To be honest, I was a little nervous about volunteering at the booth. It's not like I live in Austin or back in my home state of Connecticut. I'm in a red section of a red state - and I've got a red-hot temper. Visions of hopping that table and choking a repug danced through my head. I may only be little 5'2" woman, but I grew up the only girl with 5 boys. I learned young to either get mine or go without. As a result, I've got a big mouth, I'm fearless and I can scrap! Fortunately, my 4" heels were unnecessary (if you're not a girl, you probably don't know, but if you jab your heel in someone's ankle, it forces them to bend over, then you can knee `em in the face). The repugs pretty much gave us a wide berth. There were only a handful of snippy comments here and there at best. But let me tell you, the outpouring of love from the area Democrats was astounding. I can't tell you how many times I heard, "There are Democrats in Texas? Thank God, I thought I was the only one." I don't have official numbers yet, but just sheets and sheets of contact information came in from people all over the metroxplex looking for ways to get involved. And twice that number of petition sheets were signed. It was truly inspirational.
Now, I know it's a DKos past-time to make snarky about Texas. What with W's ranch down in Crawford, the nightmare that is Delay, Kay Bee and Cornyn - God help us. But please keep in mind that there are a lot of us working our tails off to turn the tide down here. Texas turned out 40% for Kerry last year, and that was without any outside support whatsoever - financial, moral or otherwise. We ARE making an impact and we WILL make a difference. Onward to 2006!! UPDATE: The official numbers are in! 911 signatures on the petition and 282 new names to add to our contact list. I think this is a huge success!! I'm so proud of us. All of us.
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