Cross-posted at Blog for Democracy
This weekend, I hit the road as a volunteer with the Jim Martin for Senate campaign, as we tour Georgia by bus.
Saturday morning started off very early (6:30am) at the Martin campaign headquarters in Atlanta. Jim and Joan, Public Service Commission candidate Jim Powell, and the road team boarded here in darkness, and off we went.
Technically our first stop was at a Starbucks on the road, where everybody piled out and ordered their brew of choice. A (small) bus full of people takes a surprisingly long time to get coffee, but an under-caffeinated bus is a scary place. Our first official stop was to a large crowd of religious and political leaders at Carter’s Grill in Albany for breakfast. Skipped breakfast though due to too many snacks on the bus. After rousing speeches by Jim Martin and Jim Powell asking everyone to vote, we next headed over to the local campaign office in Albany. After speaking to a great crowd of hardworking volunteers, Jim took time to thank them and pose for pictures, and we were on our way to the next stop.
Then the bus drove on to a park in Tifton for another rally. Inside the bus it’s surprisingly roomy – it’s like a converted church bus and it seats about 14. Most of the seats are piled up with snacks and gear though, and the "trail car" behind us has yet more campaign literature and suitcases. Jim Martin generally sits quietly in front, working on the speeches for the rest of the day. Everybody else often either snoozes quietly chats, or uses wireless cards to do more work. The music player on the bus has started to act up, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. After a quick stop at Burger King (only 1 power outlet in the whole restaurant?), then the rally itself. Turnout was pretty good here, with some of our Tift County supporters showing off homemade signs.
Next stop was Macon to the City Hall for a veterans rally. The rally went off great, with a crowd full of enthusiastic veterans. This is a group that boos when Saxby Chambliss is mentioned, because they remember Max Cleland. It’s interesting to hear Jim’s stump speech evolve through the day, and gather more power in response to the enthusiasm of the crowd. This audience was fired up (ready to go!).
Then we headed off to Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville. After giving his speech, Jim stayed around to take questions on health care and veterans issues from the crowd.
And finally last but not least we finished off today in Augusta at the IBEW union hall for a rousing speech in front of a mostly-union audience. Lots of tv cameras too, so clips of this may have showed up on the evening news. As the last yard sign was handed out, we packed up and rested for the next day of campaigning.
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Volunteer: in staters are welcome to stop by their nearest campaign office, out of staters can travel on down for the last few days or do phone-banking from home.