deployment day 2: rudy giuliani

Today's highlight was definitely seeing Rudy Giuliani:

My aunt and cousin went along with me to the Get Out The Vote rally with Rudy Giuliani at Square One Burgers. As you can see from my video (yes, I succumbed to YouTube), Rudy had some great things to say and punctuated it with his trademark wisecracks and humor. He is really a delight to hear. I'm surprised that no network has picked him up for a type of political satire show.

We had really great seats. When we walked in, it was about half full. Aunt Debbie was resourceful and found some chairs that we strategically place behind the front & center table. It was pretty awesome! Then as we were sitting, I said "I wonder if Gov. Crist will be here..." and then lo & behold, my hunch paid off! Surprise guest Gov. Crist!

Cheering for Rudy again!

Taking a picture of Rudy meeting the press...we were on the other side of his vehicle hoping to shake his hand when he got in, but he ended up getting up on the press side :( Oh well!

And then me & Gov. Crist became best friends:

Then it was back to HQ for more phone calls:

The view out HQ front doors. Not too shabby eh? :) Right along the bay.

The phone bank room where I've been spending a looooot of time:

Then later in the afternoon, we headed to Raymond James stadium to go over logistcs for the McCain Countdown to Victory Rally tomorrow. (Gates open at 6 am, McCain will go on around 9 am, and former Bucs player Mike Alstott will also be there.) Here's a preview of what's to come tomorrow!

I couldn't believe I was seeing one of the Straight Talk Express buses right before my eyes! I tried to sneak on with a couple other volunteers...yeah we got denied.

Country first! Can't wait to see these bleachers full and McCain in front tomorrow!


If you can, tune in to any of the news networks to see our Countdown to Victory rally down here in Tampa. 9 am!!

deployment day 1: 500 phone calls

Oh. my. gosh. I am so tired. I don't know about this politics thing. I made 500 phone calls in 11 hours today! We were using registered voter lists from the registrar's office...I don't think they were very accurate. I probably got half wrong numbers/moved addresses as I did live people and correct voicemail boxes. If I were to ever hold a position of influence, I think I would trash the records and require everyone to re-register with proof of residence before each election. I mean, I called a guy who has been dead for 3 years now!! 3 years! Imagine that awkward conversation. "Hi may I speak to so and so?" "uh, that's my dad, and he's been dead for 3 years." "Oh!! I'm so sorry...I uh...uh...thanks for your time!"

I won't get into to many of the details, mostly because I'm totally wiped out right now. The basics are that I called registered voters (rep, dem, ind, everyone) and polled them on who they were supporting. If they were for McCain, I asked them to early vote and gave them more info (except when it got later in the day, then it was all get out the vote on Tues). If they were Obama, I said "thanks for your time, bye!" And if they were undecided, we had a nice little chat :)

Anyway, the long drive down last night...an 11 hour day today. Let's just say I'm SO thankful for daylight savings! I don't know how McCain & Obama teams are doing this for so long. But everyone I met today was pretty nice, it does feel a little awkward being the random girl from Georgia (especially when I asked to turn the GA-FL game on in our phone bank room - we had a nice flatscreen tv - and then GA got their butt kicked. Embarrassing!!). But everyone is so appreciative of the work and I know I made a difference today. Plus the office we're working in is really, really nice. I'll probably take pics tomorrow. I just felt kinda weird being the new girl and taking pictures of everything on my first day...you know?

Ok, tomorrow Rudy Giuliani will be here!

Then Monday, McCain will be here!

It will be worth it I think, just for these 2 events. Because no one ever comes through Georgia...although maybe they should now that Georgia's kind of a toss-up.

AND...here's a little spark of hope for any McCain supporters out there...everyone was talking about this at the office today. McCain now leads Obama in the latest Zogby poll - I was told that this is the same and only poll that predicted a Bush win over Kerry in 2004.

ok, i couldn't wait

I'm so pumped up right now that I decided to go ahead and post first impressions & favorite quotes from tonight's Republican Convention. I was gonna wait til tomorrow, but I'm so awake right now! And excited! Because I feel like everyone who spoke tonight, and especially Sarah Palin...they GET America. They're PROUD of America. That gives me hope for our country.

LINKS UPDATED --Will try to update with links tomorrow...I'm too excited about what I saw to look for links for everything!

Ok so I started watching CSPAN around 8:30...but the first speaker I really started paying attention to was Mitt Romney. He was good, and was then followed by Mike Huckabee, who was also good. Huckabee told a great story about a teacher and desks.


Then things really ramped up. Linda Lingle, the Hawaii governor who I've never really heard of, had a pretty good speech defending & extolling Sarah Palin. My favorite points from her:

Delaware has the same # of delegates as Alaska
Sarah Palin got more votes for mayor than Biden got from the whole nation for President of the United States


Alright, up next was Giuliani. Favorite quotes:

advice to Obama regarding his flubbing of the Georgia/Russia crisis: "Next time call John McCain."
on Obama's experience: "community organizer (pause) what?" laughs - I laughed SO hard at this point.
his last point on the media's questioning of Palin's mothering abilities: "How dare they...when do they ever ask a man that question?"



Then, Sarah Palin:

"difference between hockey mom and a pitbull...lipstick"
"small towns...hardest jobs...growing our food, working in our factories, fighting our wars...always proud of America"
on being a mayor: "like a community organizer, but with actual responsibilities"
"I'm not going to Washington to seek [liberal media] good opinion. I'm here to serve the people of this great nation."
on reasons to run for office: "to challenge status quo...leave this nation better than we found it."
"Some use change to promote career...some like John McCain use career to promote change."
"There's only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you."


cute moment: camera focuses in on Piper Palin licking her hand and then smoothing down little baby Trig Palin's hair. aw!!!


yeah!!! great night for Republicans :)

funny

When talking about the economy, a picture is worth a thousand words.



So, Giuliani really couldn't pull out a surprise win. Too bad...I probably wouldn't have voted for him BUT at least he was "uplifting" and not attacking like Romney & McCain. I respect that. Interesting that McCain won in a closed Rep. primary. What does this mean for the party?

who do YOU think will win Florida?

This guy seems pretty confident that John McCain will NOT win Florida.

What do you think?

I know from one Florida Republican that Rudy Giuliani has his/her vote. It will be interesting to see if he can win the state after spending all that money. I know, I know. All the polls are saying Romney/McCain are battling it out. But...it seems to me you can never really count on those polls anyway (Hillary in SC??). Maybe Giuliani will pull out a "surprise" win! But then...is it really surprise? The media wants you think so, makes for good ratings! Looks like next post I'll have to pull out the Baldasty.