A report from the ground in NH...good news!

[Raven]

I canvassed again today in Swanzey, NH. There were alot of storms up here today so, between the thunderclaps and downpours we hit about 60 homes (usually we manage 100 homes). The count went: 2 households for Bush; 3 households undecided and 55 households solidly, I mean set your jaw solid, for Kerry. It's the war and the economy...but mainly the economy as the main issues, with health care costs coming in a close second.

We have also managed to get registration information to many people who are unregistered but leaning toward Kerry (in Nh, you can't register people, they have to go to town hall and do it themselves).

Canvassing today was hot,sweaty, hard work but I came back here pumped and full of hope! :-)

[shawmut]

1. Wow, that's lopsided

And great to hear.


It will be nice to see all the New England states colored in blue this time around. :toast:

[Raven]

4. This is my third Sunday in Swanzey and

it's been lopsided each time but this time was really over the top! This is all random too...you just grab a route and run with it. My route today was a mix of "middle class" neighborhoods and "working poor" neighborhoods with some subsidized housing thrown in. One young guy with a small child told me how he and his wife both worked full time but that their car had broken down and now he was looking for an extra job...it wiuld be too hard to describe the quiet desperation on his face and in his voice...seeing that makes me get up the energy to keep doing this!

[snyder]

10. How Did They Vote Last Time?

[AP]

17. Are they giving you the addresses, or just the streets?

You're probably getting Dems and Dem leaners, if they're giving you addresses.

[Raven]

18. Sorry to reply so late...

we are given the voting registration records for a certain group of streets so we don't just get Dems or dem leaners...we get everybody...Repubs, Dems and Unaffiliatedes. There were a good many registered Repubs (I assume they voted Repub last time) who had switched or were waivering. We also stopped at every house on the street whether they were listed or not. That is where you picj up the unregistered folks.

[stevedeshazer]

19. That is great news

Those of us on the ground will make the difference. Thanks, especially on behalf of my son, who turns 17 soon.

[AP]

21. Do they want you to stop at every house, or are you doing that on your own

?

[Raven]

24. Again, sorry for the late reply.

They want us to stop at every house because the voting lists we are given only have people who are registered and, in addition to wanting to know where they stand, we want to catch unregistered folks. Also, the voting lists are not always accurane...people die or move away or the list just misses some registered voters. One interesting wrinkle up here is that I've found some registered voters who make a point of only voting in local contests...we try to convince those leaning to Kerry to vote in the national election this year.

[AP]

25. It is really really interesting that they want you to talk to people

about whose affiliation and voting history they have no clue.

But apparently their hunch was exactly right about what the voters were thinking 'cause they're all voting for Kerry.

That's very interesting.

[Arugula Latte]

2. Great!

Thanks for your hard work! New Hampshire could make all the difference -- just four little electoral votes, but they could be the ones to deny Chimp a second term.

[Raven]

7. Here's the "real deal" in Chesire County NH...

In 2000, Bush won the state by 7,200 votes. That got him the 4 electorial votes that put him in the White House. In Cheshire County, there were 23,000 eligible voters who DID NOT VOTE. My group, Swing the Vote, has targeted Cheshire County because if we can light a fire under just 1/3rd of those deadbeat voters, we may be able to turn New Hampshire!

[Eurobabe]

15. Hey my dad lives in West Swanzey

down from the airport, maybe you canvassed him? :)

Dad's a yellow dog Dem. -Crozet

[CalProf]

3. Great news! Thanks! n/t

[graywarrior]

5. As an ex-New Hampshire native, I am thrilled

Great job.

[Kadie]

6. Now those are some poll numbers I can believe. LOL

Great job. Thanks for what you are doing.

[SpiralHawk]

8. The Prophetic Omen of the Old Man of the Mountain

I wrote this a long time ago - but it still applies

The Old Man of the Mountain loses face

May 3, 2003 -- high up on the flank of Cannon Mountain in Franconia Notch, NH -- the Old Man of the Mountain lost his face - literally - the day after G.W. Bush pulled his public relations stunt on the aircraft carrier Abe Lincoln ("Mission Accomplished") off the coast of San Diego, CA.

I was struck by the sequence of events. Bush prances on Abe Lincoln deck, the noble Old Man loses face immediately thereafter on the far side of the continent. What's that all about?

Bush Prances Carrier Deck in Flight Suit - May 2, 2003
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2993415.stm

Old Man story - May 3, 2003:
http://gonewengland.about.com/cs/nhhistory/l/bloldmanofmtn.htm

For NH -- and for all who had ever seen him -- the collapse of the granite face was a First Class tragedy -- for the Old Man was a symbol of honesty, dignity, and honor -- and he seemed eternal.

I always thought of the Old Man's profile as embodying the same qualities as Old "Honest Abe" Lincoln, whose profile is so familiar to us from the penny. So I was deeply saddened to see him "lose face," and could not help but note that it came right after Bush pulled his PR stunt on the deck of our nation's Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier.

After presenting false reasons for war to America, to our soldiers and to the world, what right did Bush have to celebrate himself and "Declare Victory"? Hundreds of our soldiers have died and been wounded since that day, not to mention the ongoing misery for their families at home and the families in Iraq.

At the time I took this monumental "loss of face" in the Granite State as a sign that the appointed pResident was comporting himself without honor. After all, as we now know the Iraq war is based completely on fabrications, and Iraq had no connection to 9/11. This is a war of aggression and conquest. That's why our young men and women are dying over there -- it has nothing to do with national defense or our true honor.

I see the loss of face of the Old Man of the Mountain as an Omen that G.W. Bush may well lose face before the voters of the USA

Will the truth emerge? Will Bush be unmasked for who he really is before or during the election? We shall see.

- eom -

[NewHampshireDem]

9. Some friends and I are getting together a poker for Kerry night

Hoping to win over some of our buddies who are straddling the fence. We know a lot of * voters who really are not very committed to * this time around and are open to coming to the side of light and goodness.

We're also gonna be hitting the streets in a couple of weeks, once things in our lives settle down from the summer and start of the new school year--we're teachers and August and September are crazy months for us.

Keep up the good work, Raven. You're obviously making a difference! :toast:

[Raven]

13. Poker? What a great idea!

My group asked me to write a flier about No Child Left Behind in NH, which I did with help from DU and Will Pitt. They loved the flier and now they want me to write one on "10 things Bush promised but didn't deliver". Your poker friends might be interested in that! :-)

[NewHampshireDem]

14. Damn right ... once you get it together, pm me a link ... eom

[AspenRose]

11. Raven I thought of you today

I was in Santa Fe for lunch, and in front of our car at a traffic light was a truck with NH plates, and a bumper sticker that said "Somewhere in Texas a village is missing an idiot."

I am keeping my fingers crossed and praying for a blue New Hampshire.

[bushwakker]

12. Cheers to you Raven

you are a foot soldier in the battle to bring sanity and rationality back to our government.

[WI_DEM]

16. NH seems like the most likely red state to switch blue

unfortunately my state of Wisconsin may be the most likely blue state to switch to red

[oasis]

20. Great news. Thanks for your hard work and the uplifting report.

[merbex]

22. NH has been ripe for change

I canvassed for Dean (it seems sooo long ago).Even way back then -Dec/Jan - you'd run into Repugs who said they were going to vote Dem this time around.

I'm going to canvass this fall for Kerry, only maybe I'll go to Maine because they have proportional allotment of electoral votes.

New England needs to be solid blue

[NewYorkerfromMass]

23. Kerry 50 to 45 and 47 to 43 (w/Nader)

NH sounds like a lock for us if we GOTV.
Great work Raven!

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/08/29/nh_voters_divided_as_republican_convention_nears/