I reside in the gloriously wonderful state of Louisiana. And yes, that putrid mist you see spraying from my lips is pure, 100% unadulterated, weaponized into aerosol form sarcasm. For a long while I completely stopped bringing up politics out of fear of what nonsense I would hear. I consider myself a medium information voter: I can tell you the truth about the candidates and their positions, but I lack the knowledge of the inner workings of a campaign and basic strategies they employ, the vast knowledge of political history many here seem to have, and I have never volunteered due to certain political restrictions, although I wish I could.
Well lately, I have been hearing some things that have given me great hope.
I am beginning to believe that places on the web such as this one are trend setters. This may be old news to people here, but Im a relative newbie here and Im starting to get excited. I am surrounded by extremely hardcore conservatives. In fact, I believe I am the only person I know in Louisiana who is going to vote Obama, and I know and work with many, many people.
Let me get back to what I meant by trend setters. For the past couple weeks, I have witnessed a trickle down effect of information posted here and a few other places first. After reading something here, I always find I am the only one amongst my network that knows anything about it. After about a week, it starts getting out. Two weeks go by and if theres truth behind the story and if people here at KOS have been pounding and pounding away at it, it will start popping up at other big name blogs. A few more days and it might make it onto an MSNBC talkshow or The Daily Show, and then it spreads all the way to Sunday mornings.
Well, this is exactly what has happened in Louisiana, at least with my environment. People I know have started bearing witness to terms such as "troopergate" and "bridge to nowhere". Example: A while back, a coworker continuously bugged me to talk about the race. I finally relented and boy did I regret it. We remained completely cordial, but the phrases "But isnt he a muslim?" and "My only thing is he is just going to take god out of the schools" escaped her lips. Aside from that not making any sense, when I tried to lay those fears to rest, her new priority became "all those people on welfare who arent working." Needless to say this was highly discouraging. HOWEVER more recently I overheard a tiny bit of a phone conversation she was having, it went like this: "Yeah its called troopergate. It doesnt really look good." I was so tempted to try and eavesdrop but that would have just been dirty. After this conversation, I became the 'politics guy' and have discovered that simple tag has given me some serious power. I have been getting asked questions like "Hey, did you hear about this whole bridge scandal with Sarah Palin?" "How do you forget how many houses you own?" and I even got "So and So just told me she is a creationist. Great." This is all from seriously paleo conservative, slightly homophobic, slightly racist, 'all democrats are socialists and therefore must die' Republicans.
But this is GREAT news. Low information voters in a horrible state/echo chamber are STILL getting exposed to this stuff, and its having a depressing effect. If people here are getting this, people in swing states certainly are. This is what I am hearing. I know some of the polls are saying otherwise, but keep your eyes on the prize people! As much as I wish I could get these people fired up for Obama, I believe I have only persuaded one person to vote for him. I know that might sound pathetic, but this place is hard, people. Nothing is going to stop me from trying for more.
I know there is next to zero chance Louisiana will go blue this election. This is not going to stop me from showing up at the polls with my little girl and letting her push the button for me :-P. If anyone from Louisiana is reading this, dont be discouraged by your surroundings. Show up and vote! We MUST help give Obama a congress he can work with.
It seems there is a contingent here who used to be like me, so afraid of what might happen, so afraid and discouraged by the past. Make no mistake, if we lose this election, it is OUR fault. WE ARE THE CHANGE WE WANT. Never, EVER forget that. Keep the faith, stay focused. Dont let daily tracking polls or jerks in the media get you down. Stick together, ignore the rest. When someone tells you no, work twice as hard.
I promise to do what I can and get the information out there, because THE TRUTH IS ON OUR SIDE
There is nothing John McCain can do that will kill my hope or my dreams. He can malign the men and women I respect, he can attack me, he can lie and belittle everything I stand for.
John McCain, you will never kill this dream.
I AM FIRED UP!