Not a bad election!
It's been just over 24 hours since the polls closed yesterday, and finally blogger seems to be working again. Perhaps their system was overwhelmed with people posting about yesterday's results, either because it was 6/6/06 or because it was election day!
Before talking about yesterday, I wanted to recount the day before.... I took the kids to an Angelides Rally in Oakland. We sat right up in the front so the kids could see. Barbara Lee gave a little introduction. It was nice to hear his stump speech; I think that when more people get a chance to hear him speak, they'll see he has some real substance to take on Arnold in November.
I went over to Dublin in the afternoon to help with some Get Out The Vote (GOTV) efforts for the Jerry McNerney campaign; I've been volunteering from time to time in this neighboring district since our district is safely occupied by Pete Stark. This was only my third time out to campaign HQ; I try to do my volunteering without having to get in my car! Anyhow, I and another volunteer, Jason, were assigned to round up voters in the precinct that Jerry actually lives in, so we went right past his house, and successfully reminded a neighbor just down the street to get to the polls. It was enjoyable to speak to people who knew Jerry (many had kids who went to school with his kids) or had met him recently (Jerry had been doing some GOTV himself earlier that day).
We got back to HQ at 8, and already AJ the campaign manager was getting early results over the web. Volunteeers and staffers crowded around AJ to see the latest results. Very soon afterwards, we started getting encouraging results. After idling for a bit, and trying to eat some snack food since I had not had dinner yet, people started migrating to the Main Street Brewery in Pleasanton, where the victory party was scheduled; it was decked out with a podium and curtain in the corner for Jerry to address the crowd. By the time we got there, it was clear that it was indeed a victory party. The results were coming in, and they were looking good for McNerney. And I was pleased as punch to see the other results, especially that Debra Bowen was absolutely dominating, in spite of the previous polls that had said it was going to be a dead heat or a win for Ortiz. I'm guessing that last-minute push from the grassroots, myself included, might have had at least some contribution to that. A bunch of famliar faces from the campaign and from local groups I've been involved with were there, so it was easy to mill around and chat. Plenty of cheers (especially when the latest results would flash by on the ticker on the TV monitor), high-fives, and hugs all around.
Jerry was introduced by his son Mike, who recounted the story of his first write-in vote for his dad in the 2004 election, and the phone call to his dad which kicked off Jerry's 2004 candidacy. Jerry gave a warm, wonderful off-the-cuff thank you speech ("I brought this prepared speech. Should I read it? Nah..." as he crumped up the papers in his hand and throw it out to the audience).
All in all, a day of good results. Now the real fight begins!
Before talking about yesterday, I wanted to recount the day before.... I took the kids to an Angelides Rally in Oakland. We sat right up in the front so the kids could see. Barbara Lee gave a little introduction. It was nice to hear his stump speech; I think that when more people get a chance to hear him speak, they'll see he has some real substance to take on Arnold in November. I went over to Dublin in the afternoon to help with some Get Out The Vote (GOTV) efforts for the Jerry McNerney campaign; I've been volunteering from time to time in this neighboring district since our district is safely occupied by Pete Stark. This was only my third time out to campaign HQ; I try to do my volunteering without having to get in my car! Anyhow, I and another volunteer, Jason, were assigned to round up voters in the precinct that Jerry actually lives in, so we went right past his house, and successfully reminded a neighbor just down the street to get to the polls. It was enjoyable to speak to people who knew Jerry (many had kids who went to school with his kids) or had met him recently (Jerry had been doing some GOTV himself earlier that day).
We got back to HQ at 8, and already AJ the campaign manager was getting early results over the web. Volunteeers and staffers crowded around AJ to see the latest results. Very soon afterwards, we started getting encouraging results. After idling for a bit, and trying to eat some snack food since I had not had dinner yet, people started migrating to the Main Street Brewery in Pleasanton, where the victory party was scheduled; it was decked out with a podium and curtain in the corner for Jerry to address the crowd. By the time we got there, it was clear that it was indeed a victory party. The results were coming in, and they were looking good for McNerney. And I was pleased as punch to see the other results, especially that Debra Bowen was absolutely dominating, in spite of the previous polls that had said it was going to be a dead heat or a win for Ortiz. I'm guessing that last-minute push from the grassroots, myself included, might have had at least some contribution to that. A bunch of famliar faces from the campaign and from local groups I've been involved with were there, so it was easy to mill around and chat. Plenty of cheers (especially when the latest results would flash by on the ticker on the TV monitor), high-fives, and hugs all around.
Jerry was introduced by his son Mike, who recounted the story of his first write-in vote for his dad in the 2004 election, and the phone call to his dad which kicked off Jerry's 2004 candidacy. Jerry gave a warm, wonderful off-the-cuff thank you speech ("I brought this prepared speech. Should I read it? Nah..." as he crumped up the papers in his hand and throw it out to the audience).All in all, a day of good results. Now the real fight begins!
posted by A Progressive Alamedan | 8:54 PM
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