Working the doors across Maine for Lisa

Lisa Savage going door-to-door in Portland asking people to sign her petition to get on the ballot.  She needs 2,000 signatures of registered Maine Green Independent party members.

• Mary Beth and I went door-to-door in Brunswick over the weekend.  We had to dodge some rain and ice but managed to have a good experience.  Folks in other parts of the state were also out gathering signatures for Lisa Savage to get on the ballot for the US Senate race in November as we step up our efforts to get the required 2,000 signatures by March 15.  We hit over 100 doors on Saturday and Sunday in Brunswick and got 27 signatures of registered Maine Green Independent voters.  People who are more experienced than us at this kind of campaigning tell us we did quite well.
• Along the way I had some interesting conversations with some folks. Here are a couple remarks to share: One woman said she was concerned about her children's future; A senior couple said constantly rising prices are making it hard for them to live; Another older woman said she "Changed from Green to Democrat when that woman from California (Jill Stein who is actually from Massachusetts) sat down with Putin at the table"; and quite a few said they don't like the Democrats.
• It's interesting to see the different kinds of people and types of housing that Green members live in.  We went from trailer parks to quite wealthy neighborhoods to find registered Greens.  Actually we had the best luck getting signatures in the trailer parks.  Largely because of the density of these places, trailers are close to one another.  Wealthier neighborhoods have large forested lots so you have to drive from one house to the next while in trailer parks you can often just walk from one place to the next.
• The trailer parks defy the stereotypes of the kind of people living in them.  While indeed there are certainly some poor and working class people living in trailers there are also some very middle class folks inside these trailer parks.  It becomes apparent that the housing market has gotten so damn expensive that many people, even apparently middle class, have chosen trailer living as the more affordable way to go.  Who can blame them when a standard, no frills, three-bedroom house in Brunswick is selling for $250,000 or more.  It's outrageous.
• Last evening Regis Tremblay and I gave a presentation at the library in Brunswick about our recent trips to Russia.  We both were in the Donbass (the war zone in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border) at separate times.  Then we were in Crimea at the same time in November.  Eighteen people showed up (including the former editor of the local newspaper) and we had a great discussion after my PowerPoint presentation and Regis showing a short video from one neighborhood in Donetsk that has been repeatedly bombed since 2014 by the Ukrainian military and their Nazi allies.  See that video here.
• Two people who attended the event last night at the library decided to switch from Democrat to Green after the meeting and one person in the audience came up to me and said he wants to help do door-knocking to get signatures here in town.  So all in all it was a very successful day for us here in Brunswick.
• I should also say that fellow Green Party member Rosalie Paul here in Brunswick has also collected about 25 signatures as well.  So our town is stepping up and doing our bit for the cause. 
• We have a long way to go and still need lots of help.

Bruce