Pennsylvania

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-28-2003
Pennsylvania
22
Wed, 09-15-2004 - 8:43am
Haven't been able to read the boards of late and I just popped in to share. Spent Sunday canvassing in PA for Kerry/Edwards and a Dem PA Congressional candidate. Spoke to a lot of Registered Republicans. 1/3 were solid Bush, 1/3 were solid "anybody but Bush" and 1/3 weren't sure who to vote for, but most importantly weren't opposed to voting for Kerry. I think from this experience there is a good chance PA will turn blue - forget what the polls say (hearing about a lot of weaknesses in these polls - such as they use more registered Republicans or they don't include the 1 MILLION newly registered voters across the country (I think that number is too low by the way, in my county alone we've had several thousand newly registered)) A lot of really nice people and not one rude interaction (unless you call the President of the housing group who threatened to call the police because we weren't allowed to solicit - which we weren't, typical scare tactic, but that wasn't even rude. I even got the guy to laugh when I said I opposed him wanting to take down the Bush/Cheney sign his neighbor had, which was also against the rules, because I was all for Free Speech - even if I didn't agree with the sign.) My local county took over 100 people, including a WWII vet on oxygen, in "Kerry-vans" - people carpooling to PA. There are other weekends that they're going as well as groups such as ACT and Move-on. My first time canvassing and I really enjoyed it. It was a lot easier after your first door knocking! (And I hear it's the same with phone banks - easier after your first few calls) :-) I told my husband it was like golf, after that one great conversation (great shot in golf), you're hooked. :-)

Sorry this is so rushed/disjointed, but I really thought this was a great experience. Out of the solid Bush camp were a few who worked for the pharmaceutical companies in the area. I don't know that I could put my company before my country, but these same people weren't opposed to reading the campaign literature we had either.

Another reason it was so great is the people that I rode up with - a very diverse group, we had some great conversations on everything from stem cell research to Medicare to rising college costs to Iraq. I'm very optimistic from the weekend, not just the people who volunteered but the almost 3,000 people that were contacted this weekend IN ONE DAY!!!

Lastly, for those who don't think the Democratic party is organized - you don't know this group or this year. I understand why the media won't report it, but it doesn't mean that there isn't a great grassroots movement out there to elect John Kerry and John Edwards to the White House. Chin up Dems and Kerry supporters, it's amazing in the field. Join the fight!!!

The moral of the story is push away from the computer, get off your butt and go volunteer for the cause! Bush Suporters, please remain seated.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 07-12-2001
In reply to: mnmgla
Wed, 09-15-2004 - 8:58am
Just had to click on your message since I live in Pennsylvania. :-) Where are you located? I'm in State College.

I've heard lots of predictions that Pennsylvania is going to Kerry. Have one friend who is so sure of it he is going to vote for a third-party candidate (Libertarian) instead of the two main candidates; otherwise he would have voted "against Kerry" (meaning "for Bush," although he says he's not a big Bush fan but he dislikes Kerry even more).

As for me, I'm leaning toward Bush .... but, as I said before, it will be a matter of choosing the devil I know over the one I don't.

Bev

girl in chair
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-28-2003
In reply to: mnmgla
Wed, 09-15-2004 - 9:11am
I'm not in PA, I live in Maryland. Since we're pretty blue, except the Governor who snuck in during an off year - but we'll fix that in 2006, we decided that we'd focus on swing states over the weekends. We are in no way ignoring our own state, having spent the summer adding thousands to the voter registration rolls (the election office can't keep up). But we think our time is better spent helping out in the swing states. PA with 21 electoral votes is our favorite. Some have gone to WV too, but WV only has 5 electoral votes. Lastly, some are also trying to help out in Virginia. There's a tougher battle there but they're making huge strides there every week.

I'm pretty fortunate to have researched Kerry and I'm happy to say I actually like him. It's hard to say you can't decide between the lesser of two evils, and I'm glad I don't have to say that. I probably wouldn't go door to door if I didn't believe in Kerry.

Don't believe everything Bush says. I don't think we really know Bush at all. There's a reason the letters "BS" are in Bush's name.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-12-2001
In reply to: mnmgla
Wed, 09-15-2004 - 9:23am
"There's a reason the letters 'BS' are in Bush's name."

Sorry, but you folks are gonna have to do better than that if you want my vote. Trite, formulaic catch-phrases and bumper-sticker slogans don't work with me. And they are what I truly loathe about political campaigns.

Bev

girl in chair
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-06-2004
In reply to: mnmgla
Wed, 09-15-2004 - 10:07am
Good for you! My husband canvassed for Dean, when he was in the running, and now for Kerry. He said it's the best way to really find out what people in your town are concerned about! So he & his brother take their little precinct maps, voter registration formsand hit the road most weekends. They even helped uncover a small scandal in our town: there are people set up everywhere (outside supermarkets, dept. stores, etc) to register you to vote. It was discovered that people who thought they had registered as Democrats were not, but Republican. The ones helping them fill out the form would say to "just leave that box blank (the party affiliation one) and we'll finish it up and send it on FOR you!" Yeah, guess which box they were checking! So a lot of them got re-registered with the party they wanted.
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-12-2001
In reply to: mnmgla
Wed, 09-15-2004 - 10:14am
"It was discovered that people who thought they had registered as Democrats were not, but Republican. The ones helping them fill out the form would say to 'just leave that box blank (the party affiliation one) and we'll finish it up and send it on FOR you!' Yeah, guess which box they were checking!"

Good grief! If those people were dumb enough to actually let someone do that, are you sure the Dems really want them?

Bev

girl in chair
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-06-2004
In reply to: mnmgla
Wed, 09-15-2004 - 10:28am
Sure we want them! We have a large migrant farm worker population, and also a large population of Hmong/Lao folks. A lot of these are brand new citizens whose English may not be so great, so they were grateful for a little help, to their detriment, unfortunately. There were also some elderly in the group, and young people---brand new voters. So I wouldn't say it was that they were dumb, just a little too trusting maybe. But I don't know.......may have been a few dumb ones in there!
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-28-2003
In reply to: mnmgla
Wed, 09-15-2004 - 3:43pm
I don't know what I can tell you about Kerry to help you get to know him. But here's my shot. I'm sure you already know the military stuff and hopefully what you know is correct. After the war he went to law school and became a district attorney setting up rape counseling center for women. He's been in the Senate for 21 years, and is a small business supporter and environmental champion. The biggest thing I think he's worked on is the BCCI scandal before it was popular to follow the money in terrorist cases and he took a lot of heat for his investigations even from within his own party - he continued with them even though it seemed like political suicide. Maybe not the most distinguished of political careers (please remember Bush had only been governor for a few years before running for Pres.) but sometimes it's the small things that make the man or even only one event as Bush would have you believe.

I agree that on the issues for my part, there's a lot of ABB. I think Bush has been catstrophic on several fronts. Even if I conceded that the economy was on the decline at the end of the Clinton term, I still feel Bush had more to do with the continued decline than the effects of 9/11. I don't feel that Bush has really done anything to prevent another attack of terrorism. I lay the blame of the increased unemployment, higher numbers of uninsured, rising costs of Medicare, prescrition drugs, gas and healthcare in general at Bush's feet. I'm disappointed that the gun ban wasn't reinstated. I work in the power industry and I see Bush failures - lack of EPA muscle, OSHA weakening, infrastructure ignored, etc. - that will continue blackouts in the future. No Child Left Behind underfunded by $7.5 billion. New jobs paying $9K less. Bush is only focused on one thing - making money for his cronies, and for that I give him high marks. If you're not part of his base you're screwed. I want a President who represents us all. I also want all the bumperstickers I see, "United We Stand" to be true as I feel the divide daily. This race isn't dirty just between the candidates but with people on the whole - yard signs stolen, people run off the road, bricks through windows, lawns chemically burned in support of one candidate or another. We are not united - and if we're not united we can't defend ourselves from terrorism very well, we'll be too focused on our differences.

But I really think aside from all of that, because I don't trust Politicians to solve our problems anyway, it comes down to character and who I want to lead. Both Bush and Kerry are sons of privilege. But one seems to relied on Daddy a whole lot and one "made himself" if that's possible when you have money behind you. I don't trust that Bush really found religion, I think he found whatever was politically in his best interests. I don't trust his secrecy, his unwillingness to admit he was wrong, his inability to face criticism or the media, or the fact that he won't acknowledge any of the military deaths from Iraq. I see him constantly distorting Kerry's words to suit himself, but he has nothing to offer himself. He hasn't shown me anything in the last four years to show me he deserves another four years. I feel I can trust Kerry (as much as you can any politician) and I think he'll bring back some dignity to the White House, he can unite the country so we're not at each others throats, and I think he'll bring a great team to Washington that can help us get back on track.

Not a sound bite and a bit long - and probably not as coherent as I'd like but I was strapped for time. I'm glad you're not like most of the populace that likes sound bites. It gives me hope there are others who will look at the issues before pulling the lever on Nov 2nd. Most I talk to however, prefer sound bites and slogans sadly.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-12-2001
In reply to: mnmgla
Wed, 09-15-2004 - 3:49pm
Thanks for such a thoughtful post. I guess I should have said from the beginning that *my* one and only concern in this election is the war on terrorism and homeland security. You say you don't think Bush has done a good job in that regard. What is it about Kerry that makes you think he'll do any better?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Bev

girl in chair
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-24-2004
In reply to: mnmgla
Wed, 09-15-2004 - 4:08pm
I am sending donations to the SwiftVets. They are doing more to educate the general voters about the character or lack thereof of John Kerry than any other organization at this time.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-06-2004
In reply to: mnmgla
Wed, 09-15-2004 - 4:17pm
Wow, great post. You certainly summed it up in a nutshell, those are all reasons why we are voting for Kerry too. We were disappointed in the turnout of the 2000 election, but resigned ourselves to give Bush a chance; but like you, we just don't feel he's earned another four years. Living in Enron-raped CA, we dread any more blackouts. And being a mother with children (and asthma) I also worry about having a non-environmentally friendly administration......

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