Yesterday, August 8, 2006, in Windsor, Connecticut, a beautiful sunny and comfortable day was transformed into an unreal, fantastic day with the primary victory of Ned Lamont for the U.S. Senate.
I was out of bed a bit earlier than normal and got to my voting precinct at about 7:30 am. I was asked to remove the round Ned sticker on my shirt, before being allowed to vote. This was done quickly, and there was no line. I then returned to my car to pick up the stuff needed for my one-man, anti-war demo for Ned which lasted until 6:30 pm. I did take two 45 minutes break--one at 11:00 and a second at 3:00 pm.
One of the item used was a large poster with "HONK FOR PEACE," letters in hot pink--a poster that has survived many anti-war demos. It was held up by being tied to a chair. The second item was a newer "BREAD NOT BOMBS' poster, in mostly black ink, that I hung around my neck. The third item was a new red, white, and blue "LAMONT for Senate" lawn sign furnished by the campaign. And, I wore my blue and white Veteran for Peace hat, as most of the public usually look upon old Korean War vet with kindness.
My voting place is located in the back of our town hall. I'ts at the end of a short street that includes a CVS and the post office, and both get a lot of traffic. I would guess about 750 cars drove by. From having attended many organized peace demos, one gets a good feel of public opinion based on the reaction of all the people.
When I began the demo, I was hopeful, but concerned about the voting outcome. I had done a couple days of phone work for Ned's campaign and found that there is quite a difference of support among voters from those small towns with a higher percentage of college grads and higher incomes, as compared to the larger cities that have the opposite. Windsor, in my mind has a mix that would be a good barometer for the whole state.
As the day progressed, my feeling for the outcome kept improving. As I would attempt to make eye contact with all car occupants and extend my arm and hand with the peace sign. A very large majority of people responded in kind--either with the peace sign, a thumbs up, or a wave. A couple deranged drivers did yelled some nasty words in my direction. Perhaps 25 percent either did not see me or made any response.
A half dozen people walked over to me, and thanked me for my actions. One character came over to explain that Ned had no program, that he could not possibly win, and that I was wasting my time. I usually find it funny to see how bananas a few warmongers become when they see any peace event.
When the polls closed at 8:00 pm, I returned to get a first hand reading of the voting machined as they were unlocked and the numbers announced. I told another Lamont volunteer who was there that we would probably be among the first people in the entire state to know who had won the election, if there was a large difference in the numbers--given the small sampling a big error rate was needed. Well, while Ned won Windsor by about 10 points, in my district it was triple that number.
We then assumed that it was probably all over for Lieberman. This turned out to be right, but not before a bit of a scare, when the large early lead was slimmed down as larger cities posted returns. While a four point win, or any win is great in politics, the fact is that Ned won with a turnout that more than twice exceeded a low 20 percent normal--a number that Joe had indicated could not possibly indicated the real thinking of all Democratic voters--which would validate his reasons for running as an independent. So, in spite of a record turn out, grumpy Joe is not happy.
Following this great day there is one thing that still bugs me about our entire Democratic leadership. That involves the extreme cronyism that was displayed--even Repup politicians and talking heads had joined in. We were repeatedly told that the war was only a single issue with an importance that should not make a real difference in our support for Joe.
All of these out-of-touch dummies greatly disrespected the death of all my buddies, who served and died in North Korea, and indeed, this belittles the sacrifice of all who have ever died in the service of America.
Peace.