"There are No Solicitation signs all over these streets," he says
Knocking doors, I always notice a difference between upscale and downscale neighborhoods
For the last two weeks, I've been burning shoe-leather on downscale streets in my hometown
But the campaign is running short on doors here, so I'm going a half hour away to another world: a former sleepy farm town where ambitious developers brought their vision of cul-de-sacs crammed with big houses on small lots, scattered between too many mega-malls to count
It's an upper-middle-class bedroom community: folk get their mail here but largely live their successful lives elsewhere. I spent some time in and near this place twenty years ago, during a waste-dump fight we finally won, thanks (I think) mostly to the efforts of people who lived more towards the margins
The poorer and the richer differ in their fears
Last week, I knocked a door with a stained glass Virgin of Guadalupe hanging there and asked for a man by name. The girl, perhaps nine or ten, broke into a grin and said without any accent, "That's my Dad!" He came onto the porch and told me he had never seen America like this: he was from Mexico; he had lived most of his life here; and he wondered why American politicians couldn't work together to solve problems like the engineers at his construction sites. He was worried. I listened then said how important it was to defeat Trump. He promised me Trump wouldn't win -- and added "God bless you"
Today, in the wealthy bedroom community, I knocked doors then stepped back ten feet off the porch and down a step or two, and frightened people stared at me through two locked doors and motioned for me to drop my literature on the mat and go
Last week, an elderly African American told me, "Oh, I'm supporting Trump!" He watched me a moment before adding, "I have to support Trump because he hates black people!" His companion broke into laughter. It felt good
Today, a successful Asian woman told me how conflicted she felt: she wants to support Republicans but doesn't like Trump. I try to highlight Clinton's experience and competence but I can't tell whether I'm getting across
Last week, a young woman from an Indian family explained that they all regarded themselves as independents but had decided to vote the Democratic slate this time
Today, I approach a man raking leaves in his yard. "There are No Solicitation signs all over these streets," he says. "We're not interested." There are no "No Solicitation" signs anywhere I've been today; and, in fact, it would not matter if there were. But I do not say so: I simply apologize for disturbing him and move down my list
Later, as the sun sets, I leave the world of cul-de-sacs and mega-malls, heading happily home
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