Obama table in Madison: July 26 Edition (eleventh one in 2008)

[zulchzulu]

It was the eleventh Farmers Market Obama table for this year and was a picture perfect 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):
$579,866,045,455
- $4,681 per household.
- $1,721 per person.
- $341.4 million per day

American Deaths:
4,124

American Wounded:
30,445

Iraqi Body Count:
1,353,345

As of July 26, 2008 at 12:00AM

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



The day started off with an already large crowd of people. Being that it was a gorgeous day with little wind and one of those days you earn for having to survive harsh winter days shoveling a foot of snow with a blizzard yet to come, people knew to make the most of the day. Several neighborhood festivals were on the agenda later in the day for this crowd. There were a couple Obama events as well since it's close to 100 days until the Election Day results come in. Monday, July 28 is 100 days until Election Day.



What made for the Obama table being a very popular destination was having the Obama cutout next to the table. There must have been at least hundred different groups of people who wanted their picture taken and the Capital building added a nice background as well.



There was a lot of talk about the international trip that Barack Obama had taken. People were blown away by the Berlin speech. Imagining American flags being flown and hearing "Yes, we can" from the stunning crowd was very inspirational.

Of course, the usual conversation about how the McCain campaign was flailing with being in Bethlehem, PA when Obama was in Jerusalem in a cheese aisle and being at a German fudge house with Lindsey Graham (whispering corrections in McCain's ear) in Berlin, IL was also a popular topic.

We registered about a dozen people at the table, including a couple who have generally cancelled each other out in elections. While the man had voted Republican for years, he was switching to becoming a Democrat to vote for Obama with his wife.

One thing we decided to do was to have people sign up and leave their email and get a photo taken with Obama that would be emailed to them. Here are a few of those people:



If you are doing grassroots work for Obama, I would highly recommend getting a cutout (preferably life-size) to add as an extra way to attract people.



Next weekend, I'll be in Chicago and will do some work at the Chicago HQ and hopefully do a report from there. The Obama table will be handled by some other volunteers, so feel free to stop by.

Gobama! 100 days!

[NYC_SKP]

1. Instant K&R nt

[saltpoint]

2. A lot of good smiling going on at that booth. Thanks for the

extra work and extra steps on behalf of Democrats. Obama benefits but so do down-ballot Dems, and it's gall good.

Any sign of a John McCain booth at the fair? I bet not.

[zulchzulu]

5. OC!

Lots of smiling at the Obama table indeed! It's an easy thing to do once you get it all set up.

As for a McCain booth, I'm sure there will be at least some people handing out stickers as the weeks whittle down to Election Day. There wasn't a Bush booth in 2004 and I seriously doubt there will be an official McCain table either.

A McCain bumper sticker in the Madison area is about as rare as The Bell's vireo, a very rare but chatty songbird.

:thumbsup:

[saltpoint]

7. I might vote for the Bell's vireo, but McCain -- not a chance.

!

Keep those smiles a'comin'.

[Pirate Smile]

3. I LOVE the pics with the life-size Obama, and that is such a smart way to get e-mail

addresses.

It reminds me of the NYT article about the Arnold/Maria (Shriver) battles at the dinner table where Maria brings in her life-size Obama in to eat with them during meals. :)

[Cha]

4. That is so funny..funny cute. Obama Team should

get a load of this:bounce:

It's so beautiful what you do at the Dane County Farmer's Market, zulch..thanks!~ Do we ever get to see you in your pics? b-)

[Frances]

6. Great pix

Thanks for sending them.