The little city of Kinston, wrapped in fields of cotton, is county seat for Lenoir county NC.
The county had not voted Democratic since FDR. Some of the older volunteers spent their childhoods picking that cotton with calloused hands. This is a place where racial distrust and cynicism for the body politic still runs deep. This is a place were the wounds of racial intolerance are still raw. There was no better place to see the power of this election, of this candidate, than in trenches with the Democratic activists of Kinston who helped turn NC blue by breaking down those racial barriers where they held strongest. To do it with a team of dedicated canvassers from NYC you pilled in my rickety van, and drove with me 10 hours to front lines, made it all the more special.
I’ve got a good job.. Never been with out work for more then a few weeks since I was 15. I live very comfortably. My house is not in foreclosure, my health is good, and I have insurance. I could drive home every night oblivious to the foreclosure signs popping up around the neighborhoods, and the businesses closing their doors. I could pretend not to notice the increasing frequency of stories on the news of people denied life saving medical care. I could drive by the lengthening lines of day laborers in the parking lot of the home improvement center. Guys just looking for a honest days work. I chose not to. That is why I joined this campaign. My eyes are not blind and ears are not deaf to suffering around me.
So I fixed up a van and called it the Hope Mobile and I tried to be were the need was greatest for this campaign. PA, IN, for the primaries and finally Kinston NC.
Thanks again to those 8 fellow New Yorkers who made the sacrifice of 4 hectic days. You fought like "canvassers poets" to turn Lenoir county blue. We knocked on hundred of doors in neighborhood we were warned by police and others to stay out of. We delivered dozens to the polls, and we hung thousands more door hangers. You guys helped create the mandate for change we desperately need. You are heroes all.
Will write more later. Still tired from drive back.
one closing thought:
I have to tell you there is nothing like driving a 70 year old first time voter to the polls.
peace
Some other Campaign Diaries:
Philly and Bucks County PA----
http://www.dailykos.com/...
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Fort Wayne IN ------
http://www.dailykos.com/...
http://www.dailykos.com/...