Weekend update (26 - 27 April)

It was a big weekend for the campaign!

I had EIGHT events on the calendar this weekend. I met many (literally hundreds) new people and truly feel that we made great progress towards victory this weekend.

The weekend began for us back on Thursday with a trip to Elbert County to see the Jim Ree African American Museum in Elberton. The Elbert County Chamber of Commerce sponsored their business after hours at the museum. It was a real pleasure to meet the great people involved with this important project. Thanks to Chip Rousey (Chairman, Elbert County Board of Education) for hosting my visit and for introducing me to so many people.

Saturday was a busy day...

It began with a visit to downtown Athens at 9AM for the beginning of the festivities for the Athens Twilight bike races. My team and I walked around downtown meeting attendees and handing out literature. I bumped into Gene Dixon as part of this visit. Gene is a living legend in the Athens biking community. He was conducting his 29th Athens Twilight. He literally started the race 29 years ago. He's doing it fulltime now with Swagger.us.

Next we travelled down to Morgan County for Madison Fest 2008. It was a great festival on the town square in Madison, GA. This event was especially great for getting a feel for moderate and conservative voters. There's a lot of disinterest in the Republican primary in this district. These voters definitely showed a willingness to vote for me.

We left Madison and headed to Oglethorpe County to attend a BBQ at the home of a supporter, a retired Sergeant Major and an Artilleryman too. On the way to Lexington we passed through Greene County and crossed over Lake Oconee and I saw a whole bunch of folks fishing so we turned around and went back and did a little campaigning, story telling, and fishing. It was fun and we picked up a few votes as well.

The Sergeant Major had quite a shindig with lots of BBQ, guitar playing, and plenty of good people that were passionate about their politics. I made some new friends and picked up a few new advocates as well.

The last event of the day took me back to Athens for the evening version of Athens Twilight. I think Gene told me there were about 30,000 people there. It was fun and I got a chance to say a few words on the finish line stage during the feature race.

Sunday was just as busy...

The day started with a DCCC event in Decatur. My friend, Congressman Hank Johnson, was a wonderful host and I also got a chance to talk politics with Congressman Steny Hoyer, the house majority leader, and Congresswoman Kathy Castor.

I rushed back to Athens after the DCCC event and right into a great picnic at Sandy Creek Park. Athens Pride held a picnic there and I was invited to meet and greet the members. It was a great event and I'm glad I had an opportunity to discuss LGBT issues with this group.

The last event of the day took me to Oconee County for the Sustainability event at the home of Neal and Pat Priest. Neal and Pat have done an absolutely amazing job of outfitting their home to most benefit the environment. I was impressed with their water capture systems, solar energy panels and their eco-friendly landscaping. Gwen O'Looney was there too and she had an exhibit that showed the items that can be recycled in the local area.

And to top off the weekend I moved back into first place in my fantasy NASCAR league. My lead is only two points but after nine weeks I've still got a shot at the title. Kurt Busch killed me this weekend. I went with him as my longshot and and he finished 39th. Picking his brother made up for it since he finished 1st.

The bottom line for the weekend is that I'm even more enthused about winning this congressional seat. I'm convinced that many people are looking for better representation and that I'm the kind of Democrat that can win this district. Many voters have indicated to me that they like my moderate views on the issues combined with my responsible approach to solving real problems for ALL voters in this district. It's time we moved past partisan politics and started being Americans again.

I've got a big week coming up as well. Qualification on Monday; fundrasiers on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday; the National Day of Prayer with my church, Bethany United Methodist, on Thursday, and a little bit of work with my company, PC POWERUSER, INC., mixed in too.

Now's the Time!