OK as of the first of September my Summer Organizing stint was over with OFA. I have been asked and accepted staying on as a Community Organizer for Western Hillsborough Country here in NH. This means I will do pretty much what I did all summer, but with a bit more authority and some added duties. This also means a raise to three more atta boys and five more thank yous a week. This is a great relief since things were kinda tight at the lower scale of atta boys and thank yous 🙂
So what did I learn this summer? Well first off what people think they know about President Obama’s base and what is actually true may not be one in the same, at least here in NH.
Over the course of the summer I talked to hundreds of Democrats and most of them active Democrats because these will be the core of our volunteers heading into the election. I ran across very very few that still didn’t support The President completely. And still didn’t believe he was the best man for the job at the present time. Now did I encounter push back? Of course. Some of the push back came from folks who think we need to get the out of Afghanistan now, no matter what Obama said about it during the campaign in ’08. I was hard pressed not to nod my head in agreement on this one. I ran across exactly one person who was so pissed about Libya that he just didn’t think he could vote for him again. I haven’t spoken to this person since The President’s approach seemed to have worked.
I ran across no one who wasn’t pleased that ACA got passed. I did however run across a lot that still were not sure what the hell was in it. They all now do! 🙂
On the economy, again most if not all Democrats I spoke to are looking squarely at the Republicans as the ones being at fault here. One, for getting us into this mess in the first place and for blocking the President’s every move to try and improve it. The deficit ceiling fight really sent folks here over the edge.
And speaking of Republicans. There isn’t a voter I spoke to who could remember a time when the opposition party was willing to destroy a country just to get back into power. Now I spoke to a lot of older voters who had long political memories, but none were around just before the civil war which to my mind was the last time a party tried and almost accomplished it.
So all in all Obama’s base voters here in NH are still fully on board and are more than willing to come out and campaign for him. All good signs.
Now will he carry the state in ’12? I am not a crystal ball reader, but I really think the answer is yes. Why? There are a number of factors. First, The Republicans took over the NH State House with a veto proof majority in ’10. Since taking their seats they have wrecked havoc on the state. They decimated the budget, whacking families with at need children, hospitals to the point of causing massive lay-offs and pushing for turning the state into a right to work state. This last one has truly pissed off the State Troopers, Police and Fire Fighters all of which voted for them in the first place. They have now lost them to the Democrats. Then they whacked the education budget by millions, putting greater burden on the towns. They cut the cigarette tax by 10 cents only to have the cigarette companies raise their prices by 9 cents. They cut registration fees by $30 dollars whacking the DOT budget so much that plowing will be curtailed on state roads – no plowing between 9PM and 4 AM . So the odds of state swinging back to the Democrats are very strong. The anger at the Republicans is palatable here. And if the state goes Democratic Obama wins. Oh and their anger at the state Republican carries over to the US House. So both Charlie Bass and Frank Guinta are in trouble. Bass probably more so than Guinta.
Secondly the Republican field of Presidential candidates scares the hell out of folks. Get away from the rabid right here and the Free Staters (libertarians on crack) and their support is not all that deep.
So all in all it looks good for President Obama here. As always could I be wrong? You need only ask my wife. 🙂
Oh and one last thing I learned. Driving all over NH in a Mini Cooper is great on the paved roads. Not so great on all the damn roads that are not paved and there are a lot. I drove on roads that would give a Hummvee pause. The Mini will be going into the shop next week to fix the steering.
So there you have it. The floors is yours.
56 comments