I live near Birmingham, AL. I am north of Birmingham, in a mostly white area, chock full of the perfect demographic for the McCain campaign...
I had reason to meet up with an acquaintance last night... One I was SURE would give me a hard time about my Obama magnets I sport on 3 sides of my car....
He surprised me, and made my day....
His name is Wayne, and he's just the kind of person you'd expect to be in the tank for McCain, no questions asked. He's kind of a rough fella, loves his guns and hunting... I've heard him say racist things at times, and he seems to be the perfect candidate to be a low information voter.. Okay, dammit, let's just be honest.. He was what most would consider a 'redneck'.
I own a sign shop and was meeting him at a halfway point to show him a catalog... we agreed to meet in a gas station parking lot between our homes. I arrived first and braced myself for some snide commentary about my Obama mag.
Instead, when he pulled up he pointed at the mag said "You know he's behind in the polls today." I told him I knew it and it had been bothering me all day!
Our conversation turned at first to abortion. He said he just didn't think the government had a right to take that choice away from a woman.. He shared my view that it was frightening that the veep choice for McCain doesn't believe that a woman should be allowed to choose abortion in the case of rape or incest.
He was quite animated when he said.. "And what about what the Republicans have DONE in this past 8 years?? I think it's TIME FOR A CHANGE!!" He went on to say that lots of people ask him why he likes Obama and that they try to say that all the problems we have now are Clinton's fault. He said to that, "Well, even if that were true, Bush had 4 years to clean up after him (LOL!!) but he's had 8 years now and look where we are!"
I was stunned. ;o)
We talked a little about the mortgage crisis and he was actually one of the people who lost a home in this mess. I was surprised that he knew so much about what was going on, period, because he just hadn't struck me that way before. As I listened to him say the SAME things I've been saying, my heart started to feel so light... I'd been bummed all day, and must confess to be one of the handwringers (quietly, and still trying to maintain a positive attitude), so in hearing him go on about why McCain/Palin just wouldn't work for him and why he felt like Obama was a great choice, I could barely contain myself.
We ended up having a great conversation and what was so cool about it, is that.. I'm a pretty talkative person, especially about this stuff because I feel so passionately about it, but I could barely get a word in edgewise. He TOO shared an enthusiasm about Obama.. and more importantly, changing the leadership, period. He indicated that he'd been having conversations with other people like him.. and he's evidently vocal in pointing out that our leadership sucks and the condition of our country sucks and it's just time to change...
The icing on the cake for me was right as our conversation ended...
I asked him if he was already registered to vote... He said,in his thick southern drawl, "YES! I got myself registered this year!"
He said, "I've never voted before in my life, but I'm excited about voting this year!" (He's in his mid-thirties!)
I told him, and I meant it with all my heart... that he'd absolutely made my day. He was the smile I'd needed to get over the damn polling.
If his voice is out there, among that demographic Obama is supposedly having a hard time reaching, in ALABAMA no less, I have much reason to HOPE....
And HOPE I do. ;o) Thank you for reading.
UPDATE! My first time on the Rec list! Your stories and your appreciation of mine make me wanna skip lightly thru the rest of my day! Thank YOU for sharing!! ;o)