Cross posted on My Left Nutmeg
As summer ends, and fall approaches, many communities sponsor state, town, and county fairs. One such fair, the Four Town Fair in Somers, Connecticut, opened on Thursday and will close on Sunday. The four towns are Ellington, East Windsor, Enfield, and Somers.
A nice feature of this fair, and of most or all local fairs, is the presence of political grassroots campaigning.
The fair is marked by a local parade starting at the center of town and ending at the fairgrounds. Perhaps 50 entities are in the parade: local merchants; local school organizations, especially marching bands, senior classes, and the like; and political town committees, along with their candidates.
The Democrats fielded our candidates: Congressman Joe Courtney (D-CT02), George Colli, Democratic challenger for the 7th Connecticut Senate district, Arlene Avery, Democratic Challenger for the 52nd Connecticut Congressional district.
There were other notable Democrats in the parade, Nancy Wyman, Connecticut State Comptroller, and Denise Nappier, Connecticut State Treasurer. And, there were other politicians from other towns in the area, mostly the four towns, notably Karen Jarmoc (D-Enfield) and Kathy Tallarita (D-Enfield).
These politicians knew how to work a crowd! It was great, as people were lining the streets, they went to them shook hands, introduced themselves. Meantime, there were plenty of people with these candidates' t-shirts, and there was an Obama float sponsored by the Somers DTC. Many threw candy for the children and passed out literature for the voters.
But the best part of the day was volunteering to sell hot dogs and chili in the Somers DTC vendor booth at the fair. It was plastered with campaign signs, and had a life size Obama cutout stood up against the booth. Many people stood by it and took pictures of themselves. And while many people came by merely to get a hot dog or can of soda, some of them stopped and chatted, offered support, picked up literature and bumper stickers, and told why they were voting for Obama.
Most of these told of being tired of Bushco, afraid for the economy, wanting out of the war, and appalled by Sarah Palin. But one lady asked if we had an Hillary materials. We replied no, she is not a candidate. The woman said she is not voting for either Presidential candidate, it should have been Hillary, she was really pissed that it went down the way it did, and if McCain won, it would be because the Democrats are fielding the wrong candidate. I told her if McCain won, it would be because she didn't vote for Obama, which is like voting for the other guy. She didn't buy it. It made me wonder if she is an isolated phenomenon, or if her name is legion.
Finally, my volunteer shift was up. I scooped up a hot dog, and came home.