Addendum Addendum.

I forgot -

On the night before the election, I had a tought time sleeping.  I dreamt that I was on this porch talking to a (white) voter, and the more and more I talked, the more and more sure they were that they were voting for Romney.

One of the volunteers from California that on Monday night she had a nightmare that she was watching news coverage and Romney won.

Addendum.

I really love and admire (African-American) voting culture.

One (African-American) administrative assistant at a research center on campus told me she helped get her daughter's registration straightened out (she had been at college in '08, and is now living at home), and then registered her son to vote (since he turned 18 this year).

She told me that at the (African-American) early voting site in her suburb, the (elderly) (presumably black) precinct woman was like, "We have a first time voter here!", and then every started saying "First time voter!" and applauding her son.

I wish all American subcultures had that level of respect for and dedication to voting.

Election Day (9 of 9): Volunteering recognition.

The one chief-of-staffer for one of the Wisconsin Democratic senators who was instrumental in mounting opposition to Scott Walker's policies has always been very appreciative of my volunteering in the recall races, and tells everyone how I brought up my bike on commuter rail and then would bike to the office and then bike out again to do routes and then bike back to the commuter rail at the end of the day.

"It's not that much!", I was like, "I bike all summer long, it's free to take your bike up, and it's so much more convenient that way."

She and everyone else doesn't see it that way, though, and at the watch party she introduced me to her boss and told the story (again) to him and told him that I was that guy.

He thanked me, we said a few things, and then as we both went to go and shook hands, he gave me a hug.

Election Day (8 of 9): High pressure sell.

One (hispanic) guy with a beard who answered the door said he had just gotten back from work (it was around 1:30pm) and he'd eat and then "maybe" go vote.

I got him registration info, and was like, "So can we count on you to vote?", I was like, and he was like, "Probably," and I was like, "That's not good enough, can we count on you to vote?, I want to hear a yes," and at that he took abash, and so I started saying that the Republicans were taking away the votes of brown people in Florida and Ohio by turning them away illegally and people were waiting in lines for hours and hours, and so I asked him again if we could count on him to vote.

He said yes hesitantly, but he seemed more committed, and I asked him if he could commit to going after lunch like he had floated earlier, and he said he would, around 3pm, and he'd drive over.

They tell you in voter turnout training to push for a yes and then ask people to lock in when they'll vote and how they'll get there, but I've never really had to do that before with a noncommittal voter, and until then I had never thought that advice made much sense.

Election Day (7 of 9): Cheesegear, Romney voter.

1) One shop downtown not only had a cheese wedge hat, but a cheese fez!

2) One (pleasant) (older) (white) man who answered the door said that everyone had voted, and then something about, "But change that around, for Romney, not Obama," when I asked if it was for Obama.

"Don't steal my pumpkins!", he was like, since he had several ornamental gourds outside the door.

I laughed and said I wouldn't, and it was nice that people could disagree on candidates and still be nicer to each other.

Election Day (6 of 9): Getting new voters registered.

I triumphantly gave registration info to a handful of new voters, including these 4:

1) One (white) guy with a messy beard was walking across a street, so I greeted him like I do everyone I meet, and mentioned I was with the Obama campaign, and he said he'd vote for Obama because he's so glad to support an African-American president, but he couldn't vote.

"Why, have you commited a felony?", I was like, and he had, but I checked and he had been off probation for 7 years, and hadn't realized he could vote again.

Then we talked about forms of identification, and I called in to get his precinct, and amid all this I gradually realize that the guy is homeless.

I ended up giving him the number for a ride to the polls, shook his hand and told him I was glad he got the information to start voting again, and said bye.

He promised to vote, and was glad that Tammy Baldwin was committed to preserving Social Security and Medicare and other programs that folks need.

2) One (younger) (cleanly-dressed) (black) girl was walking by on the street and seemed a bit out of it, and I talked to her, and she said wasn't going to vote, but just me asking made her want to.

So, I started talking with her, and it also turned out she was homeless, and I got her the registration info so she could get registered to vote out of the day shelter that she lives at, and I also called in to figure out where her voting location was.

"Thank you so much," she was like.

"No, thank you for doing this," I was like, and gave her a hug.

3) At one house where there was an Obama sign in an upper window, there was a younger (hispanic-looking) guy going into the house, and so I checked up with him on registration, and it turns out he was 18 or 19 and he needed to double-check registration information.

After that, I noticed there was a newspaper image of Puerto Rican flag with something on it taped up in the window on the side door, so I asked him if his family was Puerto Rican, and he said yes.

"That's so cool, I was like.  Where's your family from there?  I have friends from Ponce and Mayaguez, and my friend from Ponce always talks to me about Puerto Rican culture and stuff."

"Arecibo," he was like.

"Isn't that in the mountains?", I was like.

"Not really," he said.

"Oh," I was like.  "But don't you have those little frogs there?"

"Coqui?", he was like, brightening, "Yeah!".

4) An older Mexican man answered the door at one place and seemed happy to see my Obama button, so I gave him the flier.

"?Puedes votar?", I was like.  "Desde ocho, aqui," and I pointed at the address.

He seemed confused.

"

Gotta clean.

The weekend after Thanksgiving I set aside to thoroughly clean my apt.

I had been getting frustrated at little things, and a lot of it was how much shit had mounted up in my apt.: paper I needed to throw out, dust everywhere, disorganized folders, etc.

Even though people said my apt. was clean when they were through there, it wasn't to me, so for sanity's sake I committed to cleaning it so I could leave vacation with a clean slate, refreshed and ready to go.

It took me 3.5 hours on Sat. and then 3 hours on Sun. to do everything I needed...

I was surprised at how long it took, but I hadn't cleaned since late August, since I had been so busy with school and then the Obama campaign.

I hadn't done laundry since then until like early Nov., either, and had finally run out of boxer shorts and re-wears (some of them were starting to smell funky), and broke down midweek and did laundry when I was working from home.

Somehow, I'm always surprised at how many papers that I read once and don't need anymore or never needed in the 1st place end up thrown around my apt., or tucked in the folders that I carry around with me.

Election Day (5 of 9): Two union bartenders.

The election watch party was in an autoworkers union hall that they had let out rent-free, and 2 older (white) women who were retired autoworkers and bartended on the side were there bartending for everyone.

(The local Democratic party had bought kegs of Miller lite, but you had to get liquor and mixed drinks yourself!)

I talked with the women a bit:

1) The one with longer (dyed) blonde hair said she couldn't stand Tommy Thompson.

"There is nothing worse than an arrogant man," she was like.  "And don't get me started on Paul Ryan."

Then, she got started on Paul Ryan, and said his staff had had her arrested several times.

"How can you go and lie to someone's face?", she asked, and she said the first time he toured her auto plant, he went down the line shaking hands, and she stepped back and put up her hands to make sure it was clear that she wouldn't shake his hand.

"He was new then," she was like, "And I was weird, but they caught on fast and wouldn't let him go there anymore for a photo op."

She then said that she shows up at his constituent meetings with records of his votes that she has a notary public put an affadavit on, and whenever he lies about a vote, she stands up and says, "Lie!", and tells everyone that he just said he supported such-and-such issue, but has actually voted against programs that help autoworkers etc.

"I do that till the staff run around and take me from the room," she was like.  "One said, 'You can't say that someone lies,' and I said, 'Fine, call it an untruth, but let's talk about his record,'", she was like.  "That didn't go over well."

She then said that at some parade recently, Ryan saw her and came up to talk and was like, "Why can't we get along?"

"Because you lie," she said she said.

She also said she had a picture of him taped up in the back of her car with the word "LIAR" above it, but she took it down since she would get into nasty conversations at stoplights.

2) The other bartender, with shorter, graying brunette hair and a common sense level voice, said that she bartends at this one bar and last night she had to put up with 2 Republicans coming in.

"I said, 'Fellows, let's not talk politics, because emotions are high right now,' but wouldn't you know it, they kept talking and talking all night and needling me.  So, when the one finished his beer, he put his bottle out for a new one, and I took it away and went to the cooler, and I came back, and - "

- and at that she took an empty bottle that she had just taken away from the counter, and slammed it down in front of me again empty with one big authoritative BAM -

"and I said, 'Here you go.'  He says, 'What are you going to do with that bottle, fight me?', and I said, 'Open your mouth again and find out.'"

At that, she looked at me, and was like, "That stopped him real good."