Image via WikipediaI think I knocked on close to 350 doors the final four days of the campaign, 110 on Saturday, and more than that on Tuesday. I must have handed out about 400 flyers on moving trains: Panhandling For Reshma. Sunday I got to put in three fewer hours than I had planned. I went to a Nepali event in Jackson Heights that started late, and it kept me stuck for more than an hour instead of the "10 minutes" I was promised. Time is different in different cultures. In the Nepali culture, it stretches.
Monday I ran out of flyers about 10 blocks from the office, and it also started raining. I also went to the Hudson Terrace party Monday evening. That might, or might not have been a good idea, but I thought I would give about three hours to Manhattan when I was giving more than 30 to Queens. After that party Reshma invited people to overnight flyering all across Queens. Did I hear "illgal flyering?" I thought. They could deport me on that small technicality, why give them the benefit of doubt? It is not like I ever stopped calling Rangel a monkeyface. I am not yet completely out of my immigration mess. I still have a court date in June 2011.
Tuesday was really something. I woke up at two. I could not go back to sleep again. I guess I was excited. I ran Tuesday on three hours of sleep. And for the most part I was okay. The first few hours were handing out flyers on the subway. I was assigned a subway stop, instead I was working the train, from the Ditmars Blvd to Queensboro Plaza and back.
Then it was knocking on doors for the next few hours. Then lunch. Then I did the subway thing again for a few hours. Then it was back to knocking on doors all the way to 9 PM.
Some of Reshma's staunchest supporters were Muslims. Her Cordoba stand had really percolated. It was touching to me to witness all these Muslim families that were out in force for Reshma. There is nothing fake about a political campaign. You are impacting real lives.
Field Director Megan's mother was in town. She gave me a ride from the Astoria office to where the election watch party was: 932 Second Avenue, The Pressbox. When they called it for Maloney, I protested. I am waiting for my Queens bump, I said. Everybody I talked to who said they will vote for Reshma did vote for Reshma. But maybe we did not get to talk to enough people still.
On to 2012. There's no stopping this train.
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