Posted on 08/08/2004 10:34:01 PM PDT by staytrue
On the first Saturday of every month, the short North area of Columbus, Ohio, puts on Gallery Hop. The stores, mostly art galleries, stay open late and the entertainment district draws a large crowd. The short North, is generally liberal and a Kerry stronghold.
I went to the 8/7/04 edition for some non politcal amusement, and then I saw about 10 Kerry supporters working 3 intersections, handing out Kerry buttons and literature.
I decided that I could not let this go unchallenged. I walked back to my car and got my anti Kerry sign out and staked out an intersection across the street from the Kerry people. My sign read "John Kerry was not a leader in the US Senate. Kerry is not fit to lead this country."
For the next 3 hours, I engaged the public, stating my case against Kerry and for Bush. I had a lot of Kerry supporters voicing their disapproval, and I got the middle finger 10-12 times. But I also had about 15 people wanting to shake my hand. There was also a lot of thumbs up from Bush supporters, and a lot of expressions of gratitude that I was there in a Kerry district. The overall reaction was generally about 50-50, which for this area, is very good.
However, one Bush supporter in particular said, "It is about time you guys did something". This sentiment was also expressed by numerous others.
The Bush campaign and Karl Rove need to take notice that the ground campaign (retail politics) is just as important as the air campaign (mass media politics).
Freepers also need to be out there, taking chances and saying the things that need to be said.
I haven't kept close contact with my Amish/Mennonite side of the family since my mother died but I would assume the idea of the Amish voting is more hearsay that fact. I'd think one would convert to Mennonite before having much of anything to do with the "English". Mennonites on the other hand are a problem for the Bush camp. Their pacifism runs deeper than their traditional values. Given a choice between War and gay marriages they'd take the second (not trying to bad mouth, just stating my perception).
Back on the subject of the thread, down here in the hills of OH, I can't come up with an idea of how things are going. The intelligent Dem's I know are in great numbers backing Bush. Conversely I've heard several life-long republicans afflicted with the ABB syndrome. Not because of the war but because of the economy. Funny thing this ABB thing, no amount of logic can seem to penetrate! I'd like to think that logic will prevail but Portsmouth just got finished recalling their Mayor on allegations and inuendo so I've got a real weak faith in logic around these parts right now.
In Upper Arlington, Ohio, the Kerry signs on the front lawns, outnumber Bush signs by 20 to 1.
As with the 1996 and 1998 and 2000 elections, there is no money for grass roots use.
Instead, the "higher-ups" are spending the bulk of the money on "high end" video bites.
Thank you for doing more than the lot of them.
Bump.
What would you prefer he did, commit assault and battery?
Good for you!
What does that mean? Who are YOUR GUYS? Why didn't you ask him why HE isn't doing anything?
You are entitled to say this, since you made a brave stand. Thank you.
But he's not entitled.
Thanks for the GREAT inside infor, from gound-zero..I caught Hardball a few times last week, David Shuster did several reports from inside the state fair, same place you were..from his comments, and tape, ..you'd think that all the crowds and interest were at the Kerry booth...the favoerite linn, repeated ad nauseum, is that he's found many 2000 Bush voters whoa re now voting for Kerry, but not ONE 2000 Gore voter who now supports Bush..
I lived in Dayton OH in the early 80's. Columbus isn't quite the leftist haven as other Great Lakes capitol cities, but its close. A 50/50 response for Bush in that portion of liberal OH is damn good.
Kudos!
The Republican Party, national level, has yet to get a clue. Same for the Republican Party in Ohio, and the Republican Party in Franklin County.
The gop has left it's grass roots base to twist in the wind.
The Ohio leadership's policies toward tax increases would bring a tear to the eye of teddy keg.
The party is actively attacking a popular conservative (Blackwell) even though he's one of their own.
In Cowlumbus the gop couldn't even field a candidate to run against a very liberal democrat mayor.
Ohio is a "battleground state" and the race here is "too close to call".
The republican leadership has taken the support of their core for granted, and governed like democrats would like to.
It's going to get worse here before it gets better.
Yeah, it was my friend's going away party. This guy was a friend of his, also, so it would have been a little unseemly to clock him in the nose. Then, I would have been the "stereotype" of the conservative meathead who uses violence. The funny part is that he was Irish or something, so he can't vote anyway.
I finally ordered bumper stickers off the GWB website because every event I went to either didn't have a booth, or didn't have enough stuff to hand out. Bumper stickers and buttons should be everywhere - saturate the market - all politics is local - you know.
Hubby and I went to our county fair a couple of weeks ago and witnessed the exact same thing. The ratio of Bush to Kerry balloons/stickers/etc (balloons were the hot item) was probably 15:1. It was so great! Later on in the evening there was a rodeo. They presented the colors and played the national anthem. Everyone in the stands started singing along. Quietly at first, then louder when people started realizing that everyone else was singing, too. It brought tears to my eyes.
We attended the County Fair this weekend. The republicans were there, and so were the Kerry supports, right across the aisle. The boyfriend wanted a Kerry button so he could put the red diagonal line through it, so he headed over. I RAN to the fudge line knowing that he would NOT be silent, and I wanted a good seat. The Kerry Clone grabbed him and said, "are you registered to vote?" He said, "yeah, I'm registered. Registered Republican when I was 18 years old and I'm still a registered Republican at 50." She turned all sorts of red and said, oh good, good.
Turns out the Kerry table was charging a buck for the buttons. Boyfriend didn't need the joke so bad he'd part with a hard earned dollar...... As he was walking away he yelled over to me "DO YOU BELIEVE IT? THEY'RE CHARGING A BUCK FOR THE KERRY BUTTONS! HOW CHEAP CAN YOU GET? WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THAT DISNEY MONEY?"
Can't take him anywhere.....
I've been wanting this as a bumper sticker. Any ideas? I guess I can make my own with some avery...
The Ohio State fair is Bush country. But we can not ignore our urban support either which is where Gallery Hop is located. I also saw Grand Funk Railroad. They were good.
bttfl
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