Last weekend I went to the Circleville Pumpkin Show in south-central Ohio (a.k.a. "real," "pro-America" Ohio) and to my pleasant surprise, fellow Obama supporters like this guy
were out representing in force...
If you like fall festivals, greasy fair-food, or anything related to punkins, this place is HEAVEN. For the punkin-inclined tastebuds, there was
pumpkin fudge
pumpkin ice cream
even pumpkin BURGERS
Hmm...don't know about pumpkin burgers, but I did eat a delicious pumpkin-cream funnel cake.
One clever farmer grew pumpkins in face-molds
and a professional carver was on hand creating pumpkin art
The gourd crowned King of the Pumpkins weighed an unbelievable 1,375 lbs!
(Them's some big punkins.)
There was also a weirdo cornucopia-Jesus float in the parade...no comment.
The Pickaway Co. Dems were on hand selling Pumpkins for Obama gear...
but my favorite find of the weekend by far was this Obama truck parked in a cornfield just off rt. 23 outside of town.
Some wonderful (and ballsy) farmer had it professionally detailed to tell everyone driving through that Ohio needs change.
Which brings me to my small request...
At the festival, I met Sharen Neuhardt, who's running for the open congressional seat from Ohio's 7th district.
She's a brilliant woman who's running against one nasty special-interest pawn, GOPer Steve Austria. bluefiftytwo diaried Austin's plea to PAC's for donations. In the past few months, Austria has been running a campaign called "shameless" by the Dayton Daily News. He's relentlessly attacked Neuhardt for taking in a Rwandan refugee who has lived in her home since 2002, and said in a recent debate she “harbored an illegal immigrant for a number of years with a criminal record,” and criticized her for using “poor judgment.” Sharen replied, "Anyone who's seen Hotel Rwanda understands what went on during that Rwandan genocide. If you want to come after me, come after me. Just don't make an innocent young man a victim again." Read JoeR's previous diary on this.
Neuhardt has been endorsed by Gov. Ted Strickland
, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, the late Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones,
Rep. Marcy Kaptur
Rep. Tim Ryan
, Rep. Zack Space,
Rep. Betty Sutton
Rep. Charlie Wilson,
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 8
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
Planned Parenthood
, Emily's List, and oodles of local unions and newspapers. The Dayton Daily News endorsed her as the "smarter, bolder choice."
Austria has outraised Neuhardt so far, and has more cash on hand for the final two weeks of the campaign. The polls are close, and Sharen needs our help coming down the stretch. The OH-7 is a DCCC-targeted race, and we could really make a difference here in Southern Ohio, so help us turn Ohio blue by donating:
DCCC Neuhardt for Congress
Sharen's ActBlue page
(The ActBlue page only needs a little bump to make it an even $100,000!)
You can also contribute directly to the campaign here.
Here's one more shot of pumpkin-love for you, straight outta Jesus' cornucopia:
And if you haven't carved your own, visit Yes We Carve to download Stencils We Can Believe In. Hooray for pumpkins, and hooray for the OH-7.