Saturday, October 23, 2004
GOTV: Dispatch from the Trenches
Standing my watch on the ramparts yesterday (yes, I know trenches are by definition underground whilst ramparts are way up in the air. It's a ploy to confuse enemy spotters as to my actual whereabouts and screw up their targeting computers) there was a definite air of calm-before-the-storm.
Okay, actually it was just calm. A few people dropped in...one guy had just traded in his old truck for a new one and needed a new Kerry/Edwards sticker for the bumper. Couple of people came by for yard signs, happily for their neighbors who wanted to add to the classiness of the area rather than to replace ones which had been stolen. Supplies are short and we're living off midnight requisitions from Dem HQ's in surrounding counties for yard signs and stickers, but I keep reminding myself that it's better for demand to exceed supply than the reverse.
One fella, older guy, came in the door and handed me an unlabeled videotape. I was about to direct him to the video store a couple blocks down when he said "You seen '9/11' yet?" Seems he has both a DVD and a VCR and has been dubbing Michael Moore from the former to the latter and handing them out to folks who don't have DVD players yet. Sure wish I'd though of this myself, and earlier. Guerilla warriors come in a glorious variety of guises.
My own contribution to the agitprop front were some refrigerator magnets. We got these to put business cards on years ago, the magnets are the same size with a peel-off label on one side you stick the cards to. Had some old pre-perforated business card blanks, too, so I printed them up with this on it:
Just that, centered. No text, no comment. People would take them, and glance, and start to look away but then their eyes would get stuck and you could see a thought balloon forming overhead reading "WTF?"
Then they'd figure it out, and responses ranged from big ol' grins to outright howling laughs. One lady took three, explaining that she's an LPN who works at a local nursing home, goes to school for her RN in a nearby town, and does training shifts at the local hospital. (Ah, the energy of the young.) Thus does subversion work itself into unexpected places.
Okay, actually it was just calm. A few people dropped in...one guy had just traded in his old truck for a new one and needed a new Kerry/Edwards sticker for the bumper. Couple of people came by for yard signs, happily for their neighbors who wanted to add to the classiness of the area rather than to replace ones which had been stolen. Supplies are short and we're living off midnight requisitions from Dem HQ's in surrounding counties for yard signs and stickers, but I keep reminding myself that it's better for demand to exceed supply than the reverse.
One fella, older guy, came in the door and handed me an unlabeled videotape. I was about to direct him to the video store a couple blocks down when he said "You seen '9/11' yet?" Seems he has both a DVD and a VCR and has been dubbing Michael Moore from the former to the latter and handing them out to folks who don't have DVD players yet. Sure wish I'd though of this myself, and earlier. Guerilla warriors come in a glorious variety of guises.
My own contribution to the agitprop front were some refrigerator magnets. We got these to put business cards on years ago, the magnets are the same size with a peel-off label on one side you stick the cards to. Had some old pre-perforated business card blanks, too, so I printed them up with this on it:
Just that, centered. No text, no comment. People would take them, and glance, and start to look away but then their eyes would get stuck and you could see a thought balloon forming overhead reading "WTF?"
Then they'd figure it out, and responses ranged from big ol' grins to outright howling laughs. One lady took three, explaining that she's an LPN who works at a local nursing home, goes to school for her RN in a nearby town, and does training shifts at the local hospital. (Ah, the energy of the young.) Thus does subversion work itself into unexpected places.
