In my on-going "Grassroots Activist Diary" series I bring to you my thoughts from going down to the Napa, California "Chef's Market" street fair. Napa California is a city of 75,000, and the county governmental center for Napa County the epicenter of California's "Wine Country". The "Wine Country" is California's
third largest tourist attraction.
I am rather fond of the gourmet food booths, the wine and microbrew tasting, the gourmet candy, the lavender booth, magic wands. I also love to visit the Molly's Angels wine tasting booth, because for $5 USD I can buy a "Molly's Angels" logo glass of wine, keep the glass, and feel good about knowing the money goes to help the needy in Napa County.
So what was different about last night? Well, a couple of things...
First, the Market starts at 6 PM, but now there is a place to go for a 'pre-game' show. The Democratic Club of Napa Valley has their HQ open now and you can stop in, chat with many good Democrats, login to the internet and buy KE2004 buttons, stickers and posters.
I showed a few people the dailykos website and I will be bookmarking it on all the computers there. This activist not so humbly admits to showing them some of my Dairy entries (like this one) about Napa, the Chef's Market and the DCofNV HQ.
I am gathering information to propose a "KOSUTOPIA II: Weekend in the Napa Winecountry" for Kossacks and Kossettes to revel in our hospitality and some of the good Dems and Demettes there were quite taken with the idea!
Now the Market began and I accompanied a very sweet Demette over to one of two voter registration card tables. Yep, there are two now. And there I met a very energetic Dem lady with a mission. She was coming back to the table to pick up fresh voter registration forms and wandering the street filling them in! I was impressed by her 'go-get-em'! And she registered lots of people. Hint-Hint-Hint, you can sign up a lot of voters at 'street fair' events.
Of course, I hardly ever go to the NV CM without stopping by for a "Willie Bird" BBQ turkey drumstick, and the Republican registration table is just across and down a bit from the huge barbeque trailer.
I tell ya -- we are going to win big! There was almost no action at their table and no people standing around them. Of course, I dropped by to talk with them, wearing my Kerry button. We have had an on-going 'relationship' since I started attending the Chef's Market. I am really quite proud of the civility displayed on both sides and I drop by to thank them for it.
However, I have a little story to tell that shows you that many of the Republican grassroots are good patriotic Americans who have in my view, just fallen for some nicely packaged Bushit.
Last time I was at the CM, I was kind of 'pissed off' that the front of the Republican registration table had a large poster, "Flush the Johns" with drawing of a large toilet and pictures of Kerry and Edwards swirling around in it.
So I told them to come on and take a good look at the Dem tables and they would not find that kind of stuff on our tables -- so far -- and that we Dems were still not doing 'cartoons' of Bush/Cheney and it might not be a good idea to get us started. Plus it did not fit in with their current patriotic position, disagreeing does not make either side 'bad'.
They responded that their was a commercial booth up the street selling (lots of them, I might add) Black teeshirts with "George Bush - Corporate Slut" on the front. I said "Yes, that is true" but we Dems are not wearing them. Yet..."
Last night the "Flush" poster was gone. I'd like to think it was my pursuasiveness, but, hey, they might have had copyright problems.
Anyway, we had a very nice conversation about cigars... the man and his wife smoke them. And I offered to bring them a package of cigars I had purchased for someone that I did not know had quit.
Life goes on in "my little town".
RMD