I'm up early this morning. Reading the markets in Asia (disaster). Trying to stay ahead of the big jobs number coming out today. Dont ask why.
I happened to come across a kossack by the name of Raj47905, which appears to me an Indiana zip code appended on to the name Raj. Raj joined Daily Kos on May 7, 2008 making him a relatively new member of our community. He's never been on the Rec list, has few followers, and his diaries never get more than 20 or so comments. He prefers field activism more than blogging. He's a very serious organizer/canvasser from what I can see. Raj wrote a diary entitled Naturally, we in IN are given up for dead. In it, he blasts us coastal Democrats for conceding Indiana to the Republicans in 2012:
The sad fact is that Indiana is right next to Illinois. Anyone who knows the history of this state can recall that in the 30s it was run by the KKK.
Frankly, we're fed up. We know there are numerous awesome local Dem parties who have been influenced by MoveOn, and OFA, plus DFA, who are just sitting there. I personally have had the pleasure of advocating for the Public Option, and I'm happy to say that all five of our Indiana Democratic Congressmen voted for it, in 2008.
It seems that we're down a few seats in the Congress. Indiana is, and remains, a tough sell here in the Bible belt. However I would like all Kos folks to understand that we worked EXTREMELY HARD for Barack.
...
We absolutely refuse to give Indiana up to the Repubs in '12. We mean it. NO.
Please do not give us up for dead. We refuse to die. Okay, you can darned well do it. But you can't crush us. We live in the middle of the worst aspects of the Biible Belt. You try to kill us Indiana Dems. I dare ya. Go on! Try to stomp us out ... we'll be there ... you just can't stop us!!
It is true that it has been reported that the Obama Campaign has said Indiana is "out of reach in 2012." They've written the state off by all accounts.
I took at look back through Raj's diary history and here is what I learned:
This was from Raj's first diary in 2008: An Indiana Obama Convasser's Oath, Mon Sep 08, 2008
Nobody ever won an election because it was handed to them. She and I - and all of you - are descended from folks who refused to give up when the odds suddenly became longer.
I know what it's like to start canvassing at 10 AM on a weekend day when the mercury goes to 100 and beyond, in tandem with the concomitant humidity of the God-forsaken Midwest ... and not to quit until 9 PM. But I have no clue (and can never know) what it was like to sit in a vermin-infested British jail, with no hope of release, as her ancestors and mine did, in service of the Indian Independence Movement. This was an epic struggle that went on for centuries.
It is equally inconceivable for me to be privy to the thoughts in the minds of your ancestors who may have fought and died for hundreds of similar reasons over the centuries - whether it may have been the American Independence movement, the fight against the Nazis, or the battle against slavery. If I've omitted some critical causes, it is not for lack of concern or significance, but merely because it's impossible to list them all.
I swear to all of you who are reading this, and most importantly - to myself - that between now and election day, as long as I am able, I will run, walk, or crawl to every door that I can.
And I will knock it.
There are more like this. You can almost feel the passion with which he went about his work, canvassing and organizing for Democrats in a red state. Really tough, hard, on the ground campaigning:
What are YOU doing for Dem.s, NOW? Sep 10, 2008
This is not an intellectual blog entry. It's about action. We can't possibly win any offices in this election, until everyone (and that means you) takes action ...
Obama Canvassers are working in IN (now a toss-up)!Sep 22, 2008
Here are a few words for everyone out there, who's actually doing the work: ... you are not alone:
"Knock 'til ya drop.
Persuade 'til ya fade.
Don't ever stop, 'til election made!"
"Hit 'em with policy and then ...
hit 'em again with policy!"
"Forget packets ... knock precincts."
"You are the voter's neighbor,
and ...
you are the campaign."
"Don't merely consider the possibility
that this voter will decide the election,
assume it."
"If you've worked so hard, that
you've physically expired ...
then, by all means ...
feel free to take two.
Don't be a slacker.
"ALL HANDS ON DECK!!"
INSPIRATION for Obama Canvassers, Sep. 30, 2008
I can tell you ... with absolute certainty that somewhere out there, this last weekend, there was an Obama canvasser knocking doors in Idaho, Montana, or Wyoming , with no field office behind them ... because that was the right thing to do. Their fingers were cold, because winter comes early there.
I can tell you ... with equal certainty that somewhere out there, this weekend, there was an Obama canvasser knocking doors in Alabama, Louisiana, or Mississippi, with no field office behind them ... because that was the right thing to do. They were sweating profusely, and being attacked by mosquitos. You know exactly what those bites feel like, in the hot sun.
I know this, because I started knocking here in Indiana, back in the first week of June, when the rumor was that there would be no Obama office, here in Tippecanoe Co., IN. And no: I don't live near Gary, nor Indianapolis. (Our office did open in July. I first got confirmation at the end of June.)
This diary entry is especially dedicated to you - the lone Obama canvasser.
(I'll admit to tearing up a bit on that one...jeez... is this guy passionate or what?)
Dear Chicago, Don't forget us Hoosiers, Oct 15, 2008
The evidence suggests that I've knocked more doors in IN, than any other vol. canvasser (est. 15K incl'g the primary, and blinds).
I was knocking doors for Obama with a box of Philly speeches saved from the primary, and some photocopied policy lit, back in June, when everyone had given up IN for dead. We've gone back-and-forth between various classifications, and at the end of the day - we appear to lag behind our "sister states" (NC, MO). In other words, we are now being left by Chicago for dead.
Chicago, don't forget that we held the line, during the primary. We survived the "second coming" of Rev. Wright. Indiana Democrats are a tough breed, and we need help ...
http://www.dailykos.com/... Nov 9, 2008
Barack is practically President of the World now, and it couldn't be sweeter. I'm not sure downticket cand.s have done that well (at least not here), and I'm sad about that.
This site has been a great source of inspiration to me, and to many folks who have worked so tirelessly in the red states. I recently met a guy who had knocked doors in Alabama. I gave him a button, a bumper sticker, and a rally sign.
Have you met anyone who has knocked doors down south? Have you?
Please trust me, next cycle ... we'll be down there to knock doors for you - in Alabama, Mississippi, and everywhere. We want to turn the whole nation Barack Blue.
I skipped a bunch of diaries in between. They are all worth reading. Raj worked his butt off, canvassing in a Republican state for America's first black president. He is one of the unsung heroes of the Obama Campaign. He did the hard work in the hardest parts of the country. It was people like him who helped Obama win Indiana, a state, as he pointed out repeatedly, that had not gone for a Democrat since FDR. Read Raj's diaries. His passion, dedication, and determination is infectious.
After Obama won, there was still much to do for the self-decribed "Mad Canvasser of Indiana." He continued to advocate organizing and campaigning in red states, long after the inauguration. He was doing exactly what Howard Dean envisioned, working the 50 state strategy long after the election was over. Even in Oklahoma.
Then Raj went quiet. That lasted a little over two years.
Now Raj speaks to us with a very different voice:
Steel the Bipartisan Mills and Sail Away, Mr. Pres. Jul 6, 2011
There's nothing even remotely bipartisan about the GOP. As Rachael Maddow has repeatedly and eloquently explained with her "Charlie Brown and Lucy" metaphor, the Republicans continue to shift the debate to the right.
If Democrats embrace the GOP's notion of an individual mandate to purchase health care insurance - as an alternative to "single payer" - then the Repubs will eschew the notion of an individual mandate as unacceptable, not to mention downright unconstitutional. If we back off the idea of greenhouse gas limits in favor of "cap and trade," then that will also become an anathema for the GOP. No matter what the Democratic Party does, in an attempt to compromise, or regardless of any Republican policy that a Democratic President embraces, the GOP will reject all such olive branches in favor of an even more hard-line position. And while the "tea partiers" have exacerbated this trend, it's not new: Republicans have been doing it for at least a decade now.
...
All sneering aside, I confess to having a few second thoughts about my decison to support Barack over Hillary. It was a hard choice, because I thought the world of both of them. Sadly, I now fear that President Obama cannot "give 'em Hell" in the way either Harry or Hillary could've ... if only because of his ethnic background, and the sad reality that many folks in this country would be threatened by the prospect of an "angry Black man." (Even if he's right, and even if he's our President.)
He wrote a diary entitled As usual Dems will yield. And then another where he made very astute observations that the GOP was playing an elaborate bluff on the Democrats in the debt ceiling negotions, something many of us have been saying for some time.
Look, I don't really care where you stand on getting Obama re-elected, the truth is we have no other choice. He certainly hasn't lived up to expectations, and he isn't even all that great a president as far as presidents go. But he's all we got. Our job is to make him hurt when he fucks up, and welcome him home when he does good. That is how you are supposed to treat family. At least that's my view of things.
But for people like Raj, Obama has to do his part too. We can't lose Raj. We need Raj no matter of you support President Obama or not. Raj is exactly the kind of American that we need at the very foundation of the Democratic Party. We can't make it, and certainly Obama can't make it, without people like Raj doing the grunt work of democracy. We can't have Raj, of all people, reconsidering.
To Raj, if you see this, I just want to say thank you for all you have done. This coastal democrat appreciates you. I too know what its like to get out there and hit the bricks and knock on doors, although not nearly as often or as much as you. And certainly not in bad weather. But what you are doing out there in Red America means a lot to me and a lot of other loyal Democrats I'm sure. It's very hard to be Democrat. I've been one all my life. Leadership, very often, lets you down. But we can't give in to defeat. Its okay to be cynical. I think cynicism is as healthy as skepticism. As healthy as optimism. But no matter what, the fight for what we believe in has to be fought. Sometimes against our own folks, but mostly against Republicans. You're a good man Raj. Hang in there.
If there is any way I can use my platform to help you in your red state struggle, let me know. I'll be happy to help.
7:53 AM PT: I think it would mad cool to send Raj a word of encouragement via message. Don't you?