Peter Williams of Brooklyn has a long and successful history with the Barack Obama campaign -- well, long in the sense of presidential campaigns.
And now, having long ago helped in wrapping up the Democratic nomination for Obama, Williams is in the trenches of Ohio, in hard-hit working class towns across the state, often in areas where the McCain signs significantly outnumber the Obama ones.
An article in The New Yorker magazine portrays some of the Obama workers in Ohio as latter-day Civil Rights strugglers, often enduring discourtesies and downright insults directed at their candidate.
Williams did not dwell on that side of things, but he took the time yesterday to send a note summarizing the work he's been doing in the run-up to Tuesday's showdown.
"Since Wednesday, I have been in Ohio working on the Obama campaign. During this period, I have been in three cities: Cleveland, Youngstown and Warren. In Cleveland, I helped with the early voting process.
"My colleagues and I called individuals to persaude them to vote early and to offer them transpotation to the centralized vote site.
"What was most striking about my Cleveland experience was the number telephone numbers that were disconnected.
"In one zip code almost all the phone numbers were disconnected, my colleagues and I surmised that the huge numbers of disconnects were a result of the mortgage crisis.
"Since Thursday, I have been traveling between Cleveland and Warren Ohio. Today [Saturday], while traveling to Warren and while driving down a country road, I saw nothing but McCain and Palin lawn signs.
"When I entered the town of Warren, Obama/Biden lawn signs dominated the landscape. This observation made me realize the severe urban, rural divide that exist in the state over this campaign."
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