That is a quote from my boss about Barack Obama. To underscore what that means exactly, I'm a waiter at a small - but really quite nice - Italian restaurant five minutes from my house in Harrisburg, PA (a town, I can tell you with great confidence, that is firmly in the Obama column). He also owns a number of pizza shops with one opening in the new grocery store complex they are building as well as a bar in downtown Harrisburg. The people he employs are almost exclusively Republicans and try as I may there seems to be nothing I can do to convince them that the information they have on Barack Obama simply is not true. Every day the floor manager and the head chef are yammering about how Obama will raise our taxes and kill small business. My boss' response: "I'll take my chances."
Now we all know that Obama's tax plan provides relief to 95% of American workers, and if you've ever worked in the restaurant business you know that no one working in that industry is making over $250,000/ year, except maybe the owner. If you've ever worked in a restaurant you also know that you don't have health care or pensions, and if you miss a day of work, you may miss a rent payment or lose your job completely. If you get sick, the only thing you can do is hope you get better in three days or less. I keep hammering home the message of low-middle income tax cuts and health benefits and affordable college tuition that falls on deaf ears. I try my hardest everyday to convince them that, simply put, life will be better under an Obama administration.
No one gets it...except my boss. He was talking with the chef the other day about Obama's acceptance speech and how it gave him chills. He said that Barack Obama inspires him like no other politician ever has. And he did his best to understand why there is even a choice in this election.
"What is wrong with people?" he said, "There shouldn't even be an election. Look at these two candidates. He is one of us. He started out with nothing and worked his way up. He's a self-made man. His story IS the American Dream. And he cares about and wants to help people. The only people who should be voting for a Republican are billionaires. Those are the only people who Republicans help."
This is coming from a man who owns 4 pizza shops, a bar and an Italian restaurant that does $10,000 in sales a week without a liquor license. He drives to work in either his Hummer H2 (I know, I know, I'll talk to him about that) or any of his 3 Mercedes-Benz sedans. He just bought he and his wife a brand new iPhone and is in the process of remodeling his house. The man is wanting for nothing and even in this economy he's doing extremely well. And even he gets it.
Yesterday I had to listen to people go on and on about how great Sarah Palin did in her speech at the RNC. It took the only Democrat in the restaurant to point out that the only thing she did was tell jokes and insult the Barack Obama and Joe Biden. It wasn't until I said something that they realized the GOP doesn't have a single solution for any of the problems facing America. I had to speak up for them to see that the entire Republican platform is: P.O.W., 9/11, a twisted amalgam of half-truths, logical fallacies, double standards, fear-mongering, P.O.W. and 9/11 (it's in there twice for a reason).
I tell this story to point out that we need to keep working. Peoples minds are already made up. They know who they are voting for but not everyone is ready to vote. We need to keep registering right up to the deadline. We need to donate as much as we can between now and November 4. We need to canvass and phone bank and drive voters to the polls. We need to do everything we can to turn out Obama voters everywhere we can if we're going to win this election. We need to stay fired up and ready to go
And I tell that story to say thank you. To say thanks to all of you. After listening to regurgitated Republican talking points for 12 hours every day I start to doubt the strength and tenacity of our movement for change. I wonder if John McCain is actually making progress in this presidential race and I feel like there's nothing I can do. So every day after I get home from work and change into my pajamas and get my cup of decaf coffee I come here. I read about Sarah Palin's latest scandal, or how John McCain refuses to talk to CNN. I see videos and pictures of Obama events and Keith Olbermann's commentary and my faith is restored. And this week, after all the bitterness and derision of the RNC, I come here to vent with everyone in this wonderful community (and we all now know how the Republican Party feels about communities). You don't know me, and I don't know you but your words and pictures speak volumes of the character of this movement, and gives me hope for a new progressive majority.
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