Some people thought going to Hawaii to organize would be a nice little vacation. NOT SO! I worked day and night, and now... I'm sick!
I arrived on Valentine's day in Honolulu and was picked up by a volunteer named Tom. One of the first things Tom told me was that he was a "lifelong, diehard Republican," but that this year he was going all the way with Barack Obama. He told me that there were lots of Republicans in Hawaii that were registering Democrat for the Caucuses on the 19th and then re-registering as Republicans the next day. They call themselves "Obama-cans." I would meet no fewer than 10 Obama-cans before the weekend was done.
We arrived in downtown Honolulu at the Law Offices of Winer, Meheula, & Devens. The front of the office was just that... a busy law office. Tom took me to the back of the office and it was clear that it had been taken over by the campaign. Andy, one of the partners had volunteered the office space, and whether his employees liked it or not was the Honolulu headquarters for the Obama for America campaign! Next thing you know, after a quick review of the lay of the land and what to expect from the field director, it was off to work. I ended up working till almost 10 p.m. I would have kept working had it not been for my host. I was staying at the guest cottage of one of the local volunteers, and she goes to bed at 10 p.m.
After a good night's sleep I got on the bus to head downtown to the office, and started working right away, organizing the Big Island District House captains... trying to figure out how I would make my way around the Big Island the next day to drop off the "chum". That's what they called bumper stickers, buttons, signs, etc. Thankfully I had my buddy Eric coming with me so we could split the island in half. I would take the western side and he would take the eastern side. We were up till 2 a.m. getting things ready for our trip out to the Big Island. Unfortunately we didn't get much sleep before our 7 a.m. flight to Kona.
Once we got there we went to rent our 2 cars, riding in the shuttle driven by a very enthusiastic driver who gave us a quick tour of the airport area, and giving us a quick introduction to the island. Eric pointed out the fact that the landscape by the road was all made up of lava. After getting our cars we headed out to Waikaloa Village to pick up the chum. Driving along the coastline with Hawaiian graffiti on the sides of the road and Hawaiian music cranked up... there was nothing better.
I ended up driving about 5 hours in total that day. On the way south I think I was fueled by adrenaline, so I wasn't that tired. On the way back I was exhausted and was falling asleep at the wheel.
At any rate, the weekend turned out really great, even though I got a little sick and didn't get to see much of the beach. I met Maya Soetoro-Ng, Konrad Ng, and amazing local volunteers along the way. I even caught a glimpse of a luau by the pool at the hotel and saw th sun sink into the ocean at sunset.
Pictures.
