A Special Thanks

On this Thanksgiving, I would like to give a special thanks to my Grandmother, D. Ruth McCarthy (seen above at he introduction to Jacob).



She is on our minds today because this will surely be her final Thanksgiving if not her final days. She has been battling a rather aggressive cancer for the past nine months and her days have turned, unfortunately, less and less comfortable.

She and my mom have always been the most sweet and loving people I've known in my life. She has 6 children, 14 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren, and she has made a positive, loving and meaningful impact on all 40 of us. She exudes a caring spirit dispenses only sage advice and unconditional love.


It was just a few months ago that she saw my office for the first time. My mom brought grandma over on a whim. I happened do be free at the time and was delighted to have her see my office. I was very moved by how much it meant to her to see my office. She smiled joyfully and clasped her hands in front of her as she gazed around. She still has a talent for making us all feel special.



Last weekend, while we were on our way to do some Christmas shopping, Jacob voiced his preference from the back seat. "Go see gramma Roo-s?" he asked. We altered our course and had a nice visit. It appears that Jacob was on to something because that day was one of the very few comfortable days she has had since. As we said our good-byes, Jacob offered his head to her for a good-bye kiss.

We are all just so grateful to have her influence, her love and her support in our lives. She will be in our thoughts and the focus of our thanks on this Thanksgiving.



Me and Grandma on Turkey Day a few years ago.

Moving On

Now that the election is over, I can finally focus my attention and passions on other things. After a few days of withdrawal from national polls and the horse-race of daily election news, I've decided to take inventory of what I have to look forward to in the post-election world.

It's almost like I've been away for a few months. My focus now turns to my wonderful little family, hobbies that were placed on the back burner and to the long-term project that inspired this blog.

I have always made time for Jacob and that won't change. However, now that Saturdays and Thursday evenings are open once again, I will enjoy more of my off-time with my special little guy. We've been playing a lot lately, and I have been reading to him more.

I look forward to reclaiming Saturday as our day together. Until canvassing took most of my Saturdays, that was our day to visit family, go on errands and just do things together to give Jen a break. He has noticed my enhanced availability already, which is nice.

As for hobbies, I am back to the book challenge just in time. I am now past the half-way point of "Bearing the Cross." After that book, I will then try to plow through "Angels and Demons," "Da Vinci Code" and "The World Without Us" before the new year. I managed to go from way ahead of pace to barely on pace to finish during the campaign push.

I missed my non-political reading, and jumping back into it has been great.

Finally, I'm starting to consider focusing my efforts toward organizing the thoughts I have thus-far expressed and shaping future posts to create a book, as was my original intention for the blog.

Now that I have something from which to draw, I think it'll be easier. I welcome all ideas or discussion topics.

Euphoria

Check out the 3:19 mark of this one.



Check out the 1:04 mark.



Reaction at Dr. King's Atlanta church.

YES!!!!

I volunteered all day today. My day started at 4:45 a.m. and ended after the polls closed. I can't stop watching history tonight and I'm not even tired.

I am just so happy that this has happened. I chose to watch the returns with my family. Specifically, I wanted to watch with Jacob because I think he has such a stake in the future.

I have so many thoughts, but I'll just boil them down to a select few. First, I can't help but think that the paradigm of an entire generation has shifted. No one will ever be able to convince any young child of today that race matters a hill of beans when measuring ability. It just won't happen. They will always be able to remember when a black man was elected president. I cannot think of a better or more healing tonic for racial relations in the future.

I have never felt like I owned a piece of a campaign like this before. Our Loveland team worked hard all day and impressed me with its real passion. Anyone who doubts this was a grass-roots effort didn't see the campaign office buzz on any given night, work night or not.

Finally, I just want to say...

YES!!!!!

A phone call from Barack

Tonight, I was on a conference call with Barack Obama.

My Loveland team was one of thousands of neighborhood teams from across the nation to be in on a call from Senator Obama so he could express his thanks (live) and give us all a pep talk for the final stretch.

We are in full Get Out The Vote (GOTV) mode for the campaign nationwide and we've been putting in long hours. Today was an especially tough day for me because I was scheduled for the whole day and happen to be sick. The shifts are busy, but between-shift time can lull. We all did our jobs and talked as usual about the things that inspire us to give of our time.

We had a successful day from our staging location and we surpassed our goals. Our volunteers are always energetic, but I think we were all feeling the strains of the final push. Then, toward the end of the final shift, I got the call from our field organizers that we could call in to hear live from Senator Obama himself.

Our whole operation stopped when I was overheard saying into my phone, "You mean, WE get to talk to Barack Obama?!?!?" She gave us the call-in number and our office re-energized.

We set up a speakerphone and called in promptly 15 minutes early. Campaign manager David Plouffe came on and dazzled us with statistics. He said our organization was unprecedented in American political history and that what we are doing has surpassed theory and become an enormous reality. Then, he proved it with numbers.

• 13.3 million direct contacts with registered voters (contacts... not calls made or doors knocked, but actual human contacts);
• 1.9 million new voters registered (folks, tell me how that isn't the election right there?);
• Well over 1 million GOTV shifts worked in the last 2 weeks;
• A new 500,000-voter registration drive in North Carolina alone (NC previously had more Republicans registered than Dems);
• A new 25,000-voter registration advantage in Colorado;

These are just a few of the statistics that amazed us.

Senator Obama took the call just after landing in Missouri and moments before speaking at a Rally in Springfield, MO. He started by saying "I am proud of all of you," and calling us the "lifeblood of the operation." He credited us with helping turn states blue that haven't been that way in decades.

He said we've "stunned the country" with our efforts and our ground game and encouraged us to push through because "we can't let history slip through our hands."

Clearly, the man is inspiring, and he rallied the troops. We are all re-energized for the final push and we are ready to celebrate together after another long, but fulfilling, day of volunteering on Tuesday night.

The Final Countdown

I actually look forward to November 5, 2008. One way or the other, the election will be over (hopefully), and my life will go back to normal. This will be one less thing to juggle.

Election years are always a bit prickly. Even more so when you are involved deeply in a campaign. We all tend to lose our objectivity a little, but the beliefs are genuinely held. I know I've gotten into my share of arguments, especially over the dangerous and misleading e-mails circulating. My policy has been to respond to every one I receive and I have done so. But, once the election is over, it's time to rally together.

I will be volunteering on Saturday and again on Election Day. After that, it will all be over. So I asked myself, what do I want to do when it's over? My routine will be all out of whack, that's for sure. No more obsessive checking of polls, political talk shows or review of new advertisements hitting the airwaves.

I am very happy to have been involved in the political process and I would make the same decision all over again. If Obama loses, I will never do this again, but it's been great to be a small volunteer part of a large operation.

My time is going to include a LOT more Jen and Jacob time. I will get back on my 24-book challenge pace (still working on "Bearing the Cross"). Blood pressure will return to normal. Most important, I will be able to devote more time to my family, both immediate and removed.

Most important, however, will be the latter. I must tend to some family matters. My mom had both of her knees replaced, which has already proven to be a blessing for her. It was a very difficult surgery and the rehab will continue for the foreseeable future. We have all been trying our best to help her, and we will continue to do so. Now that the worst is over, it has been great to watch her mobility improve and her spirits rise.

My grandmother has also been very sick. She is in the fight of her life and we are all very worried about her.

All of these family issues are ultimately most important. The juggling has not been easy, so I will be glad when the election is over. But, I'm sure I will also miss the distraction it has given me.

I think my next long post may have to be about the surreal experience of turning from a visitor at my own family reunions while living on the other side of the nation to being intimately involved in family goings-on and crisis management. It's been a paradigm shift without a clutch.

Any thoughts or prayers for my grandmother and my mother are appreciated.

Ants Marching

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/20/mccain-camp-looking-for-way-to-win-without-colorado/#more-25677

The article I linked here states as follows:

While Iowa, New Mexico and Colorado are still officially listed as McCain target states, two top strategists and advisers tell CNN that the situation in those states looks increasingly bleak. Iowa and New Mexico always have been viewed as difficult races, but the similar assessment of Colorado reflects a dramatic shift for a campaign that had long counted on the state.

"Gone," was the word one top McCain insider used to describe those three states.

This source said while the polls in Colorado remain close, he and most others in the operation were of the opinion that the Obama campaign and its allies have a far superior ground/turnout operation and "most of us have a hard time counting on Colorado." (emphasis added)

The Fuzz, Baggs and I have been knocking on doors, making phone calls and generally pushing the Colorado campaign by taking our places in the long line of ants marching for change all across the state. Indeed, the Obama campaign has ants like us marching all across the country.

We are enthusiastic, motivated, energized and we can FEEL it. Reading this article made me smile today because when enough of us little ants combine forces, we can move mountains.

This article represented acknowledgment by the McCain campaign that our efforts have been effective. We have made a difference.

Now, more than 3 million individuals have contributed an average of $86.00 each to produce the most formidable campaign treasure chest in US political history. That treasure has been matched by sweat and shoe-leather to produce a grass-roots movement to the White House.

Still, this is no time to let up. I will be canvassing each weekend and working the entire day as a staging location coordinator on election day. We will not be denied!