overwhelming in broward county

It's kinda overwhelming here in broward county – everything is as spread out as l.a., if not more so. Huge mall after mall, strip mall after strip mall, chain store after chain store – and tiny town either filled with ritzy creeping crud modern condos or tiny town filled with gated communities & palm trees – and the majority of the few bush signs there are in broward county. Then there’s the streets – sometimes the names remain the same & the sequential numbers end at the town line only to begin again at some random number & decreasing if the previous town’s numbers were increasing. Or the street suddenly changes names as you drive – again typical of Atlanta, maybe even the south!Then there’s the stretches of neighborhoods that appear to have been built in the 40’s – tiny, stucco-like maybe 4 room homes in pastel colors, wide grassy lawns & few trees. Here you find the majority of signs overwhelmingly Kerry.
We spent the day yesterday, when not stuck in traffic, finding the democrats headquarters & meeting some great folks; connecting with awesome act folks at their headquarters; & searching the hot spots so we have places to be at today. We attempted to banner at a busy intersection but never made it there because we were stuck in traffic. There are humungous accidents here in the Miami area, just like Atlanta! We were even late for tabled a demo event & got 4 wimmin signed up for the activist training; we've fliered the broadwalk the first nite & a busy strip last nite w/our "undecided? talk to me" poster hanging around our necks & talked w/lots of folks. We missed our bannering corner event last nite because we were stuck in traffic – I don't ever wanna hear re:ca traffic.... It's hard to put energy into nov3 when there's so much organizing to do for nov2 - but we're trying. Gael found out there's a fed bldg in miami and is also planning some kind of event with billionaires for bush.
Laurie is here from nyc working w/us – she turns out to be the creator of the fabulous coffin postcards we just happened to pick-up somewhere along our travels and have been handing out to folks. the postcard is a picture of the u.s. soldiers’ coffins w/American flags draped over them and different statements printed over them like ‘mission accomplished?’. on the back of the cards are informative internet sites that are so vital for folks that have no real media. we went to pick laurie up at her hotel this morning & were shocked to see the hotel billboard read: VOTE – 4 more years! we parked, hopped down from the truck & before our feet hit the pavement, an old white man can hobbling over to scold me for attacking the president. I asked him why was he supporting the president? he said because he’s a great president. I asked him to name 3 great things about the prez. he couldn’t. instead he asked me to wait & he’d show me something. he scurried off across the parking lot & disappeared into the hotel.
laurie came out, happy to see us as we were to see her. we pointed out the sign to her as we all expressed our horror. laurie had flown in from nyc to ft Lauderdale, rented a car, & arrived at the hotel the previous day. she told us how she had called nyc immediately, sitting in the parking lot for 20 minutes, trying to decide what to do. when she had made the decision to come to florida, she had spent hours and hours trying to figure out not only where to be in florida but where to find a hotel. she thought Emily’s list or act had recommended this one. we were all horrified, including laurie, who had pretty much decided she to stay put for a variety of reasons, including the fact that several more new Yorkers were meeting up at this hotel – all the more reason in my book to find another place. although there is no guarantee that at another hotel their money would be going to support a progressive owner, in this hotel they were positive they were supporting a part of the base of the bush agenda. I believe it is vital to be as informed & aware as possible so we can pick & chose where we spend our resources. we have to consciously spend every single penny if we want change and if we do not want to be part of the problem. laurie agrees but feels stuck.we brainstormed solutions: painting the sign w/”of war, of lies, of poverty” under the 4 more years, not to mention of facism, for trust me, we are in a facist state. A hotel that has "vote - 4 more years" on it'sBillboard - we spent a horrified few hours yesterdayWhen we arrived to pick her up trying to convince herTo move and then coming up w/plans to deal w/this - weEnded up leaving the truck in the front parking lotFor all to see from the busy street - grrrrrr. to be continued