Neurotic Democrat

Later that night, after canvassing, my wife and I went to dinner at Bravo, in Woodmere, with Mandy Patinkin, Susie Turnbull (the vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee), and several local Democratic leaders.

It was a lovely dinner, maybe 10 of us in all. For the most part, we steered clear of talk about polls; no one handicapped Ohio. Not even once.

In fact, the most memorable conversation, for me, had nothing to do with politics. Mandy Patinkin, who is in town as a volunteer for Barack Obama, was talking about the research he did, for his role as a physician on Chicago Hope. He had the opportunity to witness more than half a dozen surgeries — and he absolutely loved it.

What struck him most, he said, was the human body — on the inside — how incredibly similar we all are. We may be white, or black, or brown-skinned on the outside; we may be German or British, American or South African – but our hearts and lungs … our brains … are just about identical, to the untrained eye, from one person to the next.

On second thought, maybe the conversation was about politics, after all.

Spent almost three hours Saturday canvassing with my mother-in-law. We covered a three or four block stretch in the wedge between Merriman and Portage Path, down in the Valley.

Our numbers: 37 doors; 17 conversations; 5 early voting pledges. Plus, three or four volunteers. Sixteen of the folks we spoke to were voting for Obama; one woman was undecided.

It was actually quite incredible meeting an undecided voter the Saturday before election day. More so because I would describe her as politically engaged; on top of things. We spoke at the door for maybe ten minutes, with her young son tugging at her leg.

My mother-in-law pressed her: What issues are weighing heavily on you? What are your concerns about Barack?

She said that frankly, when it comes to Obama, she’s concerned that he would be a target for assassination.

My mother-in-law quoted FDR: “Remember, we have nothing to fear but fear itself.”

I quoted Barack: “Don’t worry about me — I have the best protection in the world.”

At some point, she confided in us that she’s been getting inundated with mail — to the point that she no longer reads it. As she spoke, she reached down, picked up a handful of mailers, and handed them over. It was immediately clear that the GOP had targeted her with some nasty, nasty stuff:

Obama Rewards His Friends With Your Tax Dollars   … from the Ohio Republican Party, with photos of a smiling Obama pointing at Rezko, Allison Davis, and Kenny Smith. Open it and learn that Obama helped Davis “obtain a $20 million taxpayer funded project” and that he helped Smith land a $100,000 “taxpayer grant,” adding that Smith is now under investigation by the Illinois attorney general. The kicker, in big letters at the bottom: Barack Obama. Not Who You Think He Is.

Another one from the Ohio Republican Party has grainy words: Obama … Political Rewards … Rezko … Kickbacks … Land Deals … Fraud … and then, in huge letters: Who Is Barack Obama?

A third read simply, Inexperience in this Time of Crisis above the words: Recipe for Economic Disaster. Those words are not in quotes, but they are attributed to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, 9/20/07. On the front is an unflattering picture of Obama beneath the Wall St. sign.

It’s incredible, frankly, that this woman was still on the fence.

We did all we could to tip her over. My mother-in-law has a wonderful, impassioned approach; she starts out with: “I’ve been following this man closely for a year, and I can tell you, he is exactly who we need in this country right now.”

Then we handed her an early voting slip, thanked her, and left her to decide.