lunar landing

my feet touched madison soil when i descended from a van gelder bus from chicago yesterday afternoon. i couldn't resist the symbolism of the gloomy weather (have any of us considered this u.s. election a sunshiney one?). so tired i was, i told my cab driver i felt as though i'd just emerged from a coma. and i immediately started tripping. my madison memories are fond, if not vague. and would you believe the bus dumped me right in front of the building in which i would have worked if life hadn't taken a sharp turn in an altogether different direction. more on this later.

so my first glimpse of the madison office of the young voters alliance was everything i expected. a small second floor space occupied by adam's team and the wisconsin base of the naral pro-choice america, it greets you with piles of boxes, materials, frenzied volunteers, makeshift work cubicles, and that unmistakable smell of a campaign. across the hall is the wisconsin headquarters of that now-infamous beacon of progressive activism, moveon.org. also housed in this building is the madison office of america coming together (i'll say more later about this powerhouse group), league of women voters, now, clean wisconsin... it's like a hipper one nicholas. a vibrant place to be.

we are situated on state street, a drag inhabited by trendy shops and funky cafes. directly across the street is the peacemeal vegetarian eatery which is next door to frida's mexican restaurant. not sure if i'll experience much opportunity to eat, much less the desire to, during these busy weeks, but i'm well situated for access to my drug of choice: coffee.

so i dragged my sorry ass and heavy bags through the office door to stumble upon a gaggle of volunteer canvassers who were given the final minutes of pep-talked instructions. i pushed through the outflow of clipboard toting hopefuls to wind through the maze, seeking adam.

and there he was, this extraordinary friend of mine, crouched over a baby dell, putting the final touches on an event poster. we both squealed with glee at the first sight of each other in four years. what a trooper, this young man, leading the wisconsin wing of this exciting 527 organization. his team consists of four paid staff in madison, another three in milwaukee, and hundreds of volunteers burning up the canvass trail. and that number is growing. bria, the volunteer coordinator, continues to build that number as we now count down from two weeks to e-day. i'll say more about the gotv plans as i come to figure things out.