YES WE CAN

Inauguration

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 07:38:10 -0500

On the afternoon of Saturday, January 17th, a packed car left Boston with a destination of Washington D.C. --- loaded with my Partner Chris, his sister Patty, our friend Lisa Desrochers and myself. We were all filled with the excitement of sharing in the historic moment of witnessing Barack Obama become the 44th President of the United States.

After arriving at our friend Lesley Weller’s home in Glover Park late Saturday night, the celebration kicked off on Sunday, with the concert at the Lincoln Memorial. With our extended gang, we headed down to the Mall, and quickly realized we were clearly not the only ones with the idea to attend the concert. It proved to be a star-powered event, with some of the more memorable moments being Garth Brooks singing “American Pie” and “Shout”. and Jamie Foxx impersonating Barack Obama while reciting the words he spoke from Grant Park on election night. It was an amazing afternoon, surrounded by words, song and an incredible energy from a community of people.

Our trip peaked on Tuesday the 20th, when we all headed back down to the Mall to be a part of Obama’s swearing in and Inaugural ceremony. While the concert drew a large crowd, it was no comparison to the sea of people that congregated on this day. As we were walking towards the Mall, you could feel the pending crowd and the intensity of security and crowd control. There was an incredible excitement and energy that I had never before experienced, and it felt like being in a “large bubble of community”. I will always remember the moment when we could see Obama on the Jumbo-Tron, walking alone down the halls of the Capital about to enter the stage. It was at that moment that I realized the magnitude of what was happening. I looked at a woman standing next to me, tears running down her cheeks and just said to her “this is unbelievable”.

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of this historic moment in time. While we are all faced with many challenges in the days ahead, it was wonderful to have a brief moment to pull out and celebrate the strength of our democracy and appreciate the amazement of this time.

Many thanks to Lesley, for her incredible hospitality and generosity that allowed us to be a part of it all!

Day 3 - Canvasing in Springfield, Ohio

Sat, 1 Nov 2008 07:49:00 -0400

Our day of canvasing started out in the morning by touring the Wittenberg University campus, Dan’s and my Alma Mater. With our nephew Clark (a current student), we drove the Hudson around campus in all its glory (with Obama signage and a honking horn). Much to Clark’s horror, we passed many students on their way to the football stadium for the game against Ohio Wesleyan. We then stopped by The 3 Stewges Diner for a quick greasy spoon breakfast before heading to the Obama campaign office on the other side of town.

Once we arrived at the campaign office, it was clear there was a strong field effort going, drawing many volunteers from out of State. The volunteer coordinator was from Dover, Massachusetts and the campaign office coordinator was from Hollywood , California. They proceeded to give us a high level overview of the dynamics going on wit the campaign in the State and proceeded to direct us to the volunteer field office a mile up the road.

At the field office, we were given a short orientation along with packets that included street maps and resident listings. We all had separate listings and our mission was to go door to door to make sure residents knew about early voting as well as their voting location. We were also expected to answer or capture any unanswered questions about Barack’s positions on the issues.

It ended up being an incredible experience with our door to door canvasing. We were able to really see and feel what is going on in the depressed midwest economy that is so heavily dependent on the auto industry and manufacturing jobs that have largely moved offshore. Most people were very upset with the way the country was heading and felt very concerned for their futures. Again the Hudson proved to be an ice-breaker as curiosity pulled many people out of their homes and lightened the mood and discussion.

After returning our canvas sheets and tally’s back to the field office, we all drove around Springfield, touring some of the old grand streets from the town’s more prosperous years during the turn of the last century. We also went to view the Frank Lloyd Wright house, that had recently been renovated. As we drove around the streets of the grand old homes, I realized the contrast to the streets where we had just spent the afternoon, with people just trying to make it week to week. It proved to be very rewarding to be a part of the election process, but also to get a taste of what people are experiencing in middle America.

Day 2 - Pennsylvania into Ohio

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:48:48 -0400

We got back on the road in Breezewood, Pennsylvania around 9:30AM on to begin day 2 of our journey. We continued our way along the Pennsylvania Turnpike and continued to work our way West. We hit Wheeling WV in the early afternoon, and while looking for coffee and a bite to eat, we wondered across a small Cafe’ in a more depressed part of town and struck up a conversation with a few locals.

The guys we connected with at this Cafe’ have been working in the steel mills or coal mines for years, and they shared their challenges and realities with plants and mines closing and a rapidly declining population. At the same time, we heard their political perspectives and they were all very discouraged with our country’s direction. They were amazed that we were driving from Massachusetts to Ohio to support Obama, but you could tell they were energized by our mission. As we left the Cafe’, we all got the sense they would be talking about the “4 guys from Massachusetts in the old Hudson” for a while.

The highlight of the day was around 4:30 in the afternoon when we realized the State Police were pulling traffic off I-70 (including our vehicle). It ended up they were clearing the highway in order to make way for John McCain’s caravan, led by his bus “The Straight Talk Express”. What were the odds that John McCain and his entourage would actually be right behind us on the road? We jumped out of the car and ran to the side of the road flashing our Obama car magnets and snapping pictures. It was definitely an adrenaline moment and made us even more determined to get to Ohio.

We finally arrived at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio at 7:00pm. As we were approaching Clark Goodman’s (our nephew) dorm, we got pulled over by campus security --- who were only pursuing us to get a good glimpse of the Hudson. After providing the security guard with a first hand look of the car, we were able to connect with Clark and head out to dinner. We dined over pizzas ad beer at the Hickory Inn (an old haunt from our college years 25 years earlier) --- then Dan and I headed out with Clark to hit a few campus Halloween parties. It ended up being an evening of reflection as we walked the campus and heard the familiar sounds and felt the energy of a college Friday night.

Day 1 - Boston to Breezewood, PA

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 09:45:59 -0400

At 7:00AM on October 30th, we left the South End of Boston and climbed on to the Massachusetts Turnpike in a 1951 Hudson ---loaded with my Partner Chris Nagle, my great friend Dan McNichol, the “Hudson Whisperer” Per Christiansen and myself --- along with a small amount of luggage,100 pounds of spare parts and a lot of enthusiasm. Our destination was Springfield, Ohio to canvas for the Obama campaign.

With 850 miles of road ahead of us, we realized very quickly that we would be drawing attention, as many drivers responded to the beautiful car and the Obama signage that adorned the outside of the vehicle. Through Massachusetts and Connecticut, we obviously received many “thumbs up” and could feel the support of our “campaign car”.

By mid afternoon, we crossed into New York and encountered a good amount of snow in the Catskill mountains --- reminding us what season is just around the corner. We were still getting a lot of looks from passers-by, but as we entered Pennsylvania, we definitely started feeling a very different and mixed response. As we trekked west, it was very clear that we were in “McCain country” and not near the appreciation for our cause.

We finally settled in Breezewood, Pennsylvania for the night and decided to take the Obama magnets off the car before settling in to our hotel for the evening. As we reflected on the day, we agreed that it was a different experience to be be putting ourselves out there with a political position. As Dan said, he always feels like he is being noticed when he is driving the Hudson, but now he wasn’t sure if people were responding to his car or his politics.

Message from Greg

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:18:52 -0400

I am supporting Barack Obama and have had some involvement volunteering for the campaign over the last several months. To put a more focused and directed effort into the campaign, my Partner Chris Nagle, my great friend Dan McNichol and I are driving from Massachusetts to Ohio over a long weekend of October 30 - Nov 3 to promote and encourage the the Obama / Biden ticket.

The unique part of our "road-trip" is that we will be driving in Dan’s 1951 Hudson that he bought on eBay several years ago and has used on previous press tours to promote his books on the U.S. Interstate system and The Big Dig in Boston. We are planning to adorn the car with Obama signage and American flags as we make the Westward trek. Dan and I went to college together at Wittenberg University (in Springfield, Ohio) back in the early 80's, so we plan to return to the campus as part of our journey. An added bonus to our stop in Springfield is that our nephew, Clark Goodman, is a freshman at Wittenberg (although our arrival will probably not be a bonus for him).

Regardless of who you are supporting in this race, our trip is intended to symbolize our freedom of expression, our passion for change and or belief in our country. I encourage you to add your comments below or to other entries in the Blog to share in this journey with us.

Thanks for listening.

Greg

Message from Chris

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:18:36 -0400

In an attempt to influence a handful of voters in this swing-state-of-all-swing-states, we are headed on a road trip. My partner, Greg, and our dear friend Dan will take turns driving Dan's 1951 Hudson, leaving Boston on Thursday, October 30th en route to O-H-I-O. The car, when decorated with OBAMA gear, will certainly carry our message for the many miles we are on the road - it's passengers will have plenty of work to do once there!

We'll keep you updated on our adventure.

With love and gratitude that I have all of you level-headed voters in my life,

Chris