How my mother saved America

[WilliamPitt]

My mother, who is Raven here on DU, spent yesterday walking through the hardest, roughest, most poverty-striken neighborhoods of Cheshire County in New Hampshire, registering people to vote for John Kerry in November.

Cheshire County, for those not in the know, was won by George W. Bush in 2000 by 7200 votes. 23,000 eligible voters in the county did not vote at all that election. Do the math.

Raven knocked on over 100 doors, and spoke to people one half a paycheck away from catastrophe. Half of them were proud to never have voted, and were admant that they would never vote. The rest, however, my mother made a dent with.

She is home in bed right now - arthritic back, arthritic neck and all - feeling, in her words, "like a juggernaut." She "walked the marathon" today, and will likely pay for it dearly tomorrow. This is why God invented scotch.

My mother is the greatest hero I know. She has found a small patch of earth, has wrapped her fits around it, and is going to move the pile by the sweat of her brow every Sunday from now to the election. If she can get two people every Sunday to register and plan to vote Kerry, she says, she will have done her job.

Don't wait for someone else to take care of that business which needs tending to. Be like my mother. Put your back and your neck and your feet on the line, and buy yourself a small patch of earth. Take responsibility for your own democracy.

I give you Raven, a hero, a soldier for this nation's greatest hopes, and the queen of Cheshire County.

Be like her.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

1. I thought you were going to say, "by having ME!"

But this is way cool. :yourock:

[enigmatic]

2. Hey William..

Although I've just started posting, I've really enjoyed your posts for quite some time. Give a kiss to your Mom for me; she's a very special lady..

[WilliamPitt]

6. Thanks, enigmatic

I will definitely do so.

[GoneOffShore]

18. Welcome to DU Enigmatic

:toast:

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

3. Your mom just rocks

I've done the canvassing thing, too. It is both exhausting and exhilarating. You wouldn't think knocking on people's doors would change much, but it really does......

Congrats to her.

[mitchtv]

4. Congrats to Raven,

I too, have some problems, but she gives me the incentive to go on. I just ordered my Kerry election kit from Move on

[Redneck Socialist]

5. Rock on Raven

Cheshire county used to have a great Democratic organization. It has been a while since I've been there and I would be greatly saddened if that's not the case anymore.

[JohnLocke]

7. EVERY VOTE COUNTS.

"Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire."
"Whoever gets one vote, saves the election entire."

[GainesT1958]

8. There's a Catholic Church-sponsored retirement complex..

Within three blocks of where we live, and also within my precinct (I'm precinct chariman). My wife, my next-door neighbor (she's changing her registration from "R" to "D" this year) and I are going over there within the next two weeks and speak to them. With the help of a long-time Democrat who lives there (and is from Mass., BTW), we hope to get most of the residents registered and voting for John Kerry. Our biggest obstacle may be the abortion issue, but that's not going to stop us--and hopefully, won't stop the residents of Haddon Hall, either!:D

Here's to your mother, WILL--her efforts will not go unrewarded in November!:toast:

And it's obvious she didn't raise no stupid kids, either!:7

:kick:

B-)

[salinen]

9. Will Raven be my Mom too?

My egg donor is a homophobic, racist, republican. But now that she has dementia, we get along famously.

[sonias]

10. I thank you Raven!

And I salute you! This is exactly what we all need to do folks. Never give up and never surrender to the lies that our votes don't matter. We have to engage all those people who have given up. We won't win them all, like Raven has seen firsthand. But we have to keep trying. Everybody counts and everybody should be encouraged to participate in our democracy.

In the words of the Rev, Martin Luther King Jr.:
"Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, that even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow. I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal."

Sonia

[stevedeshazer]

11. Thankfully, there are many like Raven

For my part, I spend two afternoons a week registering new voters. Kills my middle-aged back and feet, but it's worth it.

Each day, I talk to roughly 100 people. The stories you hear sometimes are heartbreaking. Apathy is a huge problem. The Republicans depend on it.

[WilliamPitt]

12. .

[VelmaD]

13. Your mom ROCKS!

And I told her so in person over in the Lounge. :)

She's an inspiration to all of us "younguns" to get out and do more. I feel honored and privileged to know her. :)

Lots of hugs her way and the hope that she gets to feeling better. Love ya, Raven. :hug:

[Aunt Anti-bush]

14. Your mom is wonderful!

Tell her I'm doing my part, here, too. Moms are very important in this election and I'm glad she's fighting to win our country back with the rest of us. :)

[Sugarbleus]

15. I met Raven in another thread. She is dynamic and holds my

same views. I applaud her. I too am waaaaaaay arthritic and mostly immobile so I know how her body feels and how hard it is to do what she's doing. Scotch is a good idea... (I also recommend Vicodin...works wonders for me, when necessary.:))

For each of us there is one little something we can do...find out what it is and let's do it.

I especially APPLAUD you yougins' for all the fantastic work you do for all of us. I'm blown away by your activism and humbled by your wisdom. Thank you from those of us who went before you. :loveya:

[The Spirit of JFK]

16. Was reading her posts earlier!

If I had a spare bottle of scotch, I would send it her way.

Instead, I wil have one for her...and do my part.

[GoneOffShore]

17. Your mom rocks!

eom

[Zomby Woof]

19. that's REAL grassroots

Walkin' the walk, talkin' the talk! :loveya: Raven!

[WilliamPitt]

20. .

[blm]

21. Salute to you, Raven.

And to all our unsung Warriors in the Battle to Preserve Democracy.

[King Coal]

22. God Bless you Raven.

[Raven]

23. Thanks Will, but

you just might be a little biased!

A little more information...Troy NH has a population of 1,962, more or less. It is a town of 17 square miles that sits in the shadow of Mount Monadnock. 75% of the population is white, 12% black and 12% hispanic. 23% of the residents have a college education. The per capita income in Troy is $17,000...per capita income in the US is $23,000. This information comes from the 2000 census.

The issues of most concern to the people I talked to were, in order of importance: The war in Iraq. (Interestingly, not a one mentioned the War on Terror.) Jobs and the economy. Education. One young fellow told me that his number one issue was "getting Bush out". An elderly gentleman (WWII Vet) had some interesting logic about why he might vote for Bush..."He got us into this mess and he's gotta get us out."

Several people who put the War in Iraq on the top of their list told me that they were angry that all this money was being spent in Iraq while people and services back here suffered.

Of the folks who were going to vote for Bush, I only heard the "Kerry flip flops" statement once.

Other observations about Troy...nobody has a doorbell; everyone owns at least one dog (that was fun!); almost everybody has a garden; many of the young kids seemed very interested in politics.

Next Sunday it's Swanzey. This is a town that is a little more affluent. It will be interesting to compare the results of that canvass with Troy.

[tom_paine]

24. Thank you for your service to America, Raven...

[donsu]

25. kick

nt

[molly]

26. Your mother was a hero to me a long time ago

when you posted the story about the guy that burned up her car and her law books!!!!!

I wish you would repeat here again......

THANKYOU, RAVEN for all you have accomplished in life!!!

:toast:

[Hamlette]

27. We must ALL do this

my son has been for a couple of months now. He's registered over 100 new voters. I'm going to use this inspirational story to join him, once a week until the last date to register, and for those who won't register I'll leave them a copy of the Charley Reese editorial on Bush posted in its own thread here.

[cally]

28. Thank you Raven and all DUers who are giving of their time

I admire you for your effort and work. We all need to copy your work and just walk the precincts, register voters, and get out the vote. We're going to win this one because of the hard work of people like you.

[Lindsey]

29. Raven- You are truly an inspiration!!!!

Thank you. peace. :-)

[molly]

30. kick

:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick:

[GreenPartyVoter]

31. Way cool, Raven!

[anarchy1999]

32. Wow, and thanks for the inspiration. Your Mom is awesome, how else

could you be here for us? Thanks Will, for sharing.

[VOX]

33. A brand of heroism we don't talk about often enough -- thank you, Raven...

Thank you for taking on a task that's hard on the body and the spirit. Thank you for having the resolve to see this through. Thank you for caring enough to take this on in the first place.

God bless you -- :hug:

[Jack Rabbit]

34. Let's here it for Mother Pitt!!

:toast:

(This one's on me, Raven.)

[Rhiannon12866]

35. Wow! Thanks for a thread that will inspire all of us!

Here's to Raven!!!:toast: You can be very proud and so should we.:kick:

[Cooley Hurd]

36. You have a great mom, Will...

I was raised by my mother solely, after my dad died when I was 2 (he saved my sister from drowning after she fell from our boat, but after handing her to my older brother in the boat, he became entangled in the weeds that plague Cayuga Lake and couldn't save himself). My Mom was a very active Democrat for all of her adult life and inspired all of her children to become active in politics and even had me stuffing envelopes for the McGovern campaign at age 7! She inspired my love for politics and for history.

I consider myself most fortunate to have had such a great Mom, and you are most fortunate to have an equally great Mom. :thumbsup: