Methadone, Marijuana and Hillary: An Unusual Canvassing Story

[rug]

No, this is not another GDP hit piece.

Last January I was appointed to represent an 18-year old kid who was arrested while a passenger in a car. His friends picked him up and they drove from his house in Pennsylvania over to the next county in New York State to see some other friends. The State Police stopped the car, allegedly for a bad muffler. From this, they proceeded to search the car and found methadone and 25 grams of marijuana. All were charged with two misdemeanors; the driver was additionally charged with having a bad muffler.

Routine case, routine bad search.

I've been going with this kid since January to this local town court which sits only from 6 pm on. he always shows up with his parents. For the past three months, while waiting, we'd talk about Jeeps, hunting, the high school and bad searches. I learned the father runs an auto repair shop out of his house and his mother cleans houses. Solid, working people who can't afford a lawyer when their son got arrested.

We never talked politics but I assume these are some of the people Obama said are bitter. He's right about the guns but they've haven't seen the inside of a church in decades. They didn't strike me as bitter so much as disgusted with the government.

I can talk about Jeeps only so long, so tonight I asked them if they had voted. It was about 6:10. The kid said he wasn't registered and his parents said they hadn't voted in 12 years but were still registered Democrats. That's when I heard the disgusted part. They told me why they didn't bother to vote and what was wrong with the country for the last 8 years.

I told them that we'd probably get out by 6:30 and the polls didn't close until 8:00. They looked startled. So I told them again. The father said, "Why the hell not."

The judge called the case and it was dismissed by 6:25. No skill, the DA wasn't able to get a lab report within 90 days showing the stuff was methadone and marijuana. So they had no choice.

At 6:30 they were on their way back Dingmans Ferry, PA to vote for Hillary Clinton.

Why the hell not is as good a slogan as yes we can.

[rinsd]

1. Great story. Thank you for sharing.

Call me a silly sentimentalist but these voting stories always make my civic pride swell to the point of contention with my ego. :evilgrin:

[John Q. Citizen]

2. Good job. As an Obama supporter I applaud your efforts to get people out to vote.

Come November, I hope they vote again.

[truthpusher]

3. I hope she can win with the 'why the hell not' vote.... is that segment covered in the exits?

...I enjoyed the post.... could have ended better though(just replace Obama with Clinton and it would have been perfect!).

[islandmkl]

4. while i would have preferred a different choice of candidate...

getting people to vote is what democracy is ALL about...

this country would be in better hands if more (like 70%+) people voted...

the sneaky bastards have a much easier time getting in control when the population is 'disinterested'....

GOTV!!!

PS - I hope Obama doesn't lose by 1 vote!!

[cbayer]

5. Why do you hate jeeps?

Just kidding. Good for you. Wonderful thing you are doing for this kid and for the family. Wonderful they did for their country.

[Texas Hill Country]

6. very nice!

[Straight Shooter]

7. Well, enough about them. Did YOU vote for Hillary?

:P

[rug]

8. Technically, my daughter did.

It's a small town polling place and they let her go to the touch machine with me. She recognized Hillary and pressed it. She's 6 and it's the first of many votes.

[Straight Shooter]

9. The first of many votes, and I hope it's the luckiest vote.

:D