I have now worked two shifts at the State Fair booth, and will also work today and Friday from 9 to noon. If you're at the State Fair, drop by the commercial building and say hi.
When we're in the booth, we're obligated to be "candidate neutral," of course. We can't suggest that one Democrat is better than another, with a primary coming up in less than 5 months. However, I can tell you that in my 7½ hours of working the booth and talking with voters, Bernie Sanders is WAY more popular than Hillary among the fairgoers. Everybody wants to talk about Bernie. Also Roy Cooper is very popular.
However, we apparently had an unfortunate incident last Friday night. A Bernie supporter named Michael Flaherty was SELLING Bernie gear from the NCDP booth. I was at the fair with my family last night and stopped by the booth, and a young lady working there said she had been there Friday night and told him what he was doing was wrong, but "maybe I wasn't forceful enough".
That's an appalling breach of ethics. Who got the money? Why would anyone think that was OK? Yowza!
On the whole, though, working the State Fair booth is a lot of fun. I love talking to Democrats!
Comments
Thanks for the report
And thanks for volunteering to help. Bernie Sanders is definitely stirring up interest on both sides of the aisle. I intend to vote for him in the primary.
My Google skills are struggling today,
but it looks like he owns a Cary bar that hosted a Bernie Sanders Debate watch party, so he probably had some stock leftover to get rid of...
Thank you for volunteering!
I live too far away and always appreciate when the volunteers in and around Raleigh pick up my slack. :)
That does sound like an unfortunate incident, but having been on the side of trying to get people to volunteer, I know how hard it is to drum up enthusiasm just to turn around and inform new volunteers of all the rules involved.
I'm still undecided though after yesterday's testimony I am leaning toward Hillary.
This is one of the first primary seasons I have enjoyed. There are positives for both candidates and I'm trying to concentrate on that and ignore the negative nellies on my FB feed. :) I would say about 95% is positive and I love seeing the excitement. I know Sanders appeals to some who are either new to politics or have renewed energy and I would love to try to figure out how to keep them involved and energized so we don't see the huge dropoff in voter engagement that we did between 2008 and 2012.
Normally I would be appalled that someone was selling political wares from the NCDP booth, but I'm so excited to see fresh blood that I am having a hard time feeling upset about it. (If he isn't a new volunteer...then shame on him! :) )
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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.