Turnout

Mid-week I had a double dose of Obama health care reform organizing. Tuesday night I stopped by the downtown Louiville café that had been the home base for the Obama budget canvassing where some 20 people (more than I had expected) – some veterans of the Obama KY primary campaign – gathered to chat with two Organizing for American organizers, one paid, one volunteer. They had called me to make sure I would be there, even though it turns out the weather had been awful that day. They did a good job of listening to people, but then after an hour (and I left early so Vincent and I could go to the gym) got down to organizing – primarily around calling east central Kentucky to push KY’s one other Democratic congressperson, Ben Chandler, to support health care reform. He’s been on the fence. Our own congressperson, John Yarmuth, is more progressive and has been supportive so far. There was talk about the tea party activity and disruptions to Democratic congresspeople trying to have town meetings.

The KY organizers, who have been touring across the state, said they were trying to rebuild some organization, since there was not a lot of general election action, since Obama for the most part wrote off this state. The organizers were more clear about the direction coming from the president – something that had gotten away from us somewhat at the July Southern Indiana for Change meeting. The organizers pushed volunteering in KY instead of IN (I recognized one of the single-payer advocates from the Southern Indiana meeting – I noticed she was quieter when a man was leading the meeting – but like me she seemed not impressed for his arguments why we should focus in KY.)

Wednesday night I was back across the river in Southern Indiana. It was not raining – like it was when the rain delayed me last week – but the whole area is still reeling from all of the rain. There was a big crowd – again, about 20 – which again surprised me. Remember I’ve been to several events over there where only two or three or four of us called or canvassed. Abby (daughter of Stephanie’s principals) had really pulled out the stops, partly because there was supposed to be a “Washington Post” reporter there. But she obviously also had help – by the presence – from higher-ups: two people from Congressman Hill’s office, some new IN organizers, and the Floyd County Democratic Party chairperson – all of whom I met, plus Abby’s mother and uncle, and Bruce and a woman, both of whom I’d met, who are Louisville people who were active in the election campaign.

There was little wrangling about single-payer here.

Abby and then the IN state director talked, and then Bruce and I headed out to canvass in two different neighborhoods not far from downtown. At the last moment the “Post” reporter, who had appeared, tagged along with us. Apparently Abby had partly funneled him towards us. Bruce’s car was a mess, and so Robert ended up caravanning with us. The first neighborhood we went to had gotten hit bad by the flooding the day before. The first man I talked to had just come up from trying to get water out of his basement. Bruce and I took opposite sides of the street and Robert tagged along behind me for a while. Two or three of the voters I talked to he asked follow-up questions of, identifying himself, and then even took a picture of one of the voters in her front yard with her flag. He was doing an article which may be in in the next week about the health care reform debate in the district of Baron Hill, who has turned out to be a pivotal figure in the debate in the House (as a key Blue Dog Democrat who still seems to want reform, on the House Commerce Committee). We noted that Hill, who he was to interview Thursday, has not scheduled town meeting-type events during the August recess. I talked him a little about my support for health care reform: I have a “Cadillac” plan, but am just a job loss away from losing it. And I have family members with no health insurance and have seen people lined up in emergency rooms, some with health problems that it’s not efficient for them to be in emergency rooms for, and know my employer is paying extra (the hidden tax) because of that. I also mentioned that my Mother’s health insurance company may turn her down for a important potentially life-saving medication, and so we already have rationing – it’s just by insurance companies, not the government. I had had time to think about this a little because Abby had told me he might call me the day before. We also talked some of the politics of health care reform – both in Southern Indian and elsewhere – something I’ve already covered some on the blog.

Robert left us and Bruce and I moved to a different neighborhood on the opposite of downtown. This was a neighborhood not unlike the one in Jeffersonville that Tim, Abby’s uncle, and I had walked a month ago – a very Democratic, mixed-race, mixed-class neighborhood. It looked like it had an African-American church on one side of it. I didn’t know there was such neighborhoods in New Albany: a black plurality neighborhood also a little like my old neighborhood, Phoenix Hill. People were relatively supportive, and Bruce and I – who had not taken enough flyers – ended up running out of some. We were supposed to encourage people to call Hill to thank him for helping turn the Commerce Committee around – but had to call to get his number and write it on a flyer. Compared to canvassing in Jeff days, we have a beautiful new color flyer, but we had not gotten enough of them. Some cute dogs and a few conversations. Between the two of us in the two neighborhoods – over two hours – complete with newspaper interviews and flooding and dog conversations – Bruce and I got about 11 public endorsements, I think – which is better than the two or three I usually get on the phone.

Speaking of surprise big crowds partly to impress people, we had one of our two biggest Toastmasters meetings – 15 people – in recent years, when the Toastmasters area governor – from an adjoining club – as a guest. My new colleague Joelle did a good job with her second speech, but we faced very difficult extemporaneous speaking topics. This is just my third meeting since turning over my VP for Education reins to a fellow club member, and essentially only the second meeting whose educational program I didn’t plan. But the meeting went well, and I continue – as VP for Public Relations – to blog for the club at: http://peacespeakerstoastmasters.blogspot.com

-- Perry