I’ve been feeling like I’m not doing enough to make double-triple-quadruple sure that Hillary wins in November. Rhode Island should be a slam-dunk for Democrats; Obama won here by about 63-35 both times, and RI hasn’t voted for a Republican President since Reagan (just barely) in 1984. Usually RI-ers get sent to canvass in NH. But the only poll here, an Emerson poll last week, showed Clinton up by only 44-41. Yes, it’s Emerson; they reportedly don’t contact cell phones and don’t have any bilingual pollsters, so are probably biased in favor of older and whiter. But it still rattled people. RI has a lot of quite conservative not-pro-choice Fox News-watching Democrats, and a lot of very progressive not-excited-about-Hillary (or worse, believing all the worst propaganda about her) Democratic-leaning unaffiliateds. It feels like this could slip away, if people stay home.
So when I got an email invite to the “fall kick-off” event at the Democratic headquarters Saturday morning, with all the party big-wigs in attendance, I decided to go, just to show up and maybe figure out my next steps. It was quite a trek. The RI Democratic Party headquarters isn’t in Providence, the state capital; it’s out near the airport in Warwick. (In RI, going 10 miles and crossing two city lines is considered a very long trip.) I don't own a car, so that meant a long bus ride, through multiple malls and the state prison complex, and then almost a mile walk along one of those busy access roads with no sidewalks, past the FedEx Ship Center and the Extended Stay America motel.
Then two young women I’d seen on the bus came up behind me, phones in hand, and said, “Are you going to the Hillary Clinton event?” (They had seen my “H” button.)Their phone-GPS had given up. Fortunately I could see a bunch of red, white, and blue balloons in approximately the right location, not far ahead.
The office was packed full. We had to wait to sign in, sign up for phone-banking, pick up buttons and voter registration information.
The main event was packed too, standing room only. It seemed to be a fairly diverse crowd, although few young adults. (There’s an active college group at Brown, but like me, they may have found it hard to get to this event.)
The emcee, RI Democratic Party Chair (and State Rep) Joe McNamara, introduced a long list of current and former public officials in the room, showing the breadth of support for Hillary from the Democratic Establishment. He then warmed up the crowd by having us read chants off signs, a 5-minute version of the Convention: “Rise Together,” “Love Trumps Hate,” and “a future to believe in.”
Then we got to the main speakers, in order of seniority. First up was Gov. Gina Raimondo, our first female governor and a strong Hillary supporter, accompanied by her young son.
Next came Sen. Jack Reed, the senior member of our Congressional delegation, who said he’s known Hillary since she became First Lady in 1993, served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee with her, and had traveled with her to Iraq and Afghanistan. He said that we always say that “This election is the most important,” but this year, it really is. He urged us to “knock on every door, talk to every voter,” especially those who are undecided or thinking of sitting it out.
Next was Senator Whitehouse, who many of you know as a strong advocate for the urgency of dealing with climate change. He quoted Abraham Lincoln, in the midst of a bitter Civil War, appealing to “the better angels of our nature.” By contrast, Whitehouse said, Trump appeals to the “darkest demons.” “Bigotry is deplorable, period,” he said to loud applause. He then quoted George Washington’s 1790 letter to the Touro Synagogue in Newport, RI — a document well known in RI, and many of us joined in the words — assuring them that the new government “gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.” Whitehouse also pointed out that virtually the entire foreign policy establishment, Republicans as well as Democrats, support Clinton.
We then heard from both RI Congressmen, Jim Langevin and David Cicilline.
Both emphasized the vast differences between the two Presidential candidates and the two party platforms. Cicilline called Clinton “a woman of extraordinary achievement.” He warned that none of us want to wake up on November 9 thinking “Rats, I should have done more.” All the speakers gave the same message: Knock on doors, make those phone calls, talk to everyone you know.
I’m still not sure what’s the best way for me to help out. As I was getting off the bus near my house, I struck up a conversation with a woman also getting off. She was coming from church; I said I was coming from a Hillary event. I encouraged her to talk up registration and voting to her church friends. (She’s African-American; I don’t know about her church.) She promised also to talk with her co-workers, especially those planning to sit out. I hope that’s a few extra votes.
Phone-banking isn’t my favorite thing, either sitting alone at home or traveling (by bus or on foot, at night) to the the locations they’re using. But I’m more determined than ever to try harder, do more, be less concerned about inconvenience. I don't want to be awash in regrets on Nov. 9.