Obama table in Madison: April 26 Edition (second one in 2008)

[zulchzulu]

It was the second Farmers Market Obama table for this year and was a blustery, chilly day with lots of people from all over the globe walking along and choosing from all kinds of locally grown, baked, crafted and political flavors. The Obama table is one feature to many at what the New York Times mentioned "The Dane County Farmers' Market in Wisconsin is now recognized as the largest in the nation, and is still growing."

The night before the tabling, I made sure the weekly war scorecard was updated and visible.

Here's this week's ever growing sad news:

Weekly War Scorecard

Cost of Iraq Occupation:
(running total):
$514,514,150,746
- $4,681 per household.
- $1,721 per person.
- $341.4 million per day

American Deaths:
4,052

American Wounded:
29,829

Iraqi Body Count:
1,201,597

As of April 26, 2007 at 12:00AM

Sources:
www.iraqbodycount.net
www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths....
www.defenselink.mil
www.antiwar.com/casualties
www.costofwar.com


The Obama table at 8am before one of many 40mph wind gusts.

As I packed the car with the table "ingredients", which consists of a foldable table, a 8 ft. x 3 ft. canvas sign with lightweight and strong PVC pipe stand, a large duffle bag full of clipboards with signup sheets, button, bumper stickers, weights to hold things down and other items, it was apparent it was going to be a very windy, chilly day with 40 mph gusts and a wind chill that made it feel like 25 degrees. Still, it was worth fighting the wind to get out the message.

The crowd was huge at the Capitol Square, with 17,000+ people showing up for the 5k Crazy Legs race, where many walkers would also participate with many runners. We were set up with enough time for people to stop by and grab a sticker or two to show off in the race. Quite a few were very happy to don some Obama merch for the race.

Because it was so windy, the Obama sign, connected to the table and weighted down by a heavy bag, started bending to a point where the PVC pipe might seem to split. Not great grassroots weather, but we're pros... you learn to being weights to make sure everything doesn't fly off and 50 yards away.

After giving away 100 bumperstickers and buttons, dozens of stickers, rally signs, literature and 100 new names signed up on the email list, we also had 20 free posters for people to have. I had designed it and it's also available for free (http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5682380&mesg_id=5682380).



Unlike last week, which was pretty mellow for the most part and probably due to very nice weather, there were a few oddballs that stopped by.

One woman (who supports Hillary Clinton) came up to the table and started on some rant about "how your candidate has hired Hamas to work for the campaign". I told her to have a good day, but one of the other people who joins us weekly asked her what she was talking about. She said "my friend is on the internet a lot and she found out that Obama and Hamas have some agreement and that they are working on his campaign..." OK. Look for that from the Clinton campaign sometime soon...

From what I heard, some New York radio station interviewed some Hamas official and he was asked who he liked in the Presidential race...he said he liked Obama...so there you have it... a guy with Hamas likes Obama and it metamorphs into that Obama has hired Hamas... creative...

One guy (classic Repug looking guy) walked by the table and yelled "God damn America, right? God damn America, right?" and like most Repugs like that, quickly ran off and mixed into the crowd. Another dude walked by another time and said "Reverend Wright, huh!" shaking his head...and of course was walking away fast.

Again, as I've mentioned before, I try to just focus on Obama as the candidate and when someone walks up, all of us say "hello, would you like to sign up for emails on the campaign or maybe a button or bumpersticker..." This starts the conversation and people are very excited to be able to get something. However, usually people 80% of the time ask about when "Hillary is going to drop out" or "man, the Clintons really bug me because..." I'm guessing it's going to get worse before it gets better.

A lot of people mentioned that they saw the Bill Moyers/Reverend Wright interview (http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04252008/watch.html) and were really impressed by Wright. I haven't seen it as of this writing, but had seen how Fox News was already trashing it. So it has to be good!

A few people were looking forward to Barack Obama going to be on Fox News Sunday (042708). It will be interesting to see what the Murdoch channel tries to do.

Maybe next Saturday will be decent weather. 40 mph gusts out in the open for several hours gives you windburn. But it's worth it!

[JimGinPA]

1. Thanks For Posting This...

By the way, I recorded the Wright interview on my DVR last night, and it's excellent.

K&R

[zulchzulu]

5. I'll check out the interview tomorrow and maybe write about it...

Thanks for your work in PA. We knew it was going to be a tough one and Barack did well considering...

[gateley]

2. I love hearing these reports. And I love you for doing all that you do. nt

[VolcanoJen]

3. You are seriously the coolest.

Thank you for this awesome post, for cheering me up, and for all of your wonderful work!!!

[zulchzulu]

8. Why thank you!

Look for a report at least once a week.

:hi:

[FrenchieCat]

4. This nation thanks you.....

Frontline Soldier for the Grassroots! :patriot:

[zulchzulu]

10. I thank all those out there in the streets throughout this primary season

Heck, I even thank those who support other candidates and had the initiative to go out in the cold ground and do what they felt they needed to do. As long as they were positive and not spreading lies about other candidates, my hat is off to them.

It's an Obama hat by the way. :hi:

[hisownpetard]

6. Thanks so much for everything you do. It's wonderful and much appreciated.

:hi:

[grantcart]

7. Outstanding - BTW I am impressed that the Clinton and McCain supporters are

so motivated that they not only stopped by to say hello but also went to all of the trouble to open their own information kiosks.

[zulchzulu]

12. There may be some McCain people handing out stickers later in the season...

...not that they would have the ability to actually go through the effort to set up a table... I look forward to that day. People will want Obama stickers on themselves as a form of repellant.

:rofl:

[Scurrilous]

9. K & R

:thumbsup:

[saltpoint]

11. K & R.

[zulchzulu]

13. I just got an email from a BBC film crew that they want to do a documentary

We'll see what happens. I forgot to mention that there was a small film crew from the BBC recording the Obama table activities while we were fighting the winds. They will be back around Madison again since they are also doing some other documentary work in Wisconsin.

Stay tuned!

[sniffa]

14. Rock on

Keep us updated please. :kick:

[stillcool]

15. Bummer..I'm too late to Rec....

but thank you! I love hearing reports from the ground!