Austin Day 1 at Obama Headquarters
It’s 11 PM. I’m here at Obama headquarters in Austin, Texas. The mazelike layout of the downtown office makes it hard to tell how many people are still here, but my guess is about 30.
No one pays much attention to me as I sit on floor, typing away at my laptop. I guess they assume I’m a volunteer, and not some random hobo mooching off of their Wi-Fi. I can hear some workers banter as they enter data into their laptops. A room full of staff just watched Hillary on SNL. They weren’t impressed.
Earlier, I’d had dinner with friends at a BBQ place called Stubb’s. On our way, we ran into some volunteers carrying giant duffel bags. The blonde, college-age girls were handing out Obama t-shirts to kids getting out of concerts.
My good friend Yosi Sergant is here running a sort of guerilla PR campaign, getting Obama posters, t-shirts, and stickers out there. In fact, you can’t go anywhere in Austin without seeing some of his handiwork. Even the State Capital:
Near the capital, there is a statue commemorating the Confederate dead. The plaque reads, in part: “The people of the South, animated by the spirit of 1776, to preserve their rights, withdrew from the federal compact in 1861. The North resorted to coercion. The South, against overwhelming numbers and resources, fought until exhausted.”
The Austin Headquarters for the Obama campaign is three blocks away.
– Hillel Aron
