8 Comments

Thanks Cathy. Nice insights into America, sigh. Love your acceptance of getting older. When I was working for Obama in 2012, we were also mainly trying to make sure Dems were voting and knew where to vote. One night, we Rhode Islanders were calling Montana Democrats. When I asked one called if he knew where his polling place was, he said, "Rattlesnake Elementary School, ma'am." Absolute proof I wasn't calling Rhode Island!

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I was looking forward to a post from you about the doorbelling. Thank you. Excellent as usual. Shared it with a few folks. “What is Congress?” hit hard, but unfortunately should not be unexpected. Sigh.

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Thanks, Cathy! Really appreciated details of your experience canvassing and also hearing about Hotel Pennsylvania. Going long enough to stay overnight, hang out with colleagues, etc. sounds like the best way to canvas. I'm doing it locally for our Congressional Representative. Getting to know my own turf better and trying to unseat Mike Lawler, a Republican who tries to paint himself as the moderate pragmatist but never crosses Trump and lies about his opponent, Mondaire Jones. All the nastiness of full display and both of them unable to speak the word Palestinian.

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Thank you for your work, Cathy, and this really interesting post.

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Thank you ! And EVERY vote counts so.. 🤞

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Sincere gratitude to you and your co-canvassers from north of the border. We're nervous up here too! THANK YOU for your perseverance and willingness to put all that sometimes-hard-to-find energy to do this day after day. (I guess "congress" is very far from that person's daily life and concerns!)

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Cathy, Thank you for your work and insights.

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What an amazing and vivid description of your canvassing odyssey! My experiences have been similarly eye-opening - witnessing the struggles and hopes of people I'd probably never meet any other way, challenging my own internal biases, and giving me an opportunity to repair the frayed fabric of our democracy through these one-on-one conversations with my fellow Americans. I'm canvassing in California's Central Valley right now, and it's incredible that just by asking open-ended questions and eliciting their thoughts about what they'd change if they were in charge, people often move from "I don't vote" to being a 9/10 on voting for Dems by the end of our conversation. These aren't quick conversations, but they are effective. Thanks for all the work you and your fellow activists are doing in the critical state of Pennsylvania! Viva la Hotel Pennsylvania!

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