antoniabance.org.uk

Antonia's blog - October 2004

Welcome to my blog, a commentary on news and events in Oxford West and Abingdon, the UK and across the world. All posts are my own opinion and cannot be taken as the policy of the Labour Party.

31 October 2004

Okay, so last night was the weirdest ever - and it's not even Hallowe'en yet. Liberty City took the governor of Pennsylvania on a tour of gay and lesbian bars in Philadelphia, getting out the vote and rallying the troops. Apparently, it's a lucky charm for Governor Ed Rendell, who does his gay tour before every election. All I can say is that they certainly love him here - every bar he entered was filled with screams and shouts, and he got masses of applause. Can't think of a politician who'd get even close to that reaction, not even Tony Blair entering a room of Labour Students ;-)

Anyway, we all got our photos taken with the gov, and waved the signs we'd been making all day on Friday like crazy. He seemed a bit bemused to be followed around by a bunch of Brits - or maybe that was just the seven foot drag queens, various fairies and goblins and the odd Queen Elizabeth who were all out on the streets last night!

Americans seem to go for Hallowe'en in a really big way - so much so that every news programme for the last week has concentrated on the crucial issue of what costume to wear, not analysis of that pesky election, or, heaven forbid, international news such as the state of Yasser Arafat's health or the crisis in Iraq. I also find it strange that such a consciously religious country goes so crazy for Hallowe'en - devout Christians that I knew growing up refused to take part in any festivities because it was a pagan festival, but that doesn't seem to trouble even churchgoing folks here.

30 October 2004

Another thing that's odd about elections here is that whilst there are almost no billboards advertising the candidates, the television commercials are ubiquitous! It's no surprise to watch through an ad break with five commercials, three of which are for candidates.

Some of them are straightforward contrasts of the messages and priorities of the candidates for a particular office - remember, here in PA they're electing members of congress, a senator, some state-wide offices as well as a President and VP. Many of the others are vicious - I've seen the swiftboat veterans for truth so many times now. One particular one that stands out is the anti-Ginny Schrader ads . She's a Democrat standing in the 8th congressional district, just outside Philly.

The ad goes: "Ginny Schrader's inexperience could be dangerous. She's supported by a far left group (caption: the Council for a Liveable World) which advocates deep cuts to the millitary. She raised funds through a far-left group (caption: MoveOn.org) which opposed millitary action against the Taliban in Afghanistan - the Taliban which condones kidnapping and rape of girls. In a dangerous world (caption: Munich, WTO, Madrid etc etc) can you afford to trust the inexperience of Ginny Schrader?"

Unbelievably, it doesn't mention who her opponent is. Thankfully, that race isn't a foregone conclusion.

One of the ads I hate most has the family of a 9-11 victim talking about their experiences, then the daughter of the victim telling us how George Bush hugged her when he came to her town. It finishes by saying "surely this is the type of man that we can trust to lead our country?" I'm left incredulous by it - if John Kerry or Bill Clinton or anyone with any ounce of compassion had met that young woman, surely they all would have reacted the same way? We're expected to vote for the President on the strength of him knowing that a hug was the appropriate reaction to a distraught bereaved young woman?!

28 October 2004

Been on the street stalls all day, helping people find their polling places and referring them to the election commission if the not-infrequent circumstances that they haven't received a polling card or made a mistake on a form. I don't understand why this country, the most developed nation ever, can't get its elections right. Why don't they have rolling registration? Why doesn't everyone have to register like we do in the UK? And why don't they send everyone a card with their polling station's location?

With all the chaos in Florida, and the kerfuffles over the voting systems, why the bloody hell don't they just revert to the British system - an impartial, non-partisan appointed Electoral Commission, pencils, paper and counting by hand? I've spoken to too many African Americans who are worried about casting their ballot today for it all to be a fluke.

One of the best things about being here is the chance to meet real Americans - not just Rhodes scholars and tourists. Over the last few days, I've chatted to African Americans, Pakistani Americans, Polish Americans, a bunch of Latina high school kids, seniors, loads of union activists from the steelworks and boilermaking plants, older lesbian women, college students and all sorts of other people. So many people are so glad to meet us - I've counted 19 "I love your accent"s so far! But really, people are astonished and so pleased and grateful that we came so far to work on the election - even Republicans.

I met the chair of the PA Log Cabin Republicans (like the Tory Campaign for Homosexual Equality - another pretty delusional group of people) the other other night. We disagreed vehemently on the American recession and Bush's economic policies. He said that the surplus inherited from Clinton would have been used up by whichever president followed him, as a result of the recession caused by three factors - the dotcom bust, 9/11 and the war on terror. I pointed out that all three affected the British economy too, but that under a centre left government, we'd not only avoided recession but had during the same period reached almost zero unemployment, raised the minimum wage and increased tax credits for working people. We agreed that we'd never agree on that point, but he thanked us for coming to America to work on the election, saying that he was touched by our obvious love for the US and for democracy. Sounds quite trite to type it, but I was moved - I can't imagine that reaction from a Tory under any circumstances.

27 October 2004

Well today has been more like the elections I'm used to - the routine but vital admin of making sure that all the canvass returns are on the database. So much about US politics is so different, it was really quite comforting to be doing something so familiar - although in the UK I've never had the experience of recording that a voter was in gaol so couldn't vote!

The thing that seems so strange is that the politicians are like showbiz stars - people queue for hours to see Kerry, Edwards and both the Clintons. And once you're in the venue, a school band plays the national anthem and then local candidates for lower positions (city council, attorneys etc) give lightning speeches of a few minutes each, that say very little about what they're standing for, but act as cheerleaders, getting the crowds to chant and sing. The best I saw was a guy called Angel Cruz, a Latino city council member in Reading, PA, who gave a bilingual speech and told a wonderful joke: "Jesus would be a Democrat - when he came to Jerusalem, he rode a donkey, not an elephant" - I didn't get it at the time, but you need to know that the Republican mascot is an elephant, and the Democrat mascot is a donkey! And in an election that's so focussed on proving that you're more religious than the other guy, really effective.

Anyway, to get back to my point. Then, before the main act (Clinton, Kerry etc), there's usually a gap of about an hour, with nothing going on - no warm-up act, nothing! Or maybe a little motivational music, but nothing more. I couldn't get over how patient all the huge crowds, many of whom must have taken the day off work, were. Personally it seemed really rude to me - to keep thousands of people hanging around. But then, American politics is different, as I'm increasingly finding.

25 October 2004

Okay - so to get the narrative out of the way...

We landed at about 2pm on Sunday PA time - about 7pm UK time. Jon Snow was on our plane, so I guess Channel Four are covering the rally today. At Philadelphia International, a lovely guy called Dan with a big rainbow Kerry-Edwards placard picked us up. He took us to our billets - me, Katie and Josh to Naomi and Rie's, Liam to the JFK apartment and Liz to her B&B, and then gave us a bit of a tour around Philadelphia - it's a bit like the photos of Amsterdam I've seen, all tall houses and lots of trees. Everyone's been really lovely - so friendly and welcoming to a bunch of British Labour party activists, and it's true - they do love our accents! The "gaybourhood" is in the centre of Philadelphia - "Center City" - and the local Democratic party have given the Liberty City Democrats (lesbian and gay section) responsibility for getting out the vote in a large part of the city.

Today, we were at the Clinton-Kerry rally in central Philadelphia. We were really far back, so I doubt you'll see us on TV! Some of it was strange - there was a prayer at the beginning of the rally (!) and Patti La Belle sang the national anthem. Clinton was pretty fab, though he sounded unwell and not as compelling as usual - just a quick runthrough of his record as President, the standard Kerry-Edwards campaign lines. The reaction to him was amazing, though. So many people here seem really affected by the change in government - airline workers have taken a huge paycut - I think 21% - , and the figures of people who have lost their jobs and their health insurance in the last few years are staggering. Kerry was really very impressive in person - I don't think they do him justice in the media. I particularly liked the pledge to have healthcare for all citizens, as a right, not a privilege.

My feet are killing me after standing for hours waiting for them - we were there at nine, and they didn't speak until 1pm. The atmosphere was fabulous - everyone here is so motivated, been canvassing this afternoon and everyone is like - yes yes, we'll take a poster, we'll take a badge, of course we're going to vote... At the rally, there were loads of children whose parents had taken them out of school, students, OAPs, families - and the LGB section couldn't hand out badges and placards fast enough. Maybe today was a turning point? - www.election-map.com says Kerry's behind, but hanging on in PA, mainly due to Philadelphia turning out for him in droves.

Tomorrow to somewhere called Reading (not the one twenty miles down the road from Oxford!) to hear John Edwards speak, so I'll update soon.

23 October 2004

I'm leaving for Pennsylvania tomorrow - you can check out details of what we're up to by reading our election blog :: lclgrelectiontrip.blogspot.com

21 October 2004

The Washington Post this morning says Kerry and Clinton are rocking up in Philadelphia on Monday - hope we'll get to go!

"Former President Clinton will appear with Sen. John Kerry at a lunchtime rally in Philadelphia Monday in what Democrats hope will be a boost to the presidential ticket in a crucial battleground state."

19 October 2004

And today for the first time in ages, Kerry has pulled ahead - 284 to 247. In our adopted state of Pennsylvania, Kerry has pulled out of the margin of error for the first time since the late summer, and now stands at 51% to Bush's 45%.

Electoral-vote updates about 1pm our time every day with the latest polls.

11 October 2004

Exciting news! Antonia has just found out that she’s going to America for two weeks to campaign against Bush in the forthcoming US Elections. She’s going to Philadelphia on Sunday 24 October and coming back on Saturday 6 November, and will be working with the Democrat Party in Pennsylvania to secure a better, safer world for us all - something that can only be achieved if John Kerry and John Edwards are elected to the White House on Tuesday 2 November.

Speaking about her forthcoming trip, Antonia said “I can’t wait until we leave. I’ve never been to America before, and the experience will be incredible. The worst thing that could happen on the Tuesday 2nd is if the American people put Bush back in the White House, and if I can help put an international perspective on why Bush is a dangerous liability to the safety of the world, then I will come home knowing that I have contributed to safety and wellbeing of humanity across the world.”