Walking in a Heat Wave

Today was to be the hottest day of the year. We had a schedule to keep, so we prepared by bringing a cooler of ice water, and we made sure to take breaks in the shade.

Our walking schedule was very aggressive this weekend, and we have started out very well. We hit over 600 homes today in just over four and a half hours of actual walking time. There were twelve volunteers and myself. It was a good thing that there were so many volunteers as I found myself getting into conversations which kept me far past our three minute rule. As a matter of fact, I had four of these houses which kept me for better than twenty minutes each.

We were half way up our first street when I received a phone call from my Campaign Manager saying he had talked to his first person. They were a precinct committee person for the Democratic Party. I asked if it went well. He said that he felt it did. The gentleman smirked and told Walt that I had no chance, Debbie would win in a landslide and that I was just out getting some name recognition for 2012. Well, I hope that they and my opponent keep that line of thinking until November. After hanging up the phone, I was proceeded to knock on doors. The third house I knocked on was the first that someone answered. The gentleman was nice and took our flier. There was nothing more to it. We went on to the next house. When walking back to the street, the gentleman called us back saying "Are you Robert?” I answered yes, and he asked us to come back. We spoke for quite a while. He is a Retired Teacher, and evidentially a very good one. He was awarded the Teacher of the Year at one point in his career. He was concerned with Education. We had a great conversation and he had great ideas as well as advice about responsibility in education. This teacher will most likely give his vote our way.

We continued our walking. We went on to the next section of the neighborhood. We came upon Representative Benefields home. I did knock as I wanted to meet her. I had only had two other chances to meet her, and she was busy doing her legislative duties. She was unfortunately not home. The heat was hard for many do deal with, so we took our lunch break.

When we returned, my wife was walking with me, and the other six volunteers were paired up and we were leap frogging houses. Suddenly I heard someone calling from across the street,” who are you walking for"? I simply said me. I then realized it was our Senator. Senator Hudak was gracious enough to come introduce herself and let us know that as our Senator, she was there to hear our needs. I do appreciate her candor, and the respect she showed. The part that was great was that she saw how many people we had out walking. The other part I liked was that she was walking handing out her legislative accomplishments for the year and she is not up for re-election.

We were at our third house where a very nice gentleman came out and began to speak with us. It seems that he was a life long Republican who was not happy with the Party. He had many valid arguments and we listened to what he had to say. We spoke about several issues. He was very intelligent and knowledgeable. He had suffered a stroke about three years ago. Suffering some lingering side affects from the stroke he is just about able to return to the workforce. We spoke about entitlements and the views of different people about them. Generalizations truly irritated him, as they do I. We had a great thirty minute or so conversation in which he stated his displeasure with the Rights' patronization of the President. I thought about his point of view and realized that it wasn't just about the man, but the office. Overall I felt pretty good that I was able to meet this very nice man.

Suzie and I finally joined back with the group when we were told about another teacher that was not exactly happy with the system. Suzie and I went to talk with her. As it turns out she teaches at a school we know. She expressed many worries and concerns about the problems with our education system. It was evident that we had many similar ideas with the problems facing education. She was another who said she would vote for us.

About two minutes later I received an email from a couple down the street from Debbie. They said if I was running against her, I had their support. They had been life long Democrats and they felt that the Democratic Party had abandoned them.

So, let me see if I can recap.
1. There is no way we can win because we are just getting our name out there.
2. Teacher says they will vote for us. Teachers being Debbie's highest support group.
3. Republican mad at Republican Party goes To the Democratic Party and says he will consider voting for me.
4. Senator who works with my opponent wishes us luck and takes the time to be respectful.
5. Another Teacher says I will have their vote.
6. Life long Democrat says that I have there vote.

My guess is that number one is not quite right and we have a chance. You see, we are not just about listening to one group of people. I will not represent only those who vote for me, and I am sure that we embrace the concerns everyone has about the state of our State. Today was a great day.