Some random snippets from a conversation I had today with real live people:

[hedgehog]

A lady admired my Obama shirt.

Store owner: "I don't trust Obama - he owes too much to to many people."Him

Me "What people?"

Store owner "The NAACP, for one"


......

I suggested that the NAACP had originally leaned toward Hillary and backed Obama Store owner:late in the game. The response consisted of some random comments to the effect that the Clintons should be in jail for fraud


......


I mentioned Jim Webb as a possible VP


"Jim who?"


The other lady mentioned the new GI Bill.

Store owner:" we don't need a new GI Bill - those guys get too many benefits already."
This evolved into an anecdote of a personal acquaintance who re-upped for Iraq because the news never shows the good things we're doing, as in "He rebuilt 50 school buses and built 10 schools"


I suggested that perhaps those buses and classrooms became targets because Americans worked on them.

"Oh no, they're still using them. All we ever hear about is about things blowing up or 4 Americans get killed, so let's leave. We have accidents around here all the time, I don't know why people get so excited just cause a few Americans get killed"


That's when I just waved and left.



We've got a lot of people to educate between now and November!

[Barack_America]

1. Sounds bitter.

;)

[hedgehog]

3. He's really a pretty nice guy - his daughter went to school with one

of my kids. Like I said, we've got a real job ahead educating people who aren't into politics the way we are here. I know another guy who commutes an hour each way to work listening to right wing radio. He was all upset because "Obama won't salute the flag"! It's not just a matter of getting these people to change their votes. We need a new attitude toward our government if we are going to take it back! People have to take ownership instead of thinking that government belongs to politicians and all politicians are crooks!

[murielm99]

10. I canvassed last Sunday.

We split up into several teams over several precincts. The candidates went to every door. One team went to every fourth house. My team and two others went to known Democrats.

Even the comments by Democratic voters were discouraging. There will not be time enough to educate everyone. We need to get them out to vote. Even then, I ran into too many who are not going to vote for the top of the Democratic ticket if it is not Clinton. They will vote McCain. And this is in Illinois.

I tried to encourage people at least to vote for Democrats down ticket. We will have to push hard for a Democratic Congress. I honestly don't know if we will win the Presidency. My state will be blue, but I worry about some of the rest.

[PoliticalAmazon]

2. I hope you learned your lesson about talking with real people [SARCASM]

[hedgehog]

4. I left out the best part - I was renting Rules of Engagement

The store owner told me it was a great movie when I asked if he had it. Later on when he asked me who Jim Webb is, I told him he's the guy that wrote the movie!


So, I think this guy would like Jim Webb, but he has no idea who he is!

[PoliticalAmazon]

5. Well, there's a good reason for Jim Webb not being VP...but I have another question for you...

Does this mean you have other friends than us?

[nichomachus]

6. Real live Americans and education just don't mix n/t

[ballsalicious]

7. must have been shopping at walmart

[hedgehog]

9. Au contraire! This is was at a snall town independent video rental!

[cbc5g]

8. There is a lot of hidden racism in the populace

They won't out and out admit they are racists because its not popular anywhere in the U.S. anymore. Instead they'll make up something else that borders on racism like "He only wants to get the presidency to help black people and he'll forget us".

[hedgehog]

11. Jim Webb would explain it not as racism but as a fear that the

government is taking from one group to give to another. Less pure racism and more an extension of the old technique of setting the poor white against the poor black.

[DAGDA56]

12. A good observation...governments dividing people along any line possible...

...if race works, fine...if not, there's always religion (successfully done for generations in Northern Ireland).

[Phx_Dem]

13. Wow.

What state?

[hedgehog]

14. Upstate New York - north of Syracuse

This district was always Republican, but may go Democratic in the Fall!