If you aren’t into politics this may not excite you. I am into such things and I think it’s amazing.
My brother went to Nashville to volunteer on the Harold Ford for TN Senate campaign. He invited me to go, but I declined. I am a newlywed and due to trials and court in various parts of Ca. I’ve spent too much time away from hubster. I’m also fearful of the south and I don’t know anything about Nashville or Memphis. I reminded my brother that our great-gf left TN for a reason and I just don’t feel comfy going back without specific direction on where not to be.
My brother has been communicating with me by phone and he seems to be having a great time.
He arrived in Nashville last Wednesday morning and was sent to the Democratic Committee site with the rest of the out of state volunteers. There he was asked to phone bank. The second day he decided he could do more and went to the Ford campaign headquarters.
While there, someone heard him speaking on his cell phone, that person then got the campaign coordinator who also listened. When my brother got off they phone they asked him if he would record a couple radio ads for Ford. He agreed. They thought he had a radio voice. He emailed those recordings to me, but I don’t know how to upload them. I’ll email them if you want. I think he sounds great. He has one of those James Earl Jones deep voices.
After he recorded the spots he went back to the headquarters. He said the volunteers were being utilized over there, so he got more responsibility. They gave him the check to pay for the ads and he signed the contracts.
The next day they asked him to pick Barack Obama up from the airport and drive him to two churches and the rally for Harold Ford and then drive him back to his jet. He of course said yes. It was a chance to mingle. He was able to meet Harold Ford and Barack Obama, and attend the churches and rallys. Whenever we go out of town, state, or country, we always like to attend and experience a churhc in that area, so I know he enjoyed that.
Did I tell ya’ll my brother loves politics? We were able to sit in a congresional session last year (while attending the annual CBCF conference) and he named every congressperson that walked in from our vantage point, he told me the state they represented and history behind their election. He reads about 5 newspapers a day and keeps up with everything.
My brother drove the Senator to and attended the events. He told me all the exciting details. Including a woman running up to the car and telling the Senator that she was 51 and not threat to his wife, she was a wife and grandmother, but she would leave her entire family if he asked her to. My brother then said she wouldn’t let go off the Senator’s hand and as he slowly pulled away the woman on.
After leaving Nashville, my brother’s plan was to head to Memphis to meet up with our other Ca. relatives who are there attending the COGIC Convocation. I am very happy that he is now amongst our family. I worried knowing my West Coast brother was in the south alone. He and my other family members are booked at the Peabody and turns out Harold Ford’s victory party is at the Peabody. Joyful! my brother will be right there.
I was telling my mom’s cousin about my brother’s adventures and she told me that Bill Clinton wrote about the same type of events in his book. Clinton would volunteer for various campaigns and get a chance to talk to and learn from different politicians.
We’ve always admired the Ford family, we call them the black Kennedy’s. Yes I’ve kept track of their many scandals but nothing they’ve done could be as bad as the Kennedy family and folks still admire them.
My brother did pollwatching today and I learned that Ca. voters don’t have nearly as much hassle voting as some places experiencec. I read about GA and that i.d. requirement. In TN you have to have a voter i.d/card, someone can challenge you and you can’t vote until it’s resolved. If something weird happens you can’t vote. There were only 4 machines at the station he was at and they finally brought in a 5th. The lines were very long.
In Ca. you don’t need i.d. you just sign your name, if something weird happens you are given a provisional ballot and the issue is worked out later and then your vote is counted. I’ve never heard of lines in CA. probably because there are a lot of polling places, and there aren’t a large amount of voters assigned to each polling station to create long lines, and stations have 10 or more voting booths.
The lines were long but my brother said the people are waiting. Go voters!!