Let me tell you about one experience I had canvassing in rural MO today...

[usregimechange]

I canvassed in Carterville MO, population of under 2,000 people, in SWMO - GOP stronghold. I walked up to one man, who was not on my list but he was standing outside.

I told him why I was there (canvassing as a volunteer for the Obama campaign) and he said, "Well I am sorry to hear that." I told him that I was a social worker and my experiences working with the uninsured. He said that we should not provide health care to the poor. I said what happens then, "they don't just disappear." I helped him understand that many end up at the ER, he finally admitted it. The I asked him: "Who pays for that?" He admitted after a bit that he does (through higher medical costs passed to consumers). He then stated that: "Well a lot of them should just go to jail." I said: "And who pays for that?" He didn't know what to say because he realized the answer, he does.

So, I didn't have much luck today. I knocked in about 45 doors and found not one Obama supporter. But I located some undecideds and got some of these folks thinking.

[Cha]

1. Thanks, usrc! That's all you can

do sometimes..is get people to thinking.

Too unreal there are many gullibles ready to believe john mccain's lies.

[Pirate Smile]

2. Thank you for all your work!

:yourock:

[Curtland1015]

3. You're a hero for going out there!

:yourock:

[melody]

4. Thanks for your great work! You're covering the hardest terrain of all. n/t

[Muttocracy]

5. you are doing the hardest kind of work

:patriot:

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Kaleko]

7. Sweet.

You deserve a hug :hug:

[Diamonique]

8. Thanks for canvassing!

I don't run into problems like that when I canvass. I live in Detroit which is solidly for Obama, including the white people I have met while canvassing.

Our real task here is getting people registered and making sure they vote.

[blue neen]

9. I salute you.

If you made even one person think about the actual ISSUES today, it was so worth it.

You are doing a tough job...much thanks! :toast:

[RayOfHope]

10. thanks for trying Seth! That is mind boggling. People should go to jail b/c they're poor?

And all those folks in Carterville are rolling in dough, I'm sure. What a disgusting attitude he had.

[mucifer]

51. There used to be laws like that in this country

you could be arrested if you didn't have money in your pocket.

[samuraiguppy]

11. I am so sorry

that you are having to deal with such evil and obviously racist people.

At least you got some undecided peeps to think....

[usregimechange]

37. Didn't meet any obviously racist folks this time out, but I skipped the house with the confed flag

and dogs in the yard.

[alcibiades_mystery]

12. Keep at that

Keep at it yes yes yes!

We won't win the area, but if we reduce the margin even 5%, it makes the state more accessible.

You're precisely where you need to be, and doing the good work we need!!!

Hats off!

[calmblueocean]

13. you are doing heroic work!

I'm really proud of you. A lot of these folks never run in to people with a different point of view, it's just the way of rural life. But you're out there, planting seeds. You never know how long it will be before they take root.

45 doors! Great job!

[flamingdem]

14. A for effort!

[bleever]

16. I second that!

[LiberalAndProud]

15. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I can't tell you how much I admire you. Sending you ovations and whatever uplifting vibes there are.

You are my hero!

[Mimosa]

17. God bless you!

USRegimeChange, if you get people to THINKING just a tiny bit, maybe some won't vote like IDIOTS. We can hope.

[SweetieD]

18. Thanks for your hard work.

[az chela]

19. You are planting seeds and some of them will grow

That makes you a HERO

[gblady]

23. I second that....

planting seeds, giving people food for thought...
courageous work, knocking on doors!

[my3boyz]

20. Thank you for your hard work. nt

[democracy1st]

21. thanks for your hard work I'm volunteering also and yes I've heard some unbelievable crap as well

[avaistheone1]

22. You are the kind of person who makes our democracy work.

You did a great job.

Your influence is greater than you think.

[Straight Shooter]

24. Oh, man, I cannot even begin to tell you how much I admire you for what you're doing.

You know what you're up against, you know the pitiful odds of finding even one solitary soul who agrees with you, and yet you're out there literally braving the storm.

I am just so amazed at the tenacity and dedication of someone like you. I truly am. A person needs encouragement once in a while or else it all seems too bleak. I hope that things will turn around soon, and people will not only listen to you with civility, but in absolute agreement.

You made my day. :patriot:

[blue neen]

25. Right!

You said it very well!

[Straight Shooter]

31. Love your sig line.

I have a MLK button from who-knows-where, found it while out walking one day, several years ago. Can't imagine who lost it, but I'm glad I found it.



I fastened it to the lampshade in my office, where I can see it every day, so that I never forget.

:hi:

[ellie]

26. Thanks for canvassing!

Sometimes it is so demoralizing, but you probably made people think and that is always a good thing!

[Shine]

27. Kudos to you!

:patriot: Thanks for the contribution you are making with your time and energy. :yourock:

[Number23]

28. The Poor should go to jail???

For what, just the simple crime of being poor?? :crazy: :crazy:

I refuse to believe that anyone could TRULY feel that way. I hope for that man's sake he was just saying that to give the (obviously false) impression that he was aware of and did have an opinion on the issues and was just talking out of his @ss.

[usregimechange]

36. To be fair we were talking about folks with addictions, not that that makes it much better

[AndyTiedye]

47. He Probably Wants to Bring Back Debtor's Prisons

[nickgutierrez]

29. "They should just go to jail."

Damn. As if we aren't over-criminalized as it is, this guy wants to add "being poor" to the way too long list of jailable offenses.

[renate]

30. you're wonderful

Thank you! :patriot:

:yourock:

[pamela]

32. Here's an interesting statistic I have found useful when discussing healthcare

Government Funds 60% of U.S. Healthcare Costs - Far Higher than Previously Believed

Harvard Study Shows Government Health Spending in U.S. Exceeds Costs in any Nation With National Health Insurance

"We Pay for National Health Insurance but Don't Get It"

Government expenditures accounted for 59.8% of total U.S. health care costs in 1999, according to a Harvard Medical School study published today in the journal Health Affairs. At $2,604 per capita, government spending was the highest of any nation - including those with national health insurance. Indeed, government health spending in the U.S. exceeded total health spending (government plus private) in every other country except Switzerland. (Estimated total U.S. health spending for 2002 is $5,427 per capita, with government's share being $3,245.)

Taxes fund care for those most vulnerable to illness and expense - the elderly, the disabled, the poor, patients with end-stage kidney disease, severe mental illness, certain cancers and rare diseases, and now, Alzheimer’s (75.8% of tax-financed health expenditures). Taxes also fund coverage for all public employees, veterans, and the military (e.g. all members of Congress have publicly-funded insurance)(9.1%). And businesses get large tax-breaks for providing coverage to their employees (15.1%).

“We have a system in which we’ve “privatized the profits, and socialized the risks,” said Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a co-author of the study and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard. “Insurance companies reap the profits and pay their executives millions while drowning our health system in paperwork at public expense. For their part, businesses complain bitterly of rising health care costs, yet they pay only 19% of total U.S. health costs, insure the mostly healthy and wealthy, and reap large tax-breaks (subtracting tax-breaks reduces employers share of health spending to just 11%).”

http://www.pnhp.org/news/2002/july/government_funds_60.php

[usregimechange]

34. Excellent, thank you!

[flamingdem]

41. Kick for good info

[tkmorris]

33. I lived for a while in Anderson, Mo

Down south of you in the extreme sw corner of the state. I can't even IMAGINE going door to door there canvassing for Obama, those folks are as hard core right wing as it gets. You are doing yeoman's work my friend and I appreciate it. It's easy doing something like that in say Cleveland, but doing it where you are takes a lot of courage. Thanks.

[Top Cat]

35. Keep up the good work...

[Blondiegrrl]

38. Go to jail ... for what, being poor?

Wow, to think some people believe we should bring back debtor's prisons.

THANK YOU for canvassing, and good luck!

[Emit]

39. usregimechange, don't forget that by finding the non-Obama supporters, you are helping Obama, too

that's because if we cull the list now of all the folks who say they are sure they are not voting for Obama, we can drop them from our list, focus on the undecideds and get the vote out with the true Obama supporters. So, knowing who is voting against Obama now is really helpful when it comes to election day Get Out the Vote efforts!



Thanks for your hard work -- I appreciate you so much for doing what you are doing.

[margotb822]

40. Thinking is the hardest step

I wish you more luck in the future!

[cliffordu]

42. Well, folks, this OP is the real deal. We should ALL work this hard.

Thanks for your service!

:headbang:

[TheKentuckian]

43. Don't let tough results make you think less of the impact you are making

You can't be sure who you might get to thinking by planting some little seed, especially with rural people. One or two of the right people can pay huge dividends in word of mouth.

Thank you for the tough effort.

[coalition_unwilling]

44. This is the true yeoman's labor, the

kind that wins elections.

Think of yourself as throwing rocks into a pond. As the ripples spread, you have no way of knowing where they will end up.

By the way, I grew up in that part of the state. Attended Lamar HS 1973-77. Solidly red area. Ignorant and proud to be so. Ironically, Truman was born in Lamar.

[DefenseLawyer]

45. An American Fascist

Survival of the fittest, jail the ones that can't hack it and flag pins for all.

[uponit7771]

46. This type of canvassing is making people think at a one on one level. If America doesn't vote for...

...Obama then I agree with Cafferty, we REALLY deserve what we get then

[Trajan]

48. You are a bigger man than I ...

I could not last one more day in Republic, MO ....

This New York-born liberal literally RAN out of town when he couldnt pay his rent with the paltry wages offered in the Springfield region .....

15 months is what it took .....

I never looked back .....

[usregimechange]

49. Don't blame you but we need all the help we can get.

[adamuu]

50. he wants to murder them

good job, standing up to that guy. and giving them all a taste of introspection.