Note: Contains completely partisan Deanism…

I spent the day in Exeter, yet another picture perfect New Hampshire town, alternating between standing outside holding Dean signs and sitting in the unheated Town Hall, checking off voters on the Dean supporter list. Then, at 5pm, it was back to the Portsmouth HQ, phoning people to urge them to vote.

In short, I spent the day being a little-d democrat. This is the real thing: American democracy. People reduced to their singular equality. Each one of them nuts in her or his own way. With the kids in their winter caps with animal ears or jester’s horns. Shuffling in, trailing the midwinter cold behind them. Seeing friends they haven’t talked with in months or years. College kids voting for the first time. A grandmother and her grown daughter, both wearing festive mittens. A blind woman being assisted in the voting booth. A husband taking a pink ballot to vote for a Republican and a wife taking the blue. A beautiful baby asleep in a back carrier as the father repeats his name softly to the local voting official. The real thing.

Outside, the cold was the fact you tried to forget. Lots of Dean supporters, lots of Kerry supporters, some Clark, a few Edwards, and one lonely and very affable man with a Bush-Cheney sign. (Oddly, it turns out he likes Bush because he wants a balanced budget. He didn’t accept my offer to take up a Dean sign.) We all shared our coffee and muffins. We laughed at the same jokes. All us Democrats know in a few months we’re all going to be working on behalf of the the same person.

My back aches. My feet are sore. My butt is warming up. And I’m ready to do it again.

Categories: Uncategorized dw