Throughout the primary season, there has been a great deal of positive discussion on this board and a welcome sharing of ideas. There has also been far too much vitriol between people on the same side of the fence. Thankfully, our respective candidates shared little of the latter and more of the former.
I'm struck be the ease of speaking harshly with each other when it's done anonymously. I suppose the expression of anger and frustration, in my case directed at the messianic fervor of the Deaniac community, is easier when there is no name and face behind it. I'm renouncing my anonymity here and encourage others to do the same. In the future, I'll be signing all my posts.
We're in this together. We've all lived under the rule of George Bush for three years and none (or very few) among us wish to live under that rule for four more. We've got a lot of work to do and I think it would be more easily accomplished if we knew who each other is. I think that perhaps we can share actions as well as words and we need to know each other, I think, by name and location to do that.
In my case, I live in Vermont, a clearly blue state (it better be), and I'm going to stay with a friend in Cleveland and work for Kerry for the month of October to do what I can to help win that state. There might be others here living in swing states who could offer similar lodging to others in blue states, also with the luxury of taking time off and willing to volunteer.
I encourage you all to make yourselves known.
Wayne Turiansky
Burlington VT
A little background info on me - Grew up in NYC, first campaign involved in was for reform Democratic Congressman William Fitts Ryan of Manhattan in 1964, passing out leaflets on the streets at rallies. Lived in Boston in the late '60s-early '70s and was involved in the anti-war effort. I recall well seeing and being impressed by John Kerry early on. Moved to Vermont in 1972 during the great Back-to-the-Land scare and immediately signed on to the McGovern campaign. The most thankless political task I ever endured was canvassing rural Vermont for George McGovern in '72 with a college student named David Wolk, who later served Howard Dean as head of the Vt. Dept of Education. First voted for Bernie Sanders when he ran for Senate as candidate of the Liberty Union party in the early '70s. Have voted for him at every opportunity since. My all-time favorite political figure - George McGovern. Least favorite has got to be the ever dangerous GW Bush.