Greetings from NC

WOW, I must be committed to the election of John McCain. I scheduled myself to volunteer in the swing state of NC during the UGA/FL football weekend. Am I committed or just that brilliant? Did anyone see the game? It was literally the worst I've seen GA play since I was in college many, many, many years ago. Anyway, I digress.
I spent Friday night trick or treating with Harry Potter, Lady from Lady and the Tramp, and the Burger King guy. And then hit the road for the great state of NC to volunteer in Hickory.
Saturday, I spent about 4 hours in the GOP headquarters making phone calls to local registered voters to remind them that Saturday was the last day to register in NC, and that early voting was going on until 3:00 pm.
In the beginning it was a little uncomfortable calling strangers and asking for their support but after some hang ups (very few) and stumbling through the script, I hit my stride.
It was actually a lot of fun talking to people who landed all over the spectrum from staunch McCain supporters (my favorite was a southern belle who said she did not realize there was another candidate in the race while using her best southern drawl), to Obama supporters (who were very polite once I thanked them for participating in one of the many things that makes this country great, and then hung up and thought, buyers remorse should set in early in 2009 when they realize that someone besides the top 5% of earners has to pay for all of the programs Obama is proposing) to finally the undecided voters. (Seriously, this late in the game. What are you, living under a rock??? and to those who know me well, no I did not say this to the potential voter). I know, SHOCKING.
Instead I engaged the undecideds in a brief conversation about why they remained so. Most felt that neither candidate offered them much in the way of solutions to the current issues facing our country but were committed to making a decision by Tuesday. I encouraged them all to go to McCain's website to really research the issues important to them and see how McCain proposes to handle them since most of what they are being barraged with on a daily basis are 30 second spots with alot of promises but not much substance. (Crap, I forgot to encourage them to research Obama's website, bad McCain supporter!!!!)
After the Saturday polls closed, it was time to hit the pavement in Hickory NC neighborhoods. It was so much fun to go door to door and hear directly from residents of the area who again fell all along the political spectrum. For me, I am happy to report that the vast majority of the areas we visited were overwhelmingly in favor of McCain but I did run into a few Obama supporters as well.
My favorite was a home where an older gentleman answered the door while his daughter in law (the home owner) came out to greet me from the garage area. She informed me she and her husband had already voted and not for my candidate. You would think that in this heated election and in a battleground state that she would have then kicked me off her lawn. Instead she was quick to point out that her father in law, the older gentleman had voted for McCain in FL-YEAH! I shook his hand and thanked him for his vote, and then thanked her too. She looked surprised, but I told her I am always thankful for anyone who participates in this great nations political process (and in my head said, even as ill informed as you clearly are). :)
She thanked me too, and as I left I found even less that we had in common, her license plate had a Gators tag on it. Are you kidding me??? I told her that I could not believe I found another thing we disagreed on. She laughed and said she had no 'Dawg' in that fight. She graduated from the University of Colorado, her husband from Florida. She said Florida was his problem, and finished it out with 'Go Dawgs'! It was nice to have such a pleasant conversation with someone I could not disagree with more politically.
This has been a very energizing experience for me. It reminds me that we can each make a difference in this upcoming election, and if the election does not go our way we can continue to be involved and keep these candidates on their toes.
Think about how many of us were up in arms about the $4 gas prices and called our congress people to say, get busy, get on with it and do our work- the peoples work. We as a nation, around 80%, believe that we should not only drill in America now where we have an abundance of oil available but also should develop alternative forms of energy. Our reps listened and we made a difference. While it was not completely successful because of the Democratic majority in the house and more specifically Nancy Pelosi--a staunch environmentalist who thinks we should never drill here, we made a difference. We showed that when we pay attention and call our reps out, they have no choice but to listen.
Now we need to pay attention to the needless and worthless programs we continue to throw money at with no discernible results. We could redirect money (our money) from useless programs and special interests and put it to work for things that work for all of us.
Regardless of party, I think we all would like to have energy independence and for all to have good health care, but the bottom line is we have to pay for it. In order to get to this place, let us all agree to pay more attention to this government who works for us and keep them in line, if not FIRE them, we have the power at the ballot box.