‘Lets make History’ was the theme of the Hillary Clinton rally in Sunland Park, NM. Overall the rally was a success, at least in my opinion. In the Sunland Park community and the surrounding Borderland its easy to feel ignored and this event really made people feel ‘important’. I was impressed that they chose this community but it makes sense. Sunland Park has the second biggest voting block in Dona Ana County behind Las Cruces, and this community went heavily for Sen. Hillary Clinton in the primaries.
Before the Rally…
So before the rally in Sunland Park I was supposed to serve as a canvass captain [I train the peeps that have never canvassed before] in Anthony. Our HQ decided to do a mega blitz of canvassing, we had the most volunteers ever in the office this weekend [could it be that we promised all volunteers VIP passes to the HRC event?] So I was rushing to the office in the morning because I was hella late, [as usual] and my carpool was all confused. We had gotten lost trying to get Sunland, when we got to Sunland we were told to go back to Anthony, and then because we were an hour late I was speeding and apparently in NM all residential areas are 25 mph [in TX its 30], and with my luck I got pulled over by a cop a block from the damn office [yes I got a ticket!]. I was having a rough morning to say the least, so by the time I got to the office all I wanted to do was go back home and bury my head under a pillow. But I still canvassed like a good little Obama Fight Club member. I got a lot of ‘Not Homes,’ meaning we didnt reach very many voters in the particular turf we were working. So we went back to the office and because me and my canvassing partner had finished a packet we were given our passes to the event.
+Canvassing in Anthony, NM+
+Canvassing in Anthony, NM+
At the Rally…
When we got to the event it was already 1:15, and so a lot of people were already there [doors opened at 1]. There were no metal detectors or anything which I thought was weird, but I made my way to the VIP section and waded through the crowd to stand right behind a lady who was against the rail. I was pretty psyched! So the event was supposed to start at 2:30 but Senator Clinton was an hour late. I made friends with the lady in front of me bearing in mind that I had to because I wanted to squeeze in next to her to get near the rail.
+the crowd eagerly awaits Sen. Clinton’s arrival+
+the VIP section+
+the supprters on stage try to catch a glimpse of Sen. Clinton+
My mission for the rally: Get a picture with Hillary Clinton.
Obama HQ mission for the rally: Get more ppl to show up to this event than the McCain one that was happening 20 minutes away.
Seemingly impossible? Maybe.
+Hillary Clinton addresses crowd at Elena Memorial Park in Sunland Park, NM+
Hillary Clinton’s speech was pretty spectacular. The crowd was very receptive and she touched on a variety of topics. She addressed the notion [which is popular in this area] that there is no difference between the Republicans and the Democrats and put it to rest. And she seemed very sympathetic in the speech, having seen her previously I can say that her speech style has improved greatly. Not only did she speak very highly of Obama and Biden, she also shored up support for the downticket races in NM. Some notable quotes:
“I am very confident that America will rise from the ashes of the Bushes if we elect Barack and Joe on November the 4th.”
“Jobs, baby, jobs!”
“We cant forget the real reason why we’re here. We’re here because we are desperate for change, we are yearning for it, we need it, we want it; but it doesn’t come by wishing for it, it comes by voting for it.”[my favorite]
[regarding the choice between Obama and McCain]
“The choice that you make will set the course of our nation for a generation.”“It may seem like we’re a long way from Washington but decisions in Washington will determine what happens right here. Sunland Park, NM will either be helped or hurt by who our next president is…there is no doubt in my mind that if we have the kind of leadership that we can expect from Barack Obama and Joe Biden, the people of Sunland Park, NM will feel the positive results and the difference that your choice, as voters, made.”
“Barack and I may have started on different paths, but we’re on the same path now, and that’s to the White House.”
+Hillary Clinton addresses crowd at Elena Memorial Park in Sunland Park,NM+
+++video I took+++
+++more footage HERE+++ [Scroll a bit down…Look for ‘Clinton campaigns for Obama’…I suggest starting around 8 min in]
After the Rally…
So despite the awesome rally, we still had work to do. We told people to meet us at the front of the park, at a booth so we could sign them up to canvass the streets of Sunland Park. Again I assumed the role of canvass captain, and as a part of Students for Obama, I was assigned 2 TX high school kiddies [shout out to Burges H.S.!] to go canvassing with. At first the kids were nervous, they had never done this before and they didn’t know what it would be like. We did half of the packet all together and finally they felt confident so we split the second half of the packet into odds and evens.
+Canvassing in Sunland Park, NM+
2 of the ppl I talked to didn’t know who Obama was. The first was an elderly woman that didnt know who we were talking about until we showed her a picture of Obama and she told us that she had voted for him. And the second person was an elderly man, who used to lay pipe in TX. The convo went a little bit like this, only in spanish:
chaos: do you support Barack Obama? [when canvassing is hfirst question you sould ask.]
Elderly man: Who?
Repeat question. I didn’t have a picture of him to show…
chaos: the democrat…
Elderly man: Oh wait…’el negrito?’ Yes! Yes! Im going to vote for him! Hes the one!
The man then proceeded to talk my face off about everything under the sun. He was so excited. We talked about his pension, about JFK being the ‘one’, how he was sad about Teddy, and then finally he told me that he thinks that Barack Obama is the new one to lead us. If I hadn’t told him I had to leave he would have kept talking and talking and talking…
Overall my canvassing team got 78 ‘knocks’ out of 90 doors. 75 Barack Obama supporters, 2 McCain supporters, and 1 “I wouldn’t voted for him if he was the last person on earth”; Success!
Missions Accomplished?
Only 1,500 people showed up to McCain event in Mesilla versus the 2,500 people that squeezed into our event! Success!
+2500 attend Campaign for Change event in Sunland Park,NM+
Did I get my picture with Sen. Clinton? Fuck yes I did! I was towards the end of her rounds and she was trying to get out of there fast and so I just grabbed her hand and basically just begged the lady for a picture ahaaha. Her assistant took the picture and she was off… Success!
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