How can you NOT like the guy...?

Wednesday was an amazing day – the best of this trip so far. North Carolina is still a battle ground state – one which, if Obama carries it, could effectively clinch the election – and as such the candidates are making frequent visits here. Biden was here a couple of days ago, Michelle Obama was here Wednesday, too – and yesterday we had Ashley Judd campaigning to get out the student vote. But, most importantly; Obama was back for a rally in Raleigh (makes me smile every time I say that...).

Our dear Field Organizer, mr Spencer White, had managed to get us VIP tickets – so at 08h30 we were off, four of us in the car. We arrived in Raleigh to find lines stretching three blocks – and thanked Spencer is our minds for getting us VIP tickets. We parked illegally – and hoped the officer handing out parking tickets wouldn’t be Republican.

After buying the mandatory t-shirt, waiting in line, going through security checks etc, we finally found ourselves inside the Halifax Mall, much closer to the stage than I would have thought. People were still cramming into the big outdoor mall and the atmosphere was like only the Americans can create it; nothing like boring Danish politics (see previous entry). It’s a show – and you’re the spectator.

The pre-show started with a few introductions, then a local field organizer for the campaign, who was given his 15 minutes of fame. Like at a sports game, the breaks were filled with music ranging from U2 to ‘Only in America’ (country; check http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/brooks-and-dunn/only-in-america-4920.html for a glimpse of the American dream). Then the pledge of allegiance (all turn towards the big American flag and put their hands on their chest) and then a choir performing The Star-Spangled Banner. But finally the rock star arrived...!

From where I am standing we can see the little white tent where he is hiding– and the camera eagerly waiting for him to step out. And off it goes ! Jeers, Obama signs everywhere, Stars and Stripes ! He comes onto the stage, takes a tour, radiates confidence and calm, before settling the crowd down to start his speech – and the rest is a solid performance by a genuine man. Mixing standard stump speech lines with issues important to the voters of North Carolina, while still managing not to look like your typical practiced speech (it is, though; he gave almost the same speech a day later in Missouri. That’s the name of the game). He doesn’t promise too much, either; when commenting on the many jobs shipped overseas (a touchy topic), he admits that many will not come back from the low-wage countries. Instead he emphasizes how he intends to create new jobs through the promotion of green energy, making USA a frontrunner on e.g. solar and wind energy (Vestas, watch your back !). On education, he intends to hire an army of new teachers and pour lots of money into the education system (my 15 year old friend coming down with us in the car looks content) – but also emphasizes how education is the responsibility of the parents, how they have to turn off the TV and the PlayStation and do something active with their kids (my 15 year old friend freezes). At some point, while Obama is laying out his policies on education and health care, a woman next to me in the crowd asks ‘how can you NOT like this guy ?’.

Suddenly a guy somewhere in the crowd faints – and Obama, seeing this, asks whether he is okay, asks for a Samaritan to get there and asks people around him to make space. ‘You gotta eat before these rallies, people – remember that ! Now, what was I talking about...?’. After the end of the show, he checks in again – and throws his water bottle to the poor (now, probably very happy) guy. Obamania will continue for at least another week, but this show must come to an end, because there’s another rally in Florida later that night, from which Obama will be transmitted live on national television. So the rock concert ends with Obama walking around the edge of the stage, taking his time, touching as many people from the crowd as possible (Secret Service must hate this part !). Unfortunately I was just about three meters too far away from the fence, with a few too many eager people between me and the dude himself. But Achiri, one of the guys with me in the car from Durham, makes a snap move and manages to shake his hand. The guy is 15 – he will remember this for the rest of his life ! Right, Achiri ?¨

Pumped, we walk out of the mall, again buy the mandatory t-shirt (I bought another 3...), bumper stickers and fridge magnets. From now on, the rental car goes by the name The Obamobile....

As a fitting closing note for the day, Obama goes live on 5 national networks at 20h00 with a so-called infomercial. America tunes in to 30 minutes of un-interrupted (you do not interrupt an infomercial with commercials...), pre-arranged, no-annoying-McCain-to-debate, sweet-background-music Obamania. Interspersed with clips from the lives of average Americans (where was Joe the Plumber ?), Obama re-iterates (if, somehow you have managed to miss them) his political views on the economy, energy, healthcare, education, foreign policy and all. Was it a bit too much ? Yes, perhaps. Did he make sense ? Yes; it was clear cut. Was he presidential ? Certainly.

PS – pictures will follow ASAP

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Divide and conquer

It’s always interesting to follow the latest strategic moves. McPalin is forced to play defence, and the odds are stacked up against them.

59% of voters do NOT think Palin is qualified for the VP job, much less for the top job. MSNBC, the most Democrat of the networks, has one expert describe it like this on their ‘McCain in the membrane’ evening show; even at McDonalds they require three job interviews, she only had one. Perhaps the basic McDonalds job preparation courses would actually do her good. A note on Palin in the rear view mirror; post-election, the internal war in the Grand Old party has broken out, accusations of her ignorance mounting. It’s like a soap opera to watch; she apparently did not know the difference between Africa – the continent – and South Africa – the country...

The Obama campaign is sticking to their 50-state promise, and have announced they will run ads in many Republican bastions, including Arizona. They’re probably not going to win Arizona – but the PR value alone of backing McCain into a corner where he has to defend his own home state is unmistakable ! States like Virginia and North Carolina have not voted Democrat since 1964 – and are now 50/50

The race for 60 seats in the Senate is on. 60 seats would secure a Congress completely held by the Democrats, where Republicans cannot even use the so-called filibuster-veto to stop legislation. In North Carolina, the race is between incumbent Elizabeth Dole, an old insider in Washington, and Kay Hagan, the Democrat. The race is dirty, with allegations of Godlessness (Hagan took money from groups denying Jesus Christ) and in-efficiency (Elizabeth Dole only spent 15 days in NC in 2006) and questioning of family values flying through the air. Ads, law suits and counter ads are the order of the day. When we campaign for Obama, we of course also strongly urge the voters to vote for Kay Hagen and the rest of the Democrat ticket

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Short notes from the campaign trail

• The term suburbia takes on a whole new meaning here in the USA. There are beautifully polished neighbourhoods with rows of new houses, with Stars and Stripes on the front porch, manicured lawns, wide driveways and three cars in the garage. And then there are low income neighbourhoods...
• In the rich neighbourhoods, however, you get the feeling of cocooning, a certain isolation. There are ‘no soliciting’ signs everywhere and many are actually rude, when they open the door. It’s like ‘how dare you step on MY lawn ?’...
• In the poorer neighbourhoods, on the other hand, there’s often a more open attitude. Granted; their guy seems to be winning, and we are the bearers of good news. I’ve been invited into the living room to sit and discuss with a fat, African-American guy in his boxer shorts, I’ve been asked if I didn’t have a dollar to spare, I’ve been asked whether people in jail or on parole can vote, we’ve met and hugged a woman who grew up with Gandhi and whose son is now an undercover FBI agent (!?) and I’ve driven old madam Deloris to the polls because she was SO happy she would have a chance to vote. My point is that these people are much more open and share much more – in the rich neighbourhoods, we never got this close to anyone. I wonder in which category the Danes fall...?

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When is my next fix...?

Everybody is talking politics these days. America eats it for breakfast, you hear it on the radio and on TV – it’s everywhere. People wear their party affiliations on the outside, signs are plastered in the front lawns and in all traffic lights, t-shirts and badges are almost mandatory. It’s a circus – and Obama is the biggest rock star of them all right now, closely followed by Palin (she only plays punk rock, though – Obama plays everything from classical to easy listening pop).

And I’ll admit it; I’m caught up, too. I have become a political junkie. I love the entertainment element – and the rock star is my idol. This is so much better than boring Danish politics. Amusing thought; imagine Anders Fogh debating Obama in front of 100m viewers ? It would be a thrashing...! There’s 24 hour politics on CNN and all the other networks to satisfy my craving for a fix – and I wonder how I will re-enter the real world after this...

I arrived in Durham, North Carolina a week and a half ago, to start work two weeks before the election. Spencer and Becky greeted me at the office, and since it does not require a degree in rocket science to perform many of the tasks we have, I was off pretty quickly.

We canvas and make phone calls during the day, and at night we type all the information (what the voters we made contact told us in terms of choice for president, senator and governor, whether they intend to vote early, need rides to the polls or would like to volunteer etc) into one big mother-database. Next morning, that database then spits out new lists of voters to contact and the whole thing starts again.

There is a pleasant dorm-like atmosphere in the office; and it’s definitely Management by Chaos. People come and go, some are only there for a couple of hours (says Obama; make a few calls for me, knock on a few doors – and so we do) – others stay until 3 in the morning (Eric, go home !!). If you come from a business background you can’t help thinking there’s got to be a better way to use the resources, to get in touch with all voters – other than walking from door to door, sometimes only finding below 10% at home, and thus just leaving a flyer. But then you think about it; we would all lose our motivation if we were put in cubicles and asked to do the same job all day long (hey, you’re good at data entry; do that for 12 hours now !). Freedom is the motivator – now there’s an interesting concept that many companies could learn something from !

And somehow it all manages to come together; there’s hot food almost every night, a full fridge (we still live on junk, though), things just work. Management by Chaos ! I’ve heard people mention upwards of 15,000 volunteers in North Carolina alone (for the Democrats, that is) – and at an event in Reno, Nevada they had asked for volunteers during a weekend and expected 200 to come; 2000 (!) showed up, mainly from California. It works – and the media widely reports this campaign as one of the best run, most effective and tight organisations in the history of presidential elections. And that’s only on the numbers-side; the enthusiasm, I’m told by everyone, is beyond what anyone thought possible. It’s awesome (an American word used too little in Europe...!) to be a part of !

Now we just hope that people will not vote with their couch brain, but actually use a bit of common sense when they make their decision (read Rolling Stone’s very interesting take on this; http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/23318320/mad_dog_palin). Paris Hilton is actually running her own campaign – but in my humble opinion, my guy - Obama - has slightly more intelligent views than Paris and Palin...

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God bless our troops. Especially the snipers...

I'm in the South now. Not the Deep South just yet - but far enough down the east coast to see McCain / Palin posters in most driveways, far enough to see a Methodist or Baptist or Adventist church more often than usual. There's more country and blues music on my car radio, than there is rap and pop. This is the Bible belt - or the typically red states, as you hear it very often in the media these days. This is far enough South for you to find a bumper sticker reading 'God bless our troops. Especially the snipers' on the back of an old Ford pick-up truck. I'll just leave that one hanging for a little while, for everyone to digest...

I left NYC Saturday, after some great, but stressing days. I still haven't found THE perfect hotel to stay in at a decent rate, so I ended up trying two more hotels, other than the hostel I stayed in the first night. Both were decent, but nothing spectacular - and still too expensive.  

I love New York. I always knew I would love New York, but being there really confirmed it to me. It's an amazing city, so full of life, so dirty, so crazy. And what probably confirms it to me the most is that I haven't even seen 1% of the whole city. It almost stresses me out that I can't even decide where to spend a few hours; should I go up to Central Park, down along Broadway, through SoHo and The Village ? Should I try the east side, where I've never been before – walk across Brooklyn Bridge, see the UN and so many other things ? Instead, I ended up jumping on a sightseeing bus, hoping I could take it all in during the two hours’ drive. I was wrong, it just stressed me even more, knowing  there are so many things to see, experience, taste, try ! And that's just Manhattan - then there's the rest of New York, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island. Baby, we’re gonna have to live here one day !

And so I left New York on Saturday, having to start the long drive down to Durham, North Carolina. I didn't know what to see enroute, where to stay or how long it would take - so I just set the GPS for Durham and started driving. I drove most of Saturday and ended up staying in a little town called Charlottesville, at the Red Carpet Inn. It certainly wasn't fancy - but it was cheaper than New York, and I just needed a place to stay for the night.

This is also the beautiful South. Today is Sunday, and I’m getting the very best of it. The sun is shining from a blue sky, the temperature is mild autumn - and I'm getting the very best the USA has to offer. So this morning I loaded up on a Starbucks triple venti latte with vanilla and decided to try the Skyline Drive, a picturesque drive down through the Shenandoah National park. The autumn colours are everywhere, there's a lookout point every 200 meters with some amazing view of some amazing mountain - it's almost too much !

I've called and told my host that I will arrive tonight, so I can be ready for work tomorrow morning. As a volunteer, they offered me housing, which just shows how committed people are to the cause - I was quite amazed to hear that. So I'll leave my little Virginia lookout point - where I'm sitting and writing this post - head on further down south and into North Carolina. I can't wait to start working tomorrow, meet the people. Hear more country and blues music, experience the Deep South - and perhaps even see some more of those redneck bumper stickers.

But first, I have a few more hours of driving. And with weather like this, a car like mine, country music on the radio and another refill of Starbucks, that's not the worst thing to spend your Sunday doing. Although some around here would opine I should be in church...

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Aaaaaahhhhh.....Welcome to The City That Never Sleeps !

I had a terrible trip across the Atlantic: had to run across Heathrow's new Terminal 5 to catch my connection, because BA decided to just arrive a bit late. It's probably quite an impressive new building, that Terminal 5 - apparently the biggest freestanding building in the UK - but I wouldn't know, I didn't see much of it !

Anyway, I made it to my onwards flight and at least we weren't cramped, so I had space to sleep relatively comfortably during the trip. So I made my first ever NYLON trip (as it's famously known) - or I guess I did the LONNY ? I had a nap and otherwise just tried to get rid of the cold I had caught in the last couple of days - by relaxing, relaxing, relaxing !

As I touched down, I think it first occurred to me the experience I'm about to have. I've only visited New York once before and only for a weekend - so just that will be an experience. But going down to Durham in North Carolina for three weeks to help out on the Obama campaign will hopefully be an even bigger experience. So far, Becky and Spencer from the North Carolina For Change team have been really nice and forthcoming.

But the problems weren't over. BA didn't manage to connect my luggage in London, so I was told it would only arrive on the next flight. Luckily there's a flight about every hour, so it would only be 2-3 hours. I contemplated whether to stay at the airport and wait for it - or trust the airline to deliver it correctly at a hostel in downtown New York ?

The problem solved itself. National Car Rental had also fucked up, and I had to discuss with them for an hour, before I could get my car - a nice, gas-guzzling SUV (when in Rome...) ! So I ended up going back to the BA terminal, got my luggage and left JFK airport only 2.5 hours later than my arrival - with my bags !

I had booked a hostel bed in downtown New York - www.broadwayhotelnyc.com - after having seen a recommendation on a Danish website. It was cheap, okay - and the location is smack down in the middle of Manhattan - but damn it, I'm too old to sleep in a room with 5 other people, tip-toeing in at 01h30 in the morning with my entire luggage. I'm just not 19 anymore - I'm 30 ! I slept in all my clothes, with a blanket - and didn't have the energy to take a shower. Luckily nobody was snoring !

At 05h00, I couldn't sleep anymore - still on Denmark time (11h00). I got up, sneaked out of the room, and went downstairs to check my emails amongst the cleaning staff and early-morning 19-year olds. I found an old dingy couch, an electricity plug - and they have wireless internet.

And so, here I am, at 05h30 in the morning, at some rundown hostel on Manhattan. Now I'll go do the New York Experience - welcome to The City That Never Sleeps ! Har har haaaarrrrr....!