Roadtrip

Well, I’m here and in one piece. With airplane tickets as expensive as they are these days, perhaps super long drives will be the new way to travel. I might be okay with that. A few observations on the roadtrip:

• The amount of squished bugs on a windshield after an interstate drive is astounding and truly gross. I need to find a carwash. Which, if the prices of other things I’ve seen in Cleveland are any indication, should cost me about 89¢.


• The quality of radio stations across upstate New York varies widely. I’m not really an iPod person and I don’t buy CDs, so that leaves me at the mercy of whatever radio station I can scan to that isn’t country. There is a lot of country music out there once you leave Boston. But there’s also a lot of npr affiliates, so, skipping from crackly station to station, I listened to Fresh Air, Day to Day, and On Point, where Tom Ashbrook was interviewing a very cranky Candace Bushnell (the woman who wrote Sex and the City and wants to be taken as a serious novelist so badly that she got mad when Tom mentioned all the expensive shoes described in her books). There was also a really good alternative station, 90.5 FM from Rochester, NY that gave me a great 45 minutes.


• I was impressed with the availability of legal fireworks in the Midwest. Also that giant adult super store right off Highway 90 that is open 24 hours and resembles a neon-lit doomsday bunker. Like where you would go to buy porn if the world was ending.


• My trip included a lovely stopover outside Syracuse to visit one of my oldest friends (let’s just say when we met we both had big bangs and I was probably wearing my favorite peach-colored plastic triangle earrings). It was nice to relax with her and her family for a little respite after the last busy few weeks. It was also nice to eat a bunch of fabulous homemade pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting.


• There was one notable roadtrip failure. It might take a certain kind of personality to get into books on tape, and I don’t think I have it. I really wanted to be entertained by my carefully chosen collection (I brought four full-length taped books, which is like, hours, of listening) but I found it takes a surprising amount of concentration and patience. Turns out you have to listen to John Updike for a solid 45 minutes before getting even one juicy sentence out of Witches of Eastwick. And that the first few pages of a murder mystery novel (the atmospheric set-up) are interminably long, and just got me itching for the part where someone discovers a dead body. Harry Potter had promise, but the tapes were warped and warbled, perhaps the result of an over-zealous fan listening to the book on repeat. I was surprised to discover I am a bad book-on-tape reader.

But really, driving by yourself for many hours is pretty okay. Even with no good music and aborted attempts to listen-read. It goes by pretty fast, there’s lots to see even on the highway, and when you do get a great song, it really feels like a victory. Add in a few good long phone conversations with friends (that are a true luxury since you don’t have to go rush off and do anything else), and you’re basically to your destination already. I felt like I could have driven all the way to California and it would have been kind of fun. Instead I stopped in Cleveland.

Next up: the city, its suburb, and calling 91 strangers in a row.

On the Road

It's just me, my Twizzlers, and the highway until Ohio. Give me a call if you're bored since I almost certainly will be too. Although I have with me, for entertainment, a few trusty (and dusty) books on tape: Harry Potter and a Sorceror of some kind and the Witches of Eastwick. I'm finally going to see what all this Harry Potter fuss is about, now that I'm about seven years too late to the party.

I'll post again when I'm in Cleveland. See ya!

Mess

Today you'll find me staring at my disaster of a room trying to decide how to pack for five weeks. While I do that, here are a few tidbits to keep you entertained.

The first is a revealing/odd glimpse into Governor Palin's head via her scribbles during a budget meeting. The second, just a fun little retrospective of that elusive animal, the Sarah Palin accent (video).

Did I mention that I don't the whereabouts of either my a) driver's license or b) wedding rings and haven't seen either in over a week. I promise to get my act together before I get to Ohio.

America

A sincere thank you to everyone who came to my party and those who couldn't but supported the cause anyway!! It was pretty American around here on Saturday night, from the red white & blue jello shots (thanks Lesley!), to the Sam Adams keg, to the homemade apple pies that everyone scarfed down (thanks Kristen and Marla!), to Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS playing in the background. I seriously want to thank everyone who has gotten so enthusiastically on board with this crazy idea of mine to be an Ohioan (is this the right expression? I'll find out soon) for a month. It's going to make the next few weeks of 15-hour days and donated housing much easier knowing that you all are rooting for me.

So just like that I'm headed to Parma, Ohio. I'll be staying with a reportedly "very nice" woman who has opened her apartment to Obama campaign volunteers, and I'll be working seven days a week from 9 am to midnight (or so the campaign office tells me). Apparently these people don't realize how much I like my eight hours of sleep a night. I'm telling myself you can handle anything for a month.

It seems like a good time to get into the fight. The McCain campaign will apparently be making a change in tactics this week, attempting to refocus the campaign away from the economy towards more direct, personal attacks on Senator Obama. So get ready for that pleasantness to come.

I'll continue to post here, hopefully every day if I can, sneaking a few minutes out of those 15 hours to let you know how things are going in the Midwest. I leave on Wednesday with an ample stash of cheese sandwiches and lots of good wishes to fortify me for the trip. Thank you, so much, again.

The Tiny Fey Glasses are Gone

So what did everyone think about the debate?

I thought Sarah Palin avoided making any major blunders--at least, we didn't see that moose-in-the-headlights look that was on display throughout her Couric interviews. It seems she is best when allowed to stick to rehearsed talking points.

Biden, though, was really top-notch. In addition to actually answering the interview questions, he turned in the best debate performance we have seen so far from any of the four candidates, in my opinion. I love when he underlined, clearly and forcefully, the themes that define his ticket best: relief for the middle class, opposition to tax breaks for the super-wealthy and corporate America, and concern for the basic needs of families sitting around their kitchen tables right now. I thought he was able to make that connection without being schmaltzy. The point in the debate where he choked up when talking about being a single parent was powerful, even more so when he followed it up by telling Americans that he understands they are having a hard time right now. You would have to be a seriously jaded individual not to see real human emotion and authenticity in that moment.

I'm sure there are many Americans out there who also connected to Governor Palin last night, but I wasn't one of them. The "doggone it" and "say it ain't say joe" and the dropped g's and the winking at the camera seemed part of a routine being relentlessly performed, rather than a natural expression of this person's character and background. Repeatedly calling her running mate a "maverick" (a real missed drinking game opportunity there) also doesn't make it so, and I was pleased when Biden finally listed the ways in which McCain has not been anything but a supporter and promoter of the Republican status quo.

In her defense, ultimately Sarah Palin had the much harder job here--in addition to having to cram her way into an understanding of national policy in four weeks, she is also being asked to perform those verbal gymnastics that turn fiction (conservative economic policy has worked/ pre-emptive war is a good idea/ McCain is a much different candidate than Bush) into seeming truth. Significantly more gifted politicians would also find that a hard task. What helps is that she seems actually to believe these things, but how much easier it is to make a strong case with so many of the rational, logical facts and evidence on your side. That is why this is the Democrats' race to lose.

I can't end before commenting on the wacky moment that was Palin's gusto for the expansion of vice-presidential powers (as put into motion by the ever-so-popular Dick Cheney). I thought for a strange, sci-fi second that we might actually see her twitch as she got zapped by offstage Republican handlers to stop her from continuing to list all the new things that we could maybe, you know, let the Vice-President do. No campaign advisor wants to hear their candidate veer into "let's interpret the Constitution a little more loosely so I can have more power" territory.

Speaking of veering into unfamiliar territory, it looks like I'm headed to Ohio. The Obama headquarters in Cleveland returned my call today with what can only be described as unbridled enthusiasm about the possibility of me showing up in their state to help the campaign. It's hard to resist the siren call of "we can definitely use you!" "we'll find you housing!" and "Cleveland is really not so bad." Well, maybe not so much that last one. All that's left now is to cross my fingers that my experience in the middle of the country among strangers will be more "Mayberry" and less "Children of the Corn."

Why the Midwest

So my bags are packed (nope), the keg is ordered (yup), and fundraising party plans are well in hand. (This Saturday, 8:00 pm. The theme is "America" so be prepared to get down red white & blue style.) All that's left to figure out is where I'm headed next week.

The electoral map is changing day by day and I'm trying to stay on top of it while plotting out my course. The debate last Friday resulted in a bump for Obama in the polls, which was good to see. Apparently people like polite/informed more than grouchy/patronizing. Sorry, John McCain. I liked you so much more when you were trying to beat Bush in 2000.

So—where to go? The Midwest makes sense to me. My family is from there (Michigan), I can drive there pretty easily (by "easily" I mean 15 hours instead of the 25 it would take to Florida) and I feel like I can connect with values-voters. In fact, Michigan itself is one of the things that made me want to venture out on this little trip in the first place.

I have strong feelings about the state. I’ve been going there about every summer since I was six weeks old, and even though I heard that Beach Boys song about girls in California a lot while growing up on the West Coast, in many ways I’m secretly the midwest farmer’s daughter (you know, the ones who "really make you feel all right.") A few weeks ago I was checking an electoral college map: the ones all decked out for the season in shades of red & blue. Michigan showed up in the pale periwinkle that denotes "barely Dem." Not dark blue, like Michigan usually is. No. Such a light blue I could practically see the stain of pink creeping up against its borders.

There are reasons for this. Obama didn't campaign there at all during the primaries (to respect party rules that the state violated by holding those elections early). There's a somewhat unpopular Democratic governor and a very unpopular (i.e. fired) Democratic mayor of Detroit floating around the state giving people pause. Not to mention the auto industry that has been a bedrock of the state may be more interested in McCain's "drill baby drill" stance than in hearing about efficiency and conservation. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, "If John McCain becomes the nation's 44th president, it may be thanks to Michigan--a prize the Republicans think they can claim for the first time in nearly 20 years." However, the last two weeks have been good to Obama's chances there; just an hour ago it was announced that McCain has decided to pull his campaign ads out of the state. This may mean that Michigan is even now deepening into that lovely shade of midnight blue I want to see.

Then there's Ohio. You may remember it as the state that lost John Kerry the election in 2004. It (specifically Cleveland) was also the subject of a very funny "30 Rock" episode last year. Ohio (specifically Jacobs Field) was also the place where Pedro came out in relief to mow down Indian after Indian for six no-hit innings during a spectacular Game 5 of the 1999 ALDS. That concludes the entirety of my associations with Ohio.

But in fact, the state looms large. It's been said that as Ohio goes, so goes the nation. The state is apparently a microcosm of the country as a whole, with a nice mix of urban, suburban, and rural voters. Bush only won Ohio last time around by 118,601 votes; that's about nine votes per precinct. I don't know anyone who lives there, but I'd like to take a stab at getting some of those nine votes that could make a difference.

So, only a few days before I pack up the car with roadtrip snacks and head west, I'm still not exactly sure which address I'll be typing into mapquest on my way out the door. Does Michigan still need help? Is Ohio more important? Will I brave bunking up with whatever strangers are offering "donated housing" to the campaign in Cleveland or Columbus? You'll know as soon as I do.

Tonight: Don't forget to make the popcorn and cozy up to the TV for Biden-Palin, 9 pm EST. I'm guessing Palin has added "Names of some other Supreme Court cases besides Roe v. Wade" to her crash-course study list since the Katie Couric interview. But other delightful surprises may nonetheless emerge tonight in the category of "shocking things not known by the next potential President of the United States." You wouldn't want to miss that.