All right, truth in advertising -- the Alabamans of whom I speak hadn't come to Massachusetts specifically to score some Obama gear. Nope, they were tourists, bound from Boston's airport to the Great State of Maine, and enjoying the scenic delights of a leisurely drive Down-Eastward.
Still, they spotted the chance to get some Obama swag, and took it!
How'd it go down? Go down below the fold.
Today I was doing desk duty at the local Democratic headquarters, greeting walk-ins, dispensing Obama swag (we got yard signs in at last!) and generally holding down our modest Ipswich Riverside fort, when in walked:
A retired couple from Pisgah, Alabama! They told me they're on vacation in New England and were just passing by when they saw our little window display, and that the door was invitingly open. Well! It appears they had an up-till-then unrequited desire for some Obama bumper stickers and buttons, and decided to park their rent-a-car and amble on in.
Lovely people! From a very rural area. How rural is it? The husband said they live a good dozen miles from the nearest red light. We chatted a bit about the difference between my home state and theirs. Folks are solid Democrats where they live -- on the local and state level, he said, but in presidential elections, well, it's a different story, at least in the recent past. In 2008? Unlikely to change, alas.
They're bound for Maine, but in no great hurry. I asked them if they needed a recommendation for a lunch spot and the wife said no, they'd just bought some doughnuts south of Ipswich (probably at a Dunkin' Donuts). "Oh, no!" I exclaimed. "You MUST visit Marty's, our local doughnut shop, where they make the best doughnuts EVAH! It's just a short walk away, over a bridge dating back to the 1640s." After a bit more chat they left, Obama swag in hand. Not long afterwards the husband came back, paper bag in hand, to inform me that they had indeed made the mini-pilgrimage to Marty's, and when he told the woman at the doughnut shop who'd recommended them, she gave him a discount!
Last I knew, they were headed north, on their way Maine-ward but planning to take my advice to stop at the Clam Box (a local icon) and discover the sublime delights of Ipswich fried clams.
I moved a lot of bumper stickers, buttons and yard signs today, issued a lot of invitations to our Thursday Biden-Palin debate-watching party, signed up some prospective volunteers, but that was the highlight of my headquarters stint.
Second favorite moment? When a woman wanted to get a bumper sticker but confessed with some embarrassment that she'd lost her job a few weeks ago and really couldn't afford the two bucks it would cost -- and another visitor immediately whipped out the money to buy it for her.
It sure was a happy three hours I spent today!