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My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

There’s some extremely good trouble headed their way.

I personally stopped the public option…

This really is a full service blog.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

I can’t take this shit today. I just can’t.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

It was down to kool-aid drinkers and next of kin at the trump White House

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We are aware of all internet traditions.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

We need fewer warriors in public service and more gardeners.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

It’s not even safe to go out and pick up 2 days worth of poop anymore.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

We have all the best words.

Saul Alinsky is my co-pilot.

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So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

No one could have predicted…

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You are here: Home / Organizing & Resistance / Don't Mourn, Organize / We meet again!

We meet again!

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I canvassed with this nice person last Sunday, and he agreed to let me share this photo with you:

We were all a little wind-blown by this point, so don’t judge.

I met him once before at an Occupy event (which I covered here for Balloon Juice), and he’s still an active member of that group. He came out to help us with the canvass on his own, not as a member of Occupy. In any event, whatever his affiliations, we were a canvass team and it went well, although you may not be able to pick that up from the photo where he looks a little wary. We polled on Obama and also Sherrod Brown.

I spoke with an older woman for a while who will vote for Obama because she’s as much a radical feminist as any Catholic nun, although she was really concerned about the health care law. She believes Democrats cut Medicare, probably because conservatives and media spent two years telling her Democrats cut Medicare. I asked her if she had noticed any cuts in Medicare and she said “no” and then we just stood there looking at each other. Here’s a RCP Ohio poll average. Obama’s up about 5.

The two (paid) organizers who are working here also went out to canvass. I think that alone will give them more credibility with local volunteers than anything they could say. If they’re asking people to canvass in this overwhelmingly conservative area, they have to be willing to go first, and they did.

Obama and the First Lady are holding a rally at Ohio State on May 5th. I won’t be able to go because I will be in Pittsburgh, and Ohio State is a hike for me anyway, but I imagine they’ll draw a crowd.

What: Rally with the President and First Lady in Columbus

Where: The Schottenstein Center
The Ohio State University
555 Borror Drive
Columbus, OH 43210

When: Saturday, May 5th
Doors open at 10:30 a.m. (time subject to change)

Reader Interactions

67Comments

  1. 1.

    Anya

    Kay, you and the nice gentleman deserve our undying gratitude. Since I am jobless these days, I promised my OFA friends that I will volunteer with the Obama campaign. I hate upstate New York, so I won’t work in my backyard, instead I’ll volunteer with the folks in North Carolina (like I did last time). I can stay there for two weeks with my friends, but I can also do phone banking, fundraising and other stuff.

  2. 2.

    meander

    “I asked her if she had noticed any cuts in Medicare and she said “no” and then we just stood there looking at each other.”

    You might also ask her if she — or any of her friends or family — have noticed that the “donut hole” is gone from the Medicare prescription drug plan. Filling that hole is one of the big accomplishments of Obamacare, and one more thing that the GOP’s repeal of the law would take away from seniors.

    In December, Jonathon Cohn wrote this at The New Republic:

    Under the terms of the Affordable Care Act – yes, Obamacare – pharmaceutical companies provide a 50 percent discount on name-brand drugs for seniors who hit the “donut hole.” The donut hole is the gap in coverage that begins once a individual Medicare beneficiary has purchased $2,840 in drugs over the course of a year. At that point, the beneficiary becomes completely responsible for prescription costs – in other words, he or she has to pay for them out of his pocket – until he or she has spent another $3,600.

  4. 4.

    Kay

    @Anya:

    It’s easy in Ohio because it’s like Presidential Central.

  5. 5.

    rikryah

    kay,

    did you see this article?

    Can cash-strapped cities afford the 2012 election?

    The economy looms large over November’s general election in a basic way for strapped cities and counties: can they afford it?

    In Detroit, the city clerk warned last week that the Rust Belt city would have trouble holding the November 6 presidential election under a slimmed-down budget the mayor proposed to address years of deep financial problems.

    In Jefferson County, Alabama, the local government was so short of cash for elections that it used road repair crews to staff the state’s Republican presidential primary last month.

    And in South Carolina, a $500,000 shortfall after the state’s Republican primary in January led elections officials to consider a sponsorship deal with comedian Stephen Colbert, who plays a mock conservative pundit on his late-night TV show.

    With cities and counties across the United States in dire financial straits, many local officials are struggling to come up with the millions of dollars they will need to hold the November 6 elections. That is likely to mean fewer election workers and long lines for voters, which could reduce turnout.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/25/us-usa-campaign-elections-idUSBRE83O0YN20120425?feedType=RSS&feedName=everything&virtualBrandChannel=11563

  7. 7.

    evap

    Kay, thanks for your updates and all you do. Keep those reports coming! I will sleep better knowing Obama is ahead in Ohio and I’ll hope for coattails to help Sherrod Brown.

    It’s become very personal for me – my daughter is graduating from college in May and does not yet know what she will be doing after graduation. If the ACA is overturned, she will not be able to stay on my health insurance, a scary thought.

  8. 8.

    cckids

    @rikryah: I saw that as well. Yikes. It confirms my long-held belief that the only way the Republicans win this year is to steal it.

    And FSM knows, they’re going to be trying.

  9. 9.

    ant

    the wisconsin republican party called me yesterday to ask two polling questions.

    1. do i approve of gov walker.

    2. would i vote for walker in the recall election.

    it was a real live person, the caller id gave up a number from waukesha, and the call lasted all of about 15 seconds.

    I wonder if my vote for frothy triggered this event…..

    is that the kinda stuff yall are doing? you’re knocking on doors eh?

    nice to hear cause if OH goes blue this fall, then Obama’s got er locked down pretty much.

    so thanks.

  10. 10.

    Kay

    @rikryah:

    I did. I honestly can’t keep up with voter suppression. It’s a full-time job, just reading the daily horrors.

    The Ohio bill to cut out early voting was stopped in the lower chamber last night, so that’s a good thing. It’s coming back up, though.

  11. 11.

    Linda Featheringill

    He seems like a nice fellow.

    If he is affiliated with Occupy, perhaps he could report to Balloon Juice, in an open thread or something, about his experiences. We would really like to hear about them.

    A Fellow Ohioan

  14. 14.

    4tehlulz

    Is Obama going to hand out copies of Mitt’s WSJ editorial beforehand?

    Actually, the campaign should just mail a copy to everyone in Ohio to remind them whose side Mitt was on when shit was going down.

  15. 15.

    Hill Dweller

    OT: VP Biden gave a foreign policy speech this morning, and dropped this now familiar line, but with a twist:

    Trotting out what’s already become a well-worn campaign line, that “Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive,” Biden offered a twist: “If Governor Romney had been president, could he have used the same slogan in reverse?”

  20. 20.

    Scott S.

    @Hill Dweller: Wow, that’s a hell of a smackdown line.

    I hope we get to see more of it, at least partly because the GOP will decide they have to double-down and keep talking about how they want to close more businesses and support more terrorists.

  21. 21.

    trollhattan

    @Hill Dweller:

    That definitely left a mark.

    Benen did some quote collecting today, also, too. Take it away, Orangeman:

    Q: Last week the acting OMB director sent a letter to Congressional appropriators saying that basically the top line agreed to in the Budget Control Act, that the President would veto it if it’s not met.
    __
    BOEHNER: Blah blah blah blah blah, alright, so?
    __
    Q: Is that an official response?
    __
    BOEHNER: Yes.

    That’s some leadery leadership.

  22. 22.

    TooManyJens

    @4tehlulz:

    Actually, the campaign should just mail a copy to everyone in Ohio to remind them whose side Mitt was on when shit was going down.

    I would donate to that effort in a heartbeat.

  23. 23.

    LGRooney

    Don’t judge?! Until every last anonymous poster here puts up a picture of him/herself, we have no room to judge anything.

  24. 24.

    Southern Beale

    I asked her if she had noticed any cuts in Medicare and she said “no” and then we just stood there looking at each other.

    Priceless!

    Gas prices are also falling, but with Fox News talking about how they’re rising all the time, I’m sure people won’t notice that discrepancy, either.

  25. 25.

    Joey Maloney

    kay, all respect to you for canvassing. I was a canvasser/fundraiser for Citizen Action groups back in the mid-80s. I loved it but it was the hardest job I’ve ever had.

  26. 26.

    LGRooney

    @evap: Come on do some better marketing than that! You have to let us know, graduating in what? Who knows whether someone here might know someone who might know someone…

  28. 28.

    Culture of Truth

    Thank you for canvassing.

    Boehner has a plan to complain to the media that Obama should not be campaigning.

    Good luck with that Tropicana

  31. 31.

    Hunter Gathers

    OT

    Q: Last week the acting OMB director sent a letter to Congressional appropriators saying that basically the top line agreed to in the Budget Control Act, that the President would veto it if it’s not met.

    BOEHNER: Blah blah blah blah blah, alright, so?

    Q: Is that an official response?

    BOEHNER: Yes.

    I await Bobo’s upcoming column declaring Boehner a principled, Burkean moderate.

    (via)

  32. 32.

    Some Loser

    The right wing media machine working, I see. I haven’t worked/volunteered in that field yet, but I bet you see this kind of ignorance even among left-leaning voters. People trust CNN and MSNBC too much.

  34. 34.

    the Conster

    @Hunter Gathers:

    Boehner meant to say black black blackity black black, alright?

    That’s all they’ve got, so that’s all you’re going to hear, officially. Blah is a Burkean bell dog whistle.

  35. 35.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    @Hunter Gathers:

    BOEHNER: Blah blah blah blah blah, alright, so?

    __
    So the Party of NO is now the Party of BLAH? Wow, that sure beats all as a winning slogan. I wonder what they paid the makeover consultants to come up with that one? Frank Luntz wept.
    __
    I must admit though, I never would have picked Boehner out as a closet Rick Santorum fan.

  36. 36.

    LGRooney

    @evap: Okay, so knows how to write and research? Any given specialty? I can’t think of anything directly around me but, here in DC, things are always popping up.

  38. 38.

    rikryah

    Second poll out in Arizona pointing to a dead heat.

    Merrill/Morrison Institute. Arizona RVs. April 10-14, 16-20. ±4.4%.

    Romney: 42
    Obama: 40
    Behavior Research Centers/Rocky Mountain Poll. Arizona RVs. April 7-19. ±4.4%. (Jan results)

    Obama: 42 (37)
    Romney: 40 (43)

  39. 39.

    Culture of Truth

    Knock knock

    whos there

    Blah blah blah

    who

    Orange you glad I didn’t say John Boehner?

  40. 40.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Steve in DC:
    Man. That might have been effective if they’d held it to 30 seconds. As it goes on it starts dipping into twilight crazy land, and that’s good for us. When people start wondering if you’ll bring out a tinfoil hat, you’ve lost them.

  41. 41.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    @Culture of Truth:

    There once was a Man from Bain
    Whose speeches were exceedingly plain
    He preferred that the peasants
    All be roasted like pheasants
    And this stuck in his weathervane

    Thus The Media dids’t report
    That his polls numbers were short
    but don’t fret, he’ll catch the next train.

  42. 42.

    Patricia Kayden

    I love how after you pointed out her misunderstanding, she just stood there looking at you. Hopefully something clicked in her head and she can tell her friends/family that President O is not the dreaded Medicaid murderer.

  44. 44.

    Steve in DC

    @Frankensteinbeck

    I think you’re right, but it’s possible to compress it. I think though that this ad, and the Obamaville ad are a sign of what’s going to come once the general election starts. We’re going to see a slew of ads all highlighting the president, liberals, and liberal policies as items geared to destroy America.

    It’s only going to get worse.

  46. 46.

    kay

    @Joey Maloney:

    I don’t donate money so I donate time.

    I’d love to try a statewide campaign with no consultants. Instead of some people making big bucks and organizers making peanuts, just one statewide person/ master organizer and more at the bottom.

    I think there’s a political-industrial complex that looks a lot like the US business model. We pay people at the top too much. Even that out a little. Get rid of some of the top tier and push that money down.

    Walk the walk, as it were :)

    Just because we have a consultancy class doesn’t mean we need one.

  48. 48.

    Ash Can

    @trollhattan:

    BOEHNER: Blah blah blah blah blah, alright, so?

    Holy crap, that’s actually a verbatim quote. I assumed at first it was just a paraphrase of a load of standard ignore-the-question-and-self-aggrandize bullshit. But he really did say that.

    I’ll bet not a day goes by that Obama doesn’t say a little quiet prayer that after November he’ll once again be dealing with responsible grownups in the legislative branch.

  50. 50.

    JordanRules

    Popping in from work quickly to add myself to the chorus of thank you’s for Kay.

    Walking that good walk! Much appreciation!

  51. 51.

    Thoughtcrime

    OT: Paul Ryan now rejects Ayn Rand:

    “I reject her philosophy,” Ryan says firmly. “It’s an atheist philosophy. It reduces human interactions down to mere contracts and it is antithetical to my worldview. If somebody is going to try to paste a person’s view on epistemology to me, then give me Thomas Aquinas,” who believed that man needs divine help in the pursuit of knowledge. “Don’t give me Ayn Rand,” he says.

    Paul Ryan in 2009:

    …in a 2009 video he posted on his own Facebook page, in which he claims that contemporary America is “like we’re living in an Ayn Rand novel” and that “Ayn Rand, more than anybody else, did a fantastic job explaining the morality of capitalism, the morality of individualism, and that, to me, is what matters most.”

    http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/sarahposner/5921/

    Do you suppose he still forces his staff to read Atlas Shrugged?

  53. 53.

    Cato

    Breaking News!

    Romney now TIED with Obambi in the latest Fox News poll, and he’s up plus three in the Rasmussen tracking poll.

    Remember, folks, Rasmussen tracks “likely voters” and Fox News “registered voters”, so the Rasmussen poll is likely to be more accurate of who will actually show up in November (especially so thanks to the election integrity laws).

    Romney’s favorability ratings also continue to climb and climb, soon he’s going to be above water on that count, too, and then his polls will fucking SKYROCKET. This should be helped along by Karl Rove, no doubt.

    Come January, 2013, President Romney should send a big “Thank You” card to the Supreme Court…

  54. 54.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    @Thoughtcrime:

    Do you suppose he still forces his staff to read Atlas Shrugged?

    __
    These days, to be a modern Republican with national political ambitions, you have to read Jesus Shrugged instead. You know, the book that details how Jesus got sick of all the moochers and freeloaders, said Fuck The Poor, and relocated to Galt’s Heaven.

  56. 56.

    kay

    @Thoughtcrime:

    I think it’s funny that the Lefty religious got to him.

    Direct hit. Good for them.

    There is nothing bigger than the conservative ego. It can seen from space. No one in Wisconsin gives a shit about his favorite philosopher.

  57. 57.

    Thoughtcrime

    @Scott S.:

    It’s game on:

    President Barack Obama’s order to “go in and get Bin Laden” was made public Thursday, as recorded in a memo scribbled by then-CIA chief Leon Panetta shortly after the decision was made.

    Published by Time magazine as the first anniversary of the Al-Qaeda leader’s killing in Pakistan approaches, the succinct memo was written by hand and signed by Panetta on April 29, 2011 at 10:35 a.m.

    “The direction is to go in and get Bin Laden and if he not there, to get out,” wrote Panetta, who is now secretary of defense, in the memorandum…

    …Obama had chosen the riskiest option: a secret helicopter assault by US special forces on a compound in a Pakistani garrison town where Bin Laden was believed to be hiding….

    http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/26/obamas-get-bin-laden-memo-now-public/

    Multiple Choice Mitt can’t even risk a final opinion.

  58. 58.

    dmsilev

    @Thoughtcrime: Actually, Mittens did offer an opinion back in 2007:

    In the campaign’s first major election speech on foreign policy, Vice President Joe Biden made extremely prominent use of an April 2007 Romney quote on bin Laden, in which he told the Associated Press “it’s not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person.”

    Of course, 2007 was roughly 12 Romneys ago, so I have no idea what his position is this week.

  62. 62.

    Ash Can

    @Thoughtcrime: Oh, for fuck’s sake. I’d say the guy has no balls and caved to the pressure the bishops were putting on him, but I understand he sent the bishops a great big fuck-you in the face today (h/t ThinkProgress), basically dismissing their authority in interpreting Church teaching. I happen to think there’s a modicum of truth in that basic sentiment, but naturally he’s saying it for the wrong reason, namely because the bishops think his budget proposals are just plain fucking sociopathic (and I happen to agree with them about that).

    Maybe Ryan really is lobbying hard for the Veep selection — “Hey, Mitt, look! I’m just like you! I’ll flipflop on anything!“

  63. 63.

    fasteddie9318

    She believes Democrats cut Medicare, probably because conservatives and media spent two years telling her Democrats cut Medicare. I asked her if she had noticed any cuts in Medicare and she said “no” and then we just stood there looking at each other.

    This has been another episode of “Tales from the Decline and Fall of America.”

  64. 64.

    stagemom

    you could say to the medicare-ites that things aren’t cut, except for waste! money has been shifted to “quality of life” costs (hearing aids, the donut hole, etc.) away from “extraordinary end-of-life saving” like invasive, uncomfortable, difficult heart surgeries for 90 yr olds.
    that’s why the cardiologists are pissed!

  65. 65.

    Kay

    @stagemom:

    I was hoping that the thing would be self-evident, because I think people are always more convinced if they get there themselves.

    I just want her to ponder that what she was told was IN FACT not true :)

    I’ve led about ten people to the healhcare.gov site in this office, and I don’t even connect it to “Obamacare” but they get there themselves.

    It makes me laugh:

    “Is this…. Obamacare?” Yup. Terrifying, isn’t it? Let’s go to the death panel tab!

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Trackbacks

  1. […] This is the sort of thing that makes me crazy. I spoke with an older woman for a while who will vote for Obama because she’s as much a radical feminist as any Catholic nun, although she was really concerned about the health care law. She believes Democrats cut Medicare, probably because conservatives and media spent two years telling her Democrats cut Medicare. I asked her if she had noticed any cuts in Medicare and she said “no” and then we just stood there looking at each other. […]