The problem with me is that I find too much enjoyment in being a nomad. The thought of settling down somewhere is frightening! Being in Las Vegas and not knowing where I would go next was both scary and exhilarating. Same thing with New Hampshire. When I spent a month flying all over the east part of the USA, (Michigan, South Carolina, Florida, Tennesse, Connecticut, etc) I had the time of my life. I found it far too easy to live out of suitcases, motels, and my car.

It's the fear of commitment that gets me. I can commit to friends and family, but beyond that it gets really dicey. Having pondered my living situation for the last year or so, I always found the idea of buying an RV and living out of that and being so mobile really attractive. Driving across the country twice exposed me to this whole culture of RVing that was really fun to watch.

Most of the RVers were, of course, retired folks, who had the time and money to do it. BTW, It's so absurd that you have to wait until you are 65 or older to actually travel and enjoy our country. I know someone who is closer to my age who bought an RV and has that mobility, but chooses to stay around the Vegas area. He loves it and I can't blame him.

So having been unemployed since November, I've found myself a bit disappointed that I didn't do something more fun with this time. I truly didn't think the economy would keep getting worse and that hundreds of people would be applying for janitorial jobs and such. It would've been fun to rent an RV back in November and just drive around!

I don't wanna believe that my traveling days are behind me. Is normalcy that only thing I have to look forward to???

I don't think I ever posted pictures from when I stood outside for over 2 hours in 115 degree heat to see Obama attend a private house party (look for me in pink shirt in background pics). He was nice and came and spoke to us before going inside. This was the first time I met him! So, here they are! Enjoy.

and it was simply marvelous. I think the highlights were the San Rafael Swell, Vail, Colorado, Lincoln, Nebraska (I got to see a friend there), the state of New York, including Palmyra, Massachusetts, and finally getting into New Hampshire.

I stayed in Concord last night and will, at least temporarily, stay with a host mom in Concord, so I am no longer homeless.

I need to get going but I promise to blog all about the drive across the country (Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire).

for eight years and then Vegas this past summer is moving to Ames, Iowa this week. I am sticking with the current campaign I am on and headed to Iowa to organize there. I will be there for approximately 4 months and then I will be....?

This wasn't the original plan as I accepted a job with a presidential campaign but decided to stick with this current campaign and told the other campaign no thanks after I had given them a yes a few weeks ago. Ahhhh life, so unexpected, so crazy, and doesn't it make perfect sense that I am moving to the state that people can't separate from Idaho? Seriously, how many times have I told someone that I live in Idaho and their reply, "oh, Iowa?"

And I can't sleep! Nerves. Today is a historic day and I will be playing a part in it. As town halls and vigils are held all across this country, including Boise, Idaho, citizens will demand that our leaders stand with the people and end this war. Here in Las Vegas we have been working hard and placing pressure on Congressman Porter to end the war. The culimination of our work in Vegas takes place tonight as we gather together, listen to speakers, and ask Congressman Porter questions about Iraq. Of course he won't be there. He has never held a town hall, and refuses to meet with concerned constituents, including veterans and family members of soldiers in Iraq.

Just last week two military family members, one of which is a vet, were denied entry into a building to visit the Congressman by the building manager. The Congressman has an office that is paid for by taxpayer funds and constituents have every right to visit his office. These aren't trouble makers, these are people who simply want to know why their son, their brother, and sometimes why they themselves had to serve in an endless war.

The time is now, America. We must stand up and tell Congress and the White House that they must either vote to end this war or face political extinction.

I was sleeping peacefully tonight, in anticipation of 3 visits we will be making to Congressman Porter's office today for our last stakeout before our town hall meeting, and was abruptly awoken as thunder so loud and lightning to bright shakes North Las Vegas. I don't even know if I can describe in words how scary and loud it is! Enough for me to text my mom how freaked out I am even knowing I might wake her up at 2:43am. I swear looking out my bedroom window it felt as if the storm was within a mile or two, if that. Now it moves farther and farther away and using the method of counting seconds between the lightning and thunder and dividing by 5, tells me it is at least a few miles from here.

I seriously thought, and remember I am exhausted and half awake, with the loudness of the thunder, that bombs were being dropped in my neighborhood. It struck all around, as rain pounds the ground, and the sky is lit up. I have never felt nor heard such sound in my life.

Could mother nature be sending our elected leaders a message on the day before historic town halls and vigils are held? End this war? Maybe.

In one week I hope to be back in Idaho for a few days seeing my friends and getting some things out of storage. It is bittersweet because it is the first time in 7 years, with the exception of one year, that I will not be starting school somewhere and being back in Pocatello, a place I lived in for 4 years will be a constant reminder of that fact. Even thinking about not going to Idaho State University and not taking any classes and not seeing familiar faces this year hurts...

The campaign, well the summer portion of it, ends in a few days and we have been busy phone banking to help crowd build for our ginormous (gigantic and enormous combined!) town hall on August 28th. Emails are going out to people from John Kerry, Harry Reid, MoveOn.org, TrueMajority.com, Working Assets, USAction, and more. I am excited for the event and so excited to be done and have a few days off before I start my new campaign job...

Speaking of my new job, I am very excited. The next campaign I am working on is very structured and I know that will be a nice change from this campaign. I still have a lot to learn and I know this next campaign will teach me the science of campaign work as well as lots of other skills that will help me perfect my skill. I feel like this next job is a very smart move on my part and the candidate is a remarkable person that will make a fantastic President of the United States and I will get free medical and dental insurance, which is huge not just because we live in the richest country in the world with almost 50 million uninsured folks, but I have been one of them for the last year and a half and it will be wonderful to go to the Dr. when I am sick and not rely on someone else's antibiotics. :)

I have started packing up as in less than two weeks I will be moving again. It is so much easier to just move a carload of things versus an entire 10x10 foot storage unit full of things, by yourself, except for a little bit of help from a friend.

Where will I be living in 2 weeks? I don't know. After this campaign ends for the summer, I will be taking a few days to go back up to Pocatello to see my beloved friends and to rummage through my storage unit to get some warmer clothes and other items I will most certainly need. Then, on September 6th, I will be starting my new job, a job I had a little freak out about yesterday when I realized about how much money I will have after I pay all of my bills (not much).

This next job, same as my current one, places you in housing, so that is the reason I don't know where I will be living. Hopefully Henderson or central Vegas because while North Las Vegas has its good qualities, the commute sucks and it would be nice to be central to everything.

I have been trying to decide if I should divulge who I am working for come September 6th. At this point in time, I don't think I need to. If you'd like to email me and ask, I will tell you, but I am not going to publicly disclose it right now. Sorry.

Not yet. But in the next day I might have an announcement about my plans for the next 15 months...

So the state director for the campaign quit. Everyone is trying to figure out exactly what she has done for the last 7 weeks and I can't be of much help because I didn't see her do much. Because of this, I have been working even more and rarely have a free moment to blog.

Obama was here last friday and was nice, but when I asked him to sign a bumper sticker, "Support the troops, end the war" he said no. He said he made a special exemption for the woman who asked him to sign her pledge card and that he usually doesn't sign things. Too bad for Obama that I saw him sign multiple things before me, including the pledge card, and one of his staffers was standing right behind him with a marker. So I guess he didn't want to sign the bumper sticker because of the message. At least he was nice about it, even though he blatantly lied to my face.

Afterwards I wanted to buy an Obama shirt as a souvenir and they wouldn't let me buy one unless I gave them all of my information. Information only required if you contribute more than $200, according to federal law. I politely pointed this out to them, but they said no information no shirt. Get prepared if he gets the nomination. If you want to buy a bumper sticker or button, you will have to give him all of your information or they won't sell you the item(s), unless they change that campaign policy.

Afterwards we went over to the Edwards event at a union hall. I think Edwards has some of the nicest staffers out there and his events are very good. To me he is a better speaker. You feel this genuineness when he speaks that is missing from the others. You feel the passion in his voice. He doesn't mince his words and he brings much more honesty to the table. This isn't anything against Hillary or Obama. Edwards is just in a position where he has to be more honest, more passionate, and more genuine because he is polling 3rd.

One of my friends is an Obama supporter and told me to be prepared to be underwhelmed when I heard Obama speak and she was right. He was good, just not so amazing I had tears streaming down my face. Of course I am the same person who didn't see what was so fan-freaking-tastic about his 2004 DNC speech. Good, not amazing, IMHO.

I'm telling 'ya, the hype ruins it for me.

I better be going. We are about to transform the office into a war room.

P.S. Anyone have any tips for my cold? Don't want to take any antibiotics because they are in short supply for me (no insurance) and I keep getting a runny nose, sneezing, stuffed up, and sometimes swollen glands.

I have no internet at home and while I spend a great deal of time at work in my office with internet, it isn't enough to allow me to blog as much as I would like. However, I am waiting for my date and wanted to rest my feet and whoop there it is, I have internet.

Last night was First Friday, a popular event here in Las Vegas. We used it to have an anti-war protest and it went great, as you can tell from the pictures! After the protest, a friend and I walked around and got into a discussion with some Bible thumpers. The kind who say that gay people are going to hell. The kind who have to talk around in circles because when you question their logic, and they realize they aren't fooling you, try to confuse you. I wasn't fooled and I still support gay marriage. Equal rights is very important to me and that will never change.

I received a call from the Hillary Clinton campaign asking me about Idaho State University. Yes, I am telling the truth. They want ISU students to come intern down here in Vegas during the winter break. It was neat to receive a call like that and I hope some ISU students take advantage of that opportunity.

Tomorrow I am going to try to attend my first Unitarian Universalist Church service (don't worry, I am not leaving the Mormon Church). It should be interesting. My only non-Mormon religious experience is limited to midnight Mass and maybe that is pathetic, but that's the honest to goodness truth. Haven't been to a Mormon Church meeting in a month because of work and I haven't heard a peep from anyone in my ward. Guess I'm not missed and/or maybe they are scared of my liberalism and/or maybe they are overwhelmed with other things...

Well, I better sign off for now. I am sweating it up sitting in my hot car in a hot garage and am ready to head back into Planet Hollywood, which is amazing inside and amazingly cool (literally).

The View has hired two people for the two co-hosting vacancies, Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepard. I like Whoopi but I cannot stand Sherri. I used to love her until she started making asinine comments about how Al Gore wouldn't have been any better than GWB and she doesn't believe in evolution because she believes in Jesus. Seriously?

I received a press release in my email noting that Obama's Western Political Director is visiting Boise next week. In case you didn't know, there are some in Idaho who have started a campaign to bring Obama to Idaho. Best of luck to Boise/Idaho in this endeavor. It's hard to get Obama to Nevada for an open event that is free and doesn't require money or the promise of big money, but I do hope they get him up there. You never know with these politicians!

I had lunch today with someone who is very involved with Democratic politics in the area and state. He said he didn't know Nevada/Vegas politics could be so cutthroat. This was the same observation I had when, on saturday, during the Clark County Democratic Party elections, someone had negative campaign flyers up about a Democrat running. County elections for the Democratic Party-wow.

The worst I had seen from the Bannock County Dems was when a Democrat was wanting to run in a city council race against another Democrat and people told her not to because people would be mad at her. I wasn't close to the situation but apparently she was treated pretty badly by people and heaven forbid a woman should challenge a man in a race! We need more women in politics, especially in Idaho. People shouldn't be discouraged from running because they aren't part of the good ole' boys club and their entry might create some healthy and much needed competition.

Randy Stapilus, of Ridenbaugh Press, has written about my blog again here. For those of you who don't know, Mr. Stapilus provides the best analysis and commentary of politics in the pacific northwest, which includes Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Any mention of my blog by Mr. Stapilus is an honor.

I appreciate being recognized and it always provides motivation to continue the blog. Since I am under contract for work I have to be careful to avoid being dooced. But I still have some freedom with what I can write.

Lately I have been noticing how hard it is to get volunteers. I have been thinking that maybe I am a horrible field organizer and the problem is with me. But after speaking with several other people, including organizers with other campaigns, they say difficulties with organizing here comes with the turf. I think I could drive up to Idaho Falls right now and generate more interest in the campaign I work on then I can here, and Clark County has around 1.2 million people.

This isn't to say people in this area are lazy, apathetic, or close-minded, they just live in an area that caters to tourists and people who live here for short periods of time before leaving again. And I think there are other aspects that are unique to Vegas that make it harder to find volunteers...

Though Las Vegas has many people who aren't native to the area, I still sense some distrust and initial distance that is exhibited with "outsiders." This is especially clear with all of the campaigns going on (all Democratic presidential candidates have a presence here with the exception of Gravel, plus several issue campaigns, such as global warming, kids campaign, AARP campaign, One , health care, and more I am sure). These campaigns bring in a lot of outsiders, including many from the 702 area code (D.C.) and boy do people in Nevada dislike the D.C. folks coming in. Sound familiar, Idahoans?

Of course they can't be too hostile, because what would Vegas be without outsiders (candidates certainly couldn't run campaigns with just Nevadans), but numerous times I have heard about those "Californians," and it makes me smile and remember the Idahoans who would always whine about Californians taking over the state.

Being here has presented a few opportunities to talk about Idaho. I got to talk about Senator Frank Church to one guy, educate a lady about Boise (she described it as some kind of backwards redneck area), talk about Bill Sali, and talk about lovely Bannock County and how the Democrats won 12 out of 13 local races.

It's great to be an Idahoan who lives in Vegas.

There are 1,400 precincts here. I am not sure if that is just Vegas or Clark County.

Nevada is having their first presidential caucus January 19th, 2008. I went to a local Democratic club meeting last night and we had a maucus (mockus?). It was interesting.

I was approached last night by another campaign to do birddogging for them. I gave a speech and they said I was perfect for what they were wanting in a birddog. I am not sure if that is a compliment or not!


I went to Drinking Liberally tonight and had someone ask me about Frank Church. He was also very curious about Idaho, both the growth and politics. It's nice to talk about home.


HOWEVER, I highly doubt I will ever return to Idaho. Recent events and emails have only confirmed that Idaho is not for me, both as a Democrat, abuse victim, and other things. I still have all of my belongings in storage in Pocatello, and depending on my next gig, I might be moving that from Idaho to Seattle in September, or leave my things in storage until I have time to move it all out.


With this in mind, I will still be in the loop somewhat on Idaho happenings. I will still keep a close eye on what is going on there, however, I would be completely understanding if anyone feels as though I should be removed from any Idaho blog links.

I am gonna publish this before this shitty internet connection at my place goes out AGAIN!

Having spent the last two weeks being completely immersed in Nevada and Nevada politics, you learn some things pretty quickly. When people tell you about the independent/libertarian nature of voters in the West, they are RIGHT, even in a swing state such as Nevada.

I guess I was surprised about how libertarian Nevada was and is because when I think of Nevada I think of Las Vegas and Reno, two populated areas, and neglect the rest of the state which is, from what I have been told, just as conservative as rural Idaho. WOW!

Let's get back to Las Vegas. Lots of progressive/Democratic organizations out here. Two Drinking Liberally chapters, 2 Democracy for America chapters, National Organization for Women chapter in Southern Nevada and of course there is the state chapter, lots of national groups with local contacts/chapers, such as MoveOn, American's United for Change, no College Dems groups here, but Young Dems, the county has a young professional Dems group, different Democratic clubs for the different parts of the area (Red Rock, Henderson, Paradise, etc), and much more. Most nights of the week I am usually at some type of progressive organizational meeting. It's great and refreshing!

So it is very nice to be in a liberal area, but not so great when you look past Vegas, except that means that the Democratic Party has a lot of room for growth in the West and that is exciting!