It’s time for some observations. Day 18 and trends are emerging. For starters, I do not know where the Republicans are, but they are not on the bus. From the first day, and through the reddest of states, it has been a scramble for me to find conservatives to talk to. I share this with sincere sorrow and surprise. Yes, some of you might be uttering a collective ‘duh’, but this has truly been a revelation to me.
Also, you know that elusive ‘undecided’ voter… they are on the bus. While estimates indicate that only 1-3% of eligible voters have not made up their minds, my unofficial tally is closer to 30% of Greyhound riders are undecided. Listen up, campaigns… forget the ads, rallies, photo ops. Get on the bus. Really. The bus.
Today I am submitting the first intentional multi-person interview of this trip. Yesterday, for the first time, I found myself traveling on a nearly empty bus. There were less than a dozen people riding from Cleveland to Toledo and it was my good fortune to sitting with Bruce, Diante and Gaia. Bruce is an IT specialist in the banking industry, Diante a student and Gaia a nurse practitioner. We talked for almost 2 hours and only a few segments were recorded. While this created an editing nightmare, I hope that the result captures the sheer joy and magic that happens when we come together to discuss issues of the day. It is, at its essence, exactly why I love doing this.
(Gaia is first to speak and starts with his thoughts on Obamacare)
[rtmp3 url="https://dl.dropbox.com/u/108166614/Audio2012/Bruce%2C%20Diante%20and%20Gaia.mp3" title="The boys"]
Ah, but you miss an essential statistic. More than half of Americans never vote, in fact if you looked at voting records you’d find that some of your friends never vote. If we had turnouts in America like they do in Europe, then there would never be a Republican elected as the majority of Americans call themselves Ds. That’s exactly why they have socialism in Europe, it’s not because people are different but rather it is because of voter turnout.
Damn girl! You DO get the interesting ones to talk openly to you! Clearly a gift …
How to talk to one another continues to be a theme. It is hard to imagine a national discourse on a topic that doesn’t skew to the meaningless and untrue. I am scared that the election is tied right now and that currently undecided voters will decide this election and where will they get their information? From election mailers that can’t pass fact checking? From debates where candidates disavow their statements from a week ago? I’m glad Julie is good today, cuz I am frustrated!!
Better add another “scared” to your tags, based on the interview.
Thanks for the cue that it is Gaia who speaks first. How about the others, who speaks next? And who is who in the picture? Are the names left-to-right?
I’m not surprised that you aren’t meeting many conservatives on the bus. I think people who are on the bus are generally there because they have no other means of transportation, meaning, they don’t have money. Perhaps you would have better luck finding Republicans on the Amtrak California Zephyr?
Great questions Roderick… It is Bruce on the left, then Diante and Gaia. I just realized that only Diante and Gaia are on this recording. I may post another one because there was SO much great stuff that they talked about. Thanks for reading along. J
I am so frustrated. How so many Americans feel it is OK for a candidate to do a 180 from their primary position is very disheartening. It is astounding to me that people simply listen to the last sound bite and say to themselves, Oh that is where the candidate stands. I’m going to count on the fact that there are enough Americans out there that can figure out which candidate can move our country to the middle. This process is way too long and way too expensive $1,000,000,000!!!! REALLY I know this does not have much of a connection with todays conversation. Just venting.
Seems like we all needed to vent our fears and frustrations today!! Glad to have the outlet for my election fatigue. Let’s just get this thing over with. They say you get the government you deserve. Maybe we deserve this – we must have made the gods very angry in another life.
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I can certainly see why this conversation made your day, Julie–very thoughtful, very open.
And yes, the issues we are facing are scary, and the more we can talk about them like this, the better. That’s (just one of the reasons) why you rock!! xoxo
I do not even know the way I finished up here, however I assumed
this put up used to be good. I do not recognize who you
are but certainly you are going to a famous blogger for those who are not already.
Cheers!