Good turnout at the open house yesterday for Gary Trauner's downtown Cheyenne office at 211 W. 18th St. I waited around for a half hour, expecting Gary to show up at any time, but then had to head off to another meeting. My wife Chris stayed, and said that Gary did show and fielded some tough questions about health care, the war in Iraq, and other pressing issues.
The offices have plenty of room for field organizers and volunteers. Many phone calls will be made from this spot in the next 130-something days until the general election when Trauner is elected to be the first Democratic U.S. Representative in many decades. Much work to do in D.C., much work to undo the mischief that's been wrought in the past eight years.
I was surprised to learn from Senior Field Organizer Aaron Owens that Gary has seven field organizers for the 2008 campaign. How many did he have in 2006? One. These organizers are young and fired up, which is encouraging. Aaron just moved to Cheyenne from Laramie two weeks ago and seems to be plunging right in.
As I munched a cookie, I chatted with a guy about my own age wearing a cap that read "Play it Again, Sam" and below that the name of a town in Maryland. As a one-time Marylander, I introduced myself and asked him about the cap. He said it came from a coffee house in Chestertown in northeastern Maryland, and that he lived across the border in Delaware. He'd just driven across the U.S. to deliver his son to the Trauner campaign. His son was a student at Skidmore near Albany, N.Y., in 2006 when he got involved in the campaign of a Democrat running against an entrenched Republican for the U.S. House. Against all odds, the Democrat won (I'll look up the name later), and the man's son was bitten by the political bug. When he heard about the Trauner campaign, the situation in Wyoming sounded somewhat similar so he joined up.
Stories like these keep me fired up.
FMI: 307-399-0898
5 comments:
Very good news, Mike. Aaron is a great guy and it's good to hear that he will be working for Gary over in Cheyenne -- even if that means we won't have the benefit of him working here in Laramie. Laramie has a Dem hdqrtrs up and running already -- the earliest I can even remember them having an office. The last time I stopped in, they didn't have much stuff for candidates, except those in Laramie. But they promised it was coming. I didn't care so much since I saved my Trauner yard sign from '06 and it's been prominently displayed in my yard for months now. And I decided to just go online and buy an Obama yard sign and bumpersticker. I can afford not to wait for the freebies, so why not?
And very cool about the kid coming in from Skidmore -- a place close to my heart since I almost went to school there.
I'm the guy in the "Play it Again, Sam" hat. I had a great time at the opening of Gary's campaign office in Cheyenne. I met Gary, got to say hello to some wonderful people, and was moved by the enthusiasm and energy of the campaign. I look forward to reading Mike's blog and all the comments posted as the campaign progresses.
Gerr: Didn't get your name at the reception. Great to hear from you.
Mike: My name is Gerry Turkel. Too bad I can't make it for the "Elephant Tipping" workshop. I like the determined, straightforward but caring character of this approach.
We may be on to something with the "Elephant Tipping" sessions. It could be time to export the idea to Delaware, Maryland and points east.
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