Parma, Ohio is an interesting place. It’s literally 15 minutes away from Cleveland, but Parma people never seem to go there. The campaign office where I spend 12 hours a day is located on a large connector road, down the street from a WalMart, a McDonalds, and Circuit City. In other words, suburb heaven. But it seems vaguely depressed, at least in this corner of town. When you get off the beaten connector road, the streets are quieter and the homes neater, with lawns. In fact, the citizens are exactly those “suburban undecideds” that Paul Begala said will decide this election on Larry King Live last night. I’ve been talking to some of these suburban undecideds lately, and I have to admit it’s a confusing experience.
The election is three weeks away. The candidates have been campaigning for months and have already have two substantive debates (the final one to take place tomorrow). Their websites are chock full of information on their policy proposals, the ideas they would put into action if elected, and their differences from each other. There is a TON of information out there. To still be undecided at this point is mystifying to me, and yet Ohio has tons of these voters—people who aren’t crazy about either candidate and are putting off their decision like they would put off doing laundry or going to the DMV.
It especially kills me when these undecideds talk about how hard things have been lately—they are elderly and their medical bills are skyrocketing; they are middle-aged and they are stunned at how hard it is to get a loan or think about the cost of college for their children; they are young people without job security because industry has been hit so hard in Ohio. Obama has good, logical policy proposals for each of these problems. I hope we have enough time to let them all know.
But I said I would talk about schnitzel. One thing Parma definitely h
as over Boston is the schnitzel (various types of meat breaded, fried and covered with cheese and/or gravy). We get it at the Schnitzel Haus, a German restaurant run by Serbians that is down the street from the office and the site for our Saturday night wrap-up sessions. They are nice to us over there at the Schnitzel Haus, and their selection of strange, dark beers makes me think my old drinking buddies Joe and Jason would be happy there. Ohio also has a lot of pierogies, and boxies, and various other kinds of heavy, filling and delightful Eastern European foods. This fact, combined with the late-night Chinese food, the brownies brought in by nice old ladies who love Obama, and the fact that Rudy’s Streudel shop is next door, means I may be rolling home after election day. Hey, we all have to make sacrifices.
The election is three weeks away. The candidates have been campaigning for months and have already have two substantive debates (the final one to take place tomorrow). Their websites are chock full of information on their policy proposals, the ideas they would put into action if elected, and their differences from each other. There is a TON of information out there. To still be undecided at this point is mystifying to me, and yet Ohio has tons of these voters—people who aren’t crazy about either candidate and are putting off their decision like they would put off doing laundry or going to the DMV.
It especially kills me when these undecideds talk about how hard things have been lately—they are elderly and their medical bills are skyrocketing; they are middle-aged and they are stunned at how hard it is to get a loan or think about the cost of college for their children; they are young people without job security because industry has been hit so hard in Ohio. Obama has good, logical policy proposals for each of these problems. I hope we have enough time to let them all know.
But I said I would talk about schnitzel. One thing Parma definitely h
as over Boston is the schnitzel (various types of meat breaded, fried and covered with cheese and/or gravy). We get it at the Schnitzel Haus, a German restaurant run by Serbians that is down the street from the office and the site for our Saturday night wrap-up sessions. They are nice to us over there at the Schnitzel Haus, and their selection of strange, dark beers makes me think my old drinking buddies Joe and Jason would be happy there. Ohio also has a lot of pierogies, and boxies, and various other kinds of heavy, filling and delightful Eastern European foods. This fact, combined with the late-night Chinese food, the brownies brought in by nice old ladies who love Obama, and the fact that Rudy’s Streudel shop is next door, means I may be rolling home after election day. Hey, we all have to make sacrifices. 
5 comments:
I was in Ohio last week for work and I was struck by:
- the volume of campaign ads... I mean, Nevada is a swing state. We've had ads for months and months and months. But, seriously, every single commercial break had at least three or four, national and local.
- the general, vague sense of depression or freakout. Post industrial suburbia? Last week's headlines? Not sure what, exactly, but I could see how you'd numb out, run your errands in the box stores, eat your schnitzel, procrastinate on deciding who to vote for.
Hang in there!
Mon
Sara,
I'm not mystified at all about people being undecided. First of all, choosing a president is not always logical. Many people choose the person they feel will be the most "presidential" or even "likable" even if they don't totally agree with the political views. Second, let's discuss the policy proposals. All of you campaign volunteers (on both sides mind you) love to talk about the proposed policy changes and how they are going to save the world. The reality is, those that have the wherewithal (sp?) and intellectual capacity to actually read these proposals (maybe 50%?) are also those that are smart enough to figure out that perhaps 10% to 25% of what is proposed will actually get passed. I have more to say but I have to get back to work. More later.
Love,
Sonny
Sonny, you are quickly becoming my most loyal blog reader.
Mon, who would have thought we would have both found ourselves in ohio in the fall of 2008? Yeah...I agree that things are tougher in Ohio. Except for the schnitzel.
We can agree on Schnitzel! It's all about common ground!
Sonny
keep the posts coming. i'm reading and loving every minute of it! thanks for doing what you're doing. xoxo - marina
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