But up in Wisconsin, Biden squeaked out a razor victory in 2020 — by 0.63% — in a state Donald Trump won in 2016, making Wisconsin among a handful of swing states.
"The election is likely to be decided there," said Evanston Mayor Dan Biss, who showed up at Democratic Party headquarters Saturday morning to see off a contingent of Operation Swing State volunteers heading to Wisconsin to knock on doors. "You live in a state that's not close, and you wonder for a second, 'Do I have a voice in this election?' And the answer is 'yes.' Because the state line is about an hour away, and that's where it's going to be decided."
Biss is a politician; politics is what he does. But why would an ordinary person spend their Saturday — a lovely day, in the mid 70s, low humidity, sunny with a scattering of clouds and a gentle, caressing breeze — driving 68 miles due north to ring doorbells and quiz strangers?
"Because our future is at stake," said Susan Kelly, a retired executive who lives in Evanston. "I am concerned about what Donald Trump would do if he gets in office again. I'm concerned about Project 2025. The economy may go up and down, but once our democracy is gone, it's gone."
"A lot of our freedoms are at risk, and I am very concerned, especially as a woman, a person of color and just a human being in general," said Loretta Jackson, a retired social worker, who started knocking on doors in June. "Most of the time they're friendly. You get one or two they want to scream at you about COVID. They don't have their facts straight. You want to try to inform them, but sometimes they don't want to hear it, and when you can't speak to them, it's best to just walk away."
The volunteers tended to be older, many retirees, while the organizers skew young, like Carter Gulyas, 19, a history major at Illinois State University, and today's canvass captain. He's seen a big change since President Biden took himself out of the race.
"It's like turning a new chapter — people are really getting excited," he said, noting that about 50 people signed up for today, double what it had been previously. "This is going to be our biggest turnout yet."
Gulyas made a brief speech: "It is time for new beginnings. It is time for risk. It is time for joy and prosperity. We are here today because we are going to win."
He made sure everyone was paired with a driver. An experienced activist, Andrea Pauls Backman, former CEO of the Les Turner ALS Foundation, was paired with Diane Ativie, a retired social worker from Skokie. She had done phone canvassing for Harold Washington and Barack Obama, but this was her first time going door-to-door, prompted by both the elevation of Vice President Kamala Harris and the need to defeat her opponent.
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I really hope people are smart enough to realize that the fat traitor is just that & also has serious dementia & is totally deranged.
ReplyDeleteHe really belongs in a padded cell in a locked mental hospital for both our safety & his!
Nope. Not enough. Don't want to see him in prison, either. He'll never do time in the slammer. Like many other people, I just want him to drop dead, and then be buried at an undisclosed location and in an unmarked grave.
DeleteNo shrines to Orange Jesus, no lines of folks pissing on his grave. Just dump his remains in a hole. Or burn the blob of blubber and scatter the ashes. Then Kamala Harris will annihilate Jethro Vance, and maybe this long decade of national insanity can finally end.
I want to see it happen. Right. F'king. Now. When Mr. Tangerine Man croaks, I will dance naked in the street and turn somersaults on my front lawn, like I did when Obama won. And I'm pushing 80. I'll do it. Promise.
Now, I wanna see the chickenshit mofo bail to Russia, so I can taunt all his supporters I unfortunately know with "COMMIE!"
DeleteWhen he croaks, I'll be singing "Ding dong the witch is dead" all day, but I certainly want him to lose this election, as it will totally destroy his mind, losing to a woman is also way shorter than he is.
DeleteHe takes great pride in his alleged height, even though it appears he's really shrunk to 6'0" at the most now, which is why he puts lifts in his shoes.
Yeah, but how are you going to dispose of his voters?
Deleteoh my!
ReplyDeleteI support the grass roots effort described in your piece today. the democratic process in action.
the wishing death upon the republican nominee not so much. its a bad look. grizz doing naked somersaults . you can't unsee that
I have mixed feelings about that apartment building photo. I know the canvassers have all the right motivations and I definitely wish them well, but when the property has a sign actually posted right there on the front door reading "NO PEDDLERS - AGENTS OR SOLICITORS," it means that the residents don't want to be bothered, and their management company is backing them up.
ReplyDeleteI doubt that anyone living there would be irritated enough to change their vote due to being interrupted in the middle of the day, but I wish that people would respect a posted sign. I'm sure that they would walk right on by any address with a Trump sign out front, regardless of whether their app is telling them to stop there.
Actually, they didn't ring the bell there — not because of the sign (they decided that, since they were not asking for money, they were not "soliciting") but because all the doorbells were unmarked.
DeleteLegally that’s probably true, but I doubt anyone who puts up a No Soliciting sign welcomes any strangers coming to the door uninvited. I know I don’t!
DeleteCoey
With the dwindling of the number of states that matter and the dwindling of the number of voters in these states who matter, it’s worthwhile re-reading Isaac Asimov’s short story “Franchise,” where, in the future, it was all down to the views and opinions of one ordinary (but representative) citizen.
ReplyDelete"Never hate your enemies. It clouds your judgment."
ReplyDeleteDon Vito Corleone
"Don't waste time in mourning. Organize."
IWW leader Joe Hill, on the eve of his execution
When Obama was running, my husband had just retired. He took the training in Chicago and canvased in Des Moines Iowa and a Milwaukee suburb. They told the volunteers not to expect much support in the Milwaukee burb since it was heavily Republican. When he came home, he said, "Obama is going to win". I asked why he was a so sure. He said almost all of the people he talked to were voting for Obama. Glad he was right. Volunteer if you can-a great experience.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely in the “just drop dead” camp. He has been preparing for his loss, which he has told us he would not accept, for a long time and there are threats against voting and vote counting. I am appalled that seeing what we have seen and hearing what we have heard, people are still going to vote for him. His presidency was disastrous and that was when there were officials in his administration that stopped his worst impulses. That won’t be true this time. Biden has warned us that there will be violence if he doesn’t win. We can’t let him win so bring it on!
ReplyDeleteIf he dropped dead today. They would blame it on Democrats. I get why they would go to Milwaukee county. But Biden crushed Trump there as well as Dane county. I would have come here to Racine and Kenosha was way closer. It's always possible they could get more people here to get out and vote.
ReplyDelete