rest of the country can join me. I will spend much of that time convincing as many people as possible to do the same. I spoke to my Democratic House District Leader the other day and learned that we are absolutely trouncing the Republicans in new voter registrations in our district by nearly 6 to 1.
The rest of the country probably sees Oregon as very liberal but the reality is different. The city of Portland is very liberal and much of Eastern and Southern Oregon are decidedly conservative. Gore defeated Bush in Oregon in 2000 by a mere 6,765 votes. This time I predict a much greater margin for Kerry. The get out the vote effort here has been incredible, the old timers that I have talked to have never seen anything like it. House districts are broken up into many precincts, a precinct committee person (PCP) can be chosen by receiving just three votes from neighbors to fill a 3 year term. In the past many precincts have not had a PCP due to lack of interest. In fact most precincts have not had anyone in this position for years. This summer in my county alone, there were 100 new Democratic PCP's and nearly all of them are canvassing door-to-door, putting up signs, and doing everything they can to get out the vote. These folks are fired up.
I just wish that I had put more time in over the last 2 weeks because the voter registration deadline has obviously passed. The surprising thing, after getting over the initial anxiety of knocking on strangers doors, is how much fun it has been and how much many of my neighbors expressed gratitude and appreciation for what I was doing. As Howard Dean would say, "Yeeeeeaaugh!"
Today, thanks to Vote By Mail in Oregon, I finally did what I have been itching to do for 2 and 1/2 years. I received my ballot in the mail today and I voted to fire George Bush, and it felt grrrreat! Only 16 days until the rest of the country can join me. I will spend much of that time convincing as many people as possible to do the same. I spoke to my Democratic House District Leader the other day and learned that we are absolutely trouncing the Republicans in new voter registrations in our district by nearly 6 to 1.
The rest of the country probably sees Oregon as very liberal but the reality is different. The city of Portland is very liberal and much of Eastern and Southern Oregon are decidedly conservative. Gore defeated Bush in Oregon in 2000 by a mere 6,765 votes. This time I predict a much greater margin for Kerry. The get out the vote effort here has been incredible, the old timers that I have talked to have never seen anything like it. House districts are broken up into many precincts, a precinct committee person (PCP) can be chosen by receiving just three votes from neighbors to fill a 3 year term. In the past many precincts have not had a PCP due to lack of interest. In fact most precincts have not had anyone in this position for years. This summer in my county alone, there were 100 new Democratic PCP's and nearly all of them are canvassing door-to-door, putting up signs, and doing everything they can to get out the vote. These folks are fired up.
I just wish that I had put more time in over the last 2 weeks because the voter registration deadline has obviously passed. The surprising thing, after getting over the initial anxiety of knocking on strangers doors, is how much fun it has been and how much many of my neighbors expressed gratitude and appreciation for what I was doing. As Howard Dean would say, "Yeeeeeaaugh!"
Comments:
Post a Comment
