Leaving Las Vegas
Posted by: Dana
I have been wanting to share my Nevada experience but have been too sick to do so. Looks like I am going to live after all, so I have stories to tell! I came back from Iowa Friday morning, went home, changed out the suitcase, and flew out to Nevada. Picked up a new rental car and to the MGM Grand. I met Michael Incorvaia there and we had a nice meal and I watched him gamble (note…if a dealer is alone don’t feel sorry for him or her/ there is a reason -they will take all your money). We went to bed rather early as we had a long day of canvassing ahead of us.
We met in the morning for breakfast and then off to meet our fellow Hillary supporters. It was another cold day, the sky was black, we were just trying to beat the storm. There were 75 people who showed up to canvass and most were from Nevada; we were the only out of towners. One of the volunteers introduced herself and wanted to know how my “husband” was. Now, I know Britney went to Vegas and got married and there are thousands who do it everyday, but for those of you who know Michael, we just are not each other’s “type,” but it gave both us single people a great laugh. We had a little training and had a prep rally and off we went to talk to voters in Nevada.
This is an uphill battle. This is the first time Nevada has had a caucus! Now, I get the history of the Iowa caucus- it is history, we can’t change history (well we can but it will take a movement), but a caucus is no way to determine the president of the U S of A. So lets now take the caucuses to Nevada. WHY???? Why can’t they vote on a ballot, why do you limit an election to an hour? And it is a Saturday! Do you know how many people in Nevada work on Saturdays? OK it is what it is. I just don’t understand why we had to copy something so old and bring it to the West. The west is progressive and this is not progress. It is not a fair voting system. I will not share these feelings with Nevada voters. I need to inspire them to take an hour of their life to participate in the electoral process.
Off we went to talke to Nevada voters. We went to over 100 doors over the weekend and we only met one person who knew about the caucus and was going to attend. I will say that the people who gave me 5 mintutes were on their way to the caucus they just needed to know what it was all about. While we went door to door we saw some interesting things. There was the poor abandond house with the alarm that had been going off for days if not weeks and who knows what was inside. We let our imagination get the best of us. There was the strange person in all black with a blank stare in the garage who appeared to never blink or move but gave us the giggles and creeps all at the same time. Then there was the man with his shirt opened with an open and oozing wound. Those were the odd ones. Then there was Jarvis the tall African American man who wanted to know more and got off work at 11:00 and would try to get off a little early so he could go caucus and make srue his voice was heard. There was Mary the older ultra Hillary supporter who had to show all her Hillary chum. She was thrilled when we put up the Hillary sign.
We had a great time but the cold damp air was getting to both of us. We were ready to get home. We finished our precint and headed back to the campaign office. The office was a buzz for a Sunday evening there were a lot of volunteers making calls and making signs and doing data base work. The volunteers were all ages, both genders and all races. It was true diversity and a lot of energey. We were treated great by everyone we met and everyone was so nice.
Campaigns are about believing in who you are working for and they are also about the experience. The people you meet the lives you enrich and those who enrich you. I have had an amazing time volunteering for Hillary, I have made new friends and brought a lot of new people into the political process. We may be making a dent but we still have a lot of work to do.
I am thrilled at the outcome of New Hampshire, not just because Hillary won, because it keeps more states in play. The system might have worked when we didn’t have news 24/7 but we do and the current system shuts out so many states and we need a competitive primary but it cost a lot of money which is not a fair process. Well at least for now Nevada is still in play as are the Feb 5th states. Let the campaign continue.
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