Hey all,
We all know that getting Martin elected is pretty important down here. However, since I don't have anything super intelligent (anything new anyways) to say about the Senate race, I wanted to indulge in an on-the-ground report of doing some Obama campaigning. My sample size is pretty limited (let's call it two "flash polls"), being as it is confined to a couple of football games on a Southern college campus.
The story below...
You see, I am a doctoral student at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Aside from being a preeminent technical college in the nation (MIT is the Georgia Tech of the North, as they say), Tech is a typical Southern college. In other words, football is a sacred ritual, especially gameday tailgating. This year, Tech is surprisingly strong as well, having clutched to a chance to make it to the ACC championships by making it through Flordia State (which was the game I was at this weekend).
So, I'm a pretty busy guy, but have been in the College Democrats on campus for some time. I've done what I can, and what I can includes passing out some custom-made "Jackets for Obama" stickers at football games. I never saw this for Kerry, or really a strong Democratic presence on campus much before two years ago. It's pretty amazing to see a Democratic presidential candidate being taken with any kind of seriousness down here.
Of course, you may think this is a college, and college students are liberal. Not in all cases. My pet theory is that engineering (my major, and something I am pretty damned good at, I don't mind saying) is a very individualistic study. Sure, your classmates can help and study with you, but at the end of the day, there is a lot of "rank and yank" going on. Many former engineering majors fall by the wayside, and those that don't are still subjected to pretty brutal study regimens and difficult testing. You can see how the "those that work hard" versus the "lazy recipients of your tax money" rhetoric plays out pretty well here.
That's all the background. Now, the first game at which I handed out stickers (bellowing rather loudly in carnival barker to "come one, come all" to get them) was the second week of October. I got a lot of angry yells from fraternity brothers at my offers. Lots of "No'bama," boos, swear words, and so forth. It wasn't everyone, but enough to rattle me a bit.
The second game against FSU was worlds different. I got a little static and hostile looks, but it was mostly appreciative. Even some fraternity brothers told me what flaming libs their house had become and asked for large rows of stickers. Florida State fans told me how they had already voted or how they'd love to wear the "Jackets for Obama" even though Tech was the one of the few teams that could challenge them. People told me how long they'd waited to vote (2-4 hours in most cases) and how happy they were to see the party not entirely dominated by the McCain folks.
Aside from the awesome game, it has been quite heartwarming to see our club's "Jackets for Obama" design on many, many shirts in the stands (with "Yes We Can" calls to me while I milled about at halftime). Also, on the past couple of days on campus, I have seen them on bags, laptops, and so on. It's pretty amazing to see so deep into the South ... Obama is going to have something special if the votes much the polls in a couple of days.
Last day tomorrow ... here's to closing Act One in revitalizing our country soon.
Update: Here's the sticker.