My brother called me Friday night. He was volunteering with the Obama campaign on Saturday afternoon and wanted me to join him. Finally, he got me to go.
It turns out we'd be canvassing, going door-to-door to visit registered voters who aren't registered with either party. The guy who was in charge of us didn't know where we were going.
Honestly, I don't know every neighborhood in the whole St. Louis area. But, of those I know, if someone had asked me to name the most conservative neighborhood I knew, I'd have said the Winghaven neighborhood. And Winghaven is where we went.
Many people were polite, but seemed uneasy that I was even on their doorstep. Some said they were undecided, though it was clear they just couldn't admit to my face they supported McCain. Here's what really killed me: a few said they would vote and were currently undecided. When I asked if I could clarify or answer any questions about Obama's positions on any of the issues (or McCain's) I got a "no" every time. How are you undecided, yet don't want any more information on the issues?
One woman was nice enough I guess but an ardent Republican. As we walked away, she shouted "I hope your guy loses!"
The best, was when I knocked on the door of one couple in their younger 30's. The wife answered the door, spitting out an angry "NObama" before I could finish my 3-4 second speech, the husband just shouted "Obama's an asshole!" from his couch as loud as he could, and then the wife told us we needed to get off the property right away, even suggesting we should "run." I was just pissed. We were so polite. Whatever.
I was offered a glimmer of hope when the woman at the second-last house on our 90-house roster was an ardent Obama supporter. Her hushed tones as she gushed for him made it seem like she was operating an underground railroad station. Guessing she was in her late 50's or early 60's (though her obvious smoking habit may have added a few years) she talked about how she sees Kennedy in him, and how depressing it was living it that neighborhood. Honestly, just seeing us invigorated her so much. But every Obama supporter I talked to yesterday, from the campaign office to the homes, has said nothing as energized their Obama support like Sarah Palin's speech. I watch pieces of it whenever I want to get angry. You've probably heard (I'm not sure of the exact numbers) that McCain-Palin raised something like $1.5 million in the 24 hrs after her speech, but that Obama-Biden raised about $10 million. That's all I've got.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
That story only reinforces my image of St. Louis, which is currently shaped by the concept of Great White Flight, the pizza place with a fifteen pound pizza (http://www.pointersdelivery.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5&Itemid=6), and the fact that adding a second spur to the single subway line caused significant confusion. I will rethink this opinion in December upon further review, though I must say that Wasilla is currently polling ahead of St. Louis as the next place I will consider moving (thank you, Bristol Palin! Wait...I mean, April Flowers!).
ReplyDeleteWell, first let me say, if you want some Pointer's while you're here, you'll note that it wouldn't be too difficult.
ReplyDeleteSecond - OK, I admit I haven't done much to stop this image of St. Louisans walking around with corn cobs in their pockets, but if I had once sentence to help my case, John Kerry beat George W. Bush 80%-19% in the county of St. Louis City in 2004.
And the subway line thing. OK, first off, the city did a terrible job announcing it. You gotta understand, if you go 10+ years riding the same train without having to give a thought to what "line" you're on, then it would be a little difficult when they add a second line, especially if the communication thereof is as bad as it is. (And I'm really disappointed, they just show the end stop on the train as it approaches, as opposed to having, say, a Red line and a Blue line, or an A line and a B line, etc., so you have to know the final destination of the train you need to get on the right one.)
Alright so maybe we'll do a quick St. Louis rundown:
Historic and respected baseball franchise: +5 points
The Rams: -10 points
630-foot awesome arch: + 3 points
No buildings taller than 630 feet: -5 points
Drivers never cut you off to get ahead of you: +5 points
Drivers always cut you off because they don't know what they're doing: -10 points
You can work in the business world and keep your soul: +15 points
You can't work in the business world and retire at 40: -5 points
You can get a 5-bedroom house with a huge backyard for $200K: +15 points
You can't get a house near anything open past 10pm: -3 points.
The city is highly racially segregated: +3 points
The city is highly racially segregated: -10 points
That's all I got.