DON'T MOAN, ORGANIZE

There I was at magic hour barreling east on US Hwy 78 through Crawford Georgia, population 821, when I came upon an unexpected sight.

Richard and Jean Westmacott and Mary Frye of the Oglethorpe Democratic Committee waving Harris-Walz signs at the traffic racing by. This was direct action in enemy territory. Crawford is in Oglethorpe County which is Trump country. He took nearly 70% of the vote here in 2020.

It took a few seconds to compute what I was seeing, and I was already several hundred yards down the road, practically out of town. I pulled a u-turn — safely, don’t worry Mom — and drove back for a quick chat. I’m not much for vox pops but I did want to hear what these women had to say. While we spoke Jean’s husband, Richard, in his 80s, continued to wave his sign. Some cars, more than you might think, honked in support. I wondered if the women had just got involved in politics

Mary Frye and Jean Westmacot

Refreshing to meet these folks after listening to the pessimism and panic that hovers around too many Democratic supporters I’ve met so far: tales of friendships now ended, an acceptance that Biden’s narrow victory in this state may not be repeated. Underlying this is dread at the realization that at least 45% of their fellow citizens are ok with a man his former chief of staff, John Kelly says meets the definition of a “fascist.”

But these folks by the side of the road weren’t having it. If there were doors to knock on they’d probably do that as well, but in a hamlet the size of Crawford they’ve all been tapped over the years.

And support comes from unexpected quarters.

The trio were standing, with permission, on the front property of the local undertaker. There are plenty of bad jokes to be made about doomed political efforts getting buried but more seriously, his help confers legitimacy on their efforts. The local undertaker is often one of the most important businesspeople in rural communities. I learned this when I sold advertising space for the fall high school football preview of the Topeka Capital Journal 50+ years ago. But that’s another story.

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This is the third of my dispatches from Georgia and North Carolina. Both states are critical to Donald Trump and Kamala Harris’s hopes of winning the election. And both are competitive according to opinion polls but, as you can tell, I prefer to gather my own facts.

I plan to stay here through the counting of the vote, which promises to be fraught, particularly in Georgia but I need your financial help to do it. Here’s how:

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