Texas doesn't have an early primary, so we have little influence over the nomination process. But we're doing what we can. Below are two Iowa field reports from our Texas volunteer Jen.
Barack ain't perfect, but he has the unique ability to inspire ordinary people to do extraordinatry things. Thanks to our Texas volunteers who've left the warm weather of Texas and are now block-walking in the Iowa snow.
June and I left San Antonio this morning at about 8am. We made it to Emporia Kansas. We'll continue on to Des Moines in the morning. We just found out that Barack will be near June's house on the 31st also, so that should be fun. He's speaking at a high school in Jefferson City.
It was a smooth drive we saw snow, but not any on the road. YAY!
So we finally made it safely to Iowa. I was a little worried there for a minute cause when I showed up at June's house, she invited me in and her dog BIT ME! Iwas fine and it was really no big deal but it got me a little worried about the direction the trip was headed. However, everything after that has been smooth sailing. We're safe and there is snow outside. It's pretty cold, but nothing we haven't seen before. June's house is great and if it were summer I'd totally be whinning for you to get me one of my own!
We already got our assignments: knocking on doors here in RC then calling to tell people that Michelle Obama is going to be in Pocahontas, Iowa on Saturday. I can't believe they actually named a town Pocahontas. It makes me smile everytime I say it. We're going to get to go see Michelle speak on Saturday night. Then on Monday we're going to see Barack in Jefferson Iowa. I am so excited that it's all free!! Iowans get all the perks!! John Edwards is coming through here in a few days also but, June says we'll skip that one.
more tomorrow!!xo-Jen
Hurray!! Our first day in Rockwell City was a great experience. We got our walklists and headed out early. We stopped by the county courthouse around the block and took a few pictures while getting the details about caucus night.
By the end of the day we had gotten through the majority of the Barack Supporters here in town. June's familiarity with the community has been so valuable. We decided to head to dinner at the local Pizza Ranch. If was a great WARM break after a long day, and finally, as a reward for all our hard work the coolest thing happened. As we were getting ready to walk out I heard an employee telling his boss that he had just seen Barack Obama and had his book signed. My ears perked up and I decided to head over to say hi. It turns out the employee, Logan, is indeed a big Obama supporter and will infact be caucusing for him on January 3. We were soooo excited! What a great payoff for a cold day's work.
After that we headed home all smiles and began making calls to people in the area about Michelle's visit to Pocahontas. =:0) The calling went well, now we're just preparing lists to send back to Katie filled with the results of our walking and calling.
I can't wait until Steve and Judy arrive. Rockwell City is small but more importantly friendly. Tomorrow we head into Lake City to knock on more doors and try to identify the Obama supporters there. Wish us luck!!
More tomorrow!
xo-Jen
p.s. pictures coming soon...
Jen's Iowa Field Report #2:
Dec 30: Jen and June canvas Lohrville while Judy makes her way from Texas with four hundred pairs of socks tucked neatly in one small suitcase.
Highlights: Jen & June secure Bootwarmers ! It is much easier to canvas without frostbite!!
Congressman Patrick Murphy, wife and adorable baby Maggie fly into Des Moines to stump for BO & joined Judy for an impromptu Inflight Obama Rally (Could this plane full of Obama-supporting Iowans be an Omen?)
Dec 31: The 3 J’s Finally join forces in Jefferson for an Obama Rally and a New Year’s
Eve Conference Call from the Iowa Field Staff.
Highlights: Crowd in the Jefferson High School Auditorium was large, excited and
full of questions which moved many undecideds to the Obama camp (see MSNBC
First Read). Both the post-Rally lunch at Excuse and New Year’s Dinner at Jot’s proved to be Excellent for GOTV...seems like folks in Iowa love to talk politics over food :-)
Highlight of the New Year’s Eve conference call: PDMS = "In case you’ve heard that The Des Moines Register poll puts Obama in the lead, I want to remind all of you that, "POLLS DON’T MEAN SHIT."
On that note, Please have a Happy and Safe New Year from Rockwell City Iowa!!
Stop by www.flickr.com/photos/jenromo for pictures of our most recent adventures.
If you're still undecided on this presidential race, then please watch this short testimonial video filmed recently. We're just regular Texans, not Washington pundits. But we feel inspired, and we hope Obama can unify our country and get results. (Thanks to volunteer Laura for filming and editing!)
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