Obama table in Madison: October 13 Edition

It was an somewhat chilly autumn day with lots of people from all over the globe walking along and choosing from all kinds of locally grown, baked, crafted and political flavors. The Obama table is one feature to many at what the New York Times mentioned "The Dane County Farmers' Market in Wisconsin is now recognized as the largest in the nation, and is still growing."

The night before the tabling, I made sure the weekly war scorecard was updated and very visible.

Here's this week's sad news:

Weekly War Scorecard

Cost of Iraq Occupation:
(running total):
$459,868,059,242

American Deaths:
3,827

American Wounded:
28,171

Iraqi Body Count:
1,085,134

As of October 12, 2007 at 12:00AM

Sources:
www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html
www.defenselink.mil
www.antiwar.com/casualties
www.costofwar.com



The buzz of Barack Obama coming to Madison on Monday was certainly a highlight to the day. Tickets were almost sold out and it helped having several students from UW (University of Wisconsin) handing out flyers about the event. They have done a lot of work chalking the sidewalks on campus and had made signs in preparation of the event. They have been to Iowa a couple of times to canvass or help out in other ways and are quite dedicated to the cause. (www.uw4obama.com)

About the event:

https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/C2Cmadison?source=eventcenter

As it has been in other weeks, a line would form where people wanting to sign up or get whatever we had to hand out. People from South Carolina, Missouri, California, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Massachusetts as well as Iowa and Illinois were there as well as many from Wisconsin to sign up or just wanted a bumpersticker and other information on the campaign to take along with them.. I talked with a few people from Europe who were in town visiting and wanted something to take back with them.

One of the first people to show up at the table were a wonderful couple from California who were doing Obama grassroots work for the latino community. They were so happy to see an Obama table that was still getting set up. We have some Obama literature in Spanish that I gave them to check out; they were impressed that we had that available.

This week also featured a woman and her two lovely children who came by to help out. We had a small helium tank and lots of balloons that they got ready and some Obama stickers that went on them. There was a lot of future voters with Obama balloons tied to their wrists and their beaming parents. Kids love balloons and with an Obama sticker on them, what could be better!

It seemed particularly like a wide cross current of people came by the table this week. Lots of people from all over the "political rainbow"... You have to sort of work for it to visit with our spot at the top of some steps. There is always plenty of time to see people approaching as they look up and see the Obama sign waving in the autumn air ten feet high. With balloons also attached and dancing in the wind, it really looks impressive. So many smiles...

With the Obama event happening tomorrow at the posting of this, there were a few advance people from the Obama campaign that stopped by. They had heard of our efforts and were very appreciative. It was fantastic meeting them and we all got the great news about the overwhelming number of tickets sold as well as some information about how solid the grassroots efforts were doing in Iowa and elsewhere.

Like any tabling event, there were always a few people that stick out from the many that just stop by briefly to get information, bumperstickers or stickers to take with them.

A couple Vietnam vets stopped by with very similar stories. Both were homeless. One vet, an African American gentleman,just wanted to look at the photos and in the books by Obama we have on display. He was fascinated with Barack's upbringing, as "Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" describes. His father, also named Barack Obama, was from Kenya's Luo tribe. His mother, Anna, had gone to Hawaii from Kansas with her parents. Obama's father left when Barack was 2, leaving his son with mother and grandparents. When Obama's father died in Kenya in 1982, Obama had met his Kenyan sister, Auma, in Chicago.

More is in the book, but it's a fascinating story of true American diversity. We tried to describe Barack's background to him and he was so proud. I asked him how he was doing and he mentioned he was sick "but getting some VA help".

Another vet, on crutches, made it up the stairs to talk about the war. I showed him the War Scorecard and he just looked sad and puzzled by the numbers. I gave him a stashed Obama button and he was off.

Another woman came by with a cardboard cutout of a polar bear that I had seen used in some global warming/climate change protests. The group does a skit about polar bears drowning from the ever rising melting waters in the Arctic and Antarctic (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article767459.ece). She had read about Obama's view on the environment and was impressed. She read a flyer we had that was from the web site:
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/environment/

She placed the bear next to the table and took a picture. I hope I get to see a copy, but I was already too busy with people coming by to take a photo myself. As she came back to the table to get the bear, I gave her a big hug and she tearfully told me that she wants to "bear witness about climate change" for her children.

Then there was an ROTC student who came by. He and some buddies were dressed in fatigues and had been running up and down State Street. He first came by asking about the event happening Monday and wanted information. We gave it to him and he left. Then he came back a couple minutes later and seemed like a different person. He started yelling and asking why Obama doesn't wear a flag pin anymore. "Rudy and Romney and Fred do, so what's wrong with Obama?"

Using a couple lines from Lewis Black's assessment of the non-issue (http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/10/10/daily-show-fox-equates-obamas-lapel-to-lewinsky-scandal/), I asked him if he was completely concerned with men's jewelry and perhaps had an opinion on what kind of cufflinks Obama should wear too.

Fortunately, there was a woman nearby (who had been given a couple Obama balloons for her kids) who asked the man if he understood what it means to be an American. She asked him why he thought it was so important for people who were not wearing flag pins to tell others that they needed to wear them to prove to be "more American". He was getting uncomfortable and his ROTC buddies nearby were getting restless. I had printed out a quartersheet flyer that had Obama's statement on the non-issue:



He took off taking the paper with him and his buddies seemed happy that he had said something to me. I just felt sorry for them as they ran off into the crowd. In a couple years, they could be in body bags from dying in a brutal civil war. Those kind of exchanges haunt me more than anything.

As usual, there were the many people happy to see someone out in the streets supporting Obama. Without even saying anything beforehand, many would mention that they really don't want certain candidates (particularly the current "frontrunner") to be the nominee. I just tell them to spread the word about Obama and perhaps put a bumpersticker on their car. And of course, make sure to see Obama speak this Monday...

As we were packing up, someone who is doing work for the Edwards campaign stopped by and was very cordial and expressed a sincere "good luck" with the event on Monday. That was a great way to end the day.

As we packed up and left, some of the UW students were still handing out flyers about the Monday event. People looked very enthusiastic and gladly took a flyer. I gave them a few dozen bumperstickers to hand out as we left.

Monday's visit awaits and it is going to be fantastic! Look for a report on it when I get back.

:kick: and rec...

Thanks. :)

I thought of this series of posts yesterday and was looking forward to this week's report. You did not disappoint!

You must be very excited about Obama's visit! Please, please, please post a report on that event!

Thanks for all the hard work you are doing for your candidate and for taking the time to post it all for us here. I really enjoy reading about all the people you interact with.

Cheers--
Julie

I just got back from the Obama visit in Madison and will be uploading photos and my take on the overpacked, excellent event shortly.

:thumbsup: