I just have to share with all of you what a wonderful Saturday I spent. I am a garage sale nut in the fall and Spring. I enjoy going with a couple girl friends and hitting the multitude of garage sales everyone has this time of year. I went with my neighbor, a wonderful lady who is about to become an ordained minister and started out at 9:00 AM to browse all the wonderful yard sales, tag sales, and garage sales. (Hey, in this economy, you can find some awsome deals.) But what started out as a bargain hunt, became so much more.
Both of us diehard Obama volunteers, were excited when we pulled up at the first garage sale when we saw several cars with Obama signs in their windows. When we got out of the car there was that beautiful Obama yard sign in the yard of the house. This of course sparked political discussion as we browsed. We met Obama supporters we would never have met if not for that first garage sale. What was even better, there were others at this first garage sale that were hesitant about Obama and shockers, they were pleasantly surprised to see this variety of men and women of different colors and economic backgrounds all agreeing in our support of Barack Obama. We made several converts in this Republican stronghold in the Hudson Valley in New York.
I got into a conversation with one man who said, "but isn't Obama associating with terrorists"? I said where in the heck did you hear that?
He replied, "well aren't Sarah Palin and John McCain telling us so?. We talked about that and explained to him how McCain/Palin are trying to insinuate a slim association with Ayers with today's terrorists and told him exactly how Obama only served on a Foundation board with Ayers along with Republicans and Democrats and it was sponsored by an Ambassador. He was shocked to hear that Palin/McCain were going this route in trying to demonize Obama. He did say he did not like Palin and didn't think she was qualified but that he had always voted Republican but that I had given him something to really think about. He said he hated slander attacks and wasn't so sure McCain was the McCain he liked 4 years ago.
We went on our way to more garage sales and throughout a very sunny beautiful day, we saw yard signs everywhere, Obama signs and sickers on cars. We enjoyed honking at cars carrying Obama signs and they honked at us when they saw mine in my car. It was a blast! It almost seemed like a parade as we travelled from one garage sale to another. We even saw Obama shirts worn by many and it sure opened up the political discussions.
So while out searching for bargains, we were able to interact with many Obama supporters and more importantly interested Republicans who are none too happy with the McCain campaign and the tone that their rallies are taking. They expressed the concern of all Republicans being painted as those racists and haters that seem to follow Palin everywhere.
This is a county in New York where there are the diehard Republican holdouts in an increasingly Democratic state. New York has always gone Democrat in Presidential races, but what is hopeful to me is that many down ticket candidates in New York who usually have a fight on their hands seem to be better funded this year and doing well. Several have attended many Obama events held in the area and received a very warm welcome. I met many diehard Hillary Clinton supporters, women, who are just as diehard now about Obama. The myth that Hillary's supporters won't support Obama is absolutely wrong.
The best garage sale we stopped at was actually an Obama fundraiser! They even had refreshments for everyone. Coffee, bagels, snacks, you name it with a couple tables set up so we could sit and chat over coffee with other women about Barack Obama. They gave out free magnets for our cars and had some awsome buys. It was a great idea to raise money for Obama and it made my day.
I came home from our day of garage sale hunting, with some great buys, but more importantly a true sense of what the grassroot voters are thinking and I truly enjoyed the camadarie we encountered everywhere we went, even with Republicans who appeared truly happy to ask questions about Obama.
When I got home I got a phone call from an Obama volunteer in New York City who wanted to remind me about the importance of voting and I had a wonderful conversation with her. The "Women to Women" GOTV is now launched and it is amazing. I am so impressed with the Obama campaign that they now have targeted their lists of those who definitely support Obama and have set it up so women can call women, and the same for men. A truly awsome display of a fine tuned campaign already swinging into the GOTV activity.
I had just a wonderful day. I found an awsome solid brass lamp I coveted which I got for a steal, I interacted with several women to talk about Obama, I got to talk to Republicans that are just like you and me with different ideas about the issues, but who were expressing keen interest in Obama and found they DO NOT like what is happening with the McCain campaign and do really dislike Palin. We had a blast just honking horns when we saw car after car with Obama signs and car magnets, bumper stickers. It also seemed like an Obama parade of cars, LOL.
So it ended up not just a day to go to garage sales but also a day to campaign at the grassroots level for our candidate and soon President, Barack Obama.
What a day!