Field Hands Are Everywhere: Cheshire County Group to Report from Unity, New Hampshire Today

By Al Giordano

Just a quick update on the progress of Field Hands, the self-organizing venture by readers of The Field.

The Cheshire County New Hampshire group is not waiting around for Local status to get busy. It has seven members so far, just three short of qualifying as a Local. Today - with a small assist by me, from a distance - they'll be on the press bus to and from the Unity, NH event - in next door Sullivan County - with Senators Obama and Clinton (in a town where both candidates tied last January with 107 votes apiece), with pen and paper, reporting the inside story for all of us.

Imagine a national (international) grassroots effort in which no matter what part of the country (world) news is happening, you can get the unmediated story from your fellow and sister readers and commenters. That is one of the potentials of the Field Hands phenomenon.

If you haven't already signed up as a Field Hand, do so here. There are now 439 members, 16 locals with at least ten members apiece, and many more already building toward that threshold.

Every Field Hand group is autonomous: you don't need permission from me or anybody else to self-organize in the ways that benefit your community and your world. I'm not responsible for your actions, and you're not to blame for mine. It's mutual aid at its finest.

This is a self-organizing movement that will not end on any country's election day. By November, at the rate this is growing, there will be a network in place to make sure that promises of "change" will be delivered.

Plus, you'll get to meet folks that live near you that you might never have met otherwise. What happens on the Internet screen only matters to the extent that it impacts the real life outside of it.

We'll be eager to read the on-the-scene eyewitness report later today from Dan Carr and the Cheshire County Field Hands, and compare it to what the commercial media tells us.

Update: I notice that the Texas Field Hands group is just one member away from becoming Field Hands Local #17. If you're a Longhorn that hasn't joined yet, you could put that group over the top, and it will then be added to the sidebar here at The Field.

Update II: Texas has now qualified as Field Hands Local #17. Yee-ha!

Update III: In case you missed it, Barry Crimmins weighed in again yesterday on behalf of those (including some that commented anew last night on his page) that have demanded but not received all or any of their refunds from the ex-hosts of the ex-Field. (Y'all wouldn't believe the number of emails and comments I've gotten from biggies in the nonprofit world astonished by such abusive treatment toward small donors.)

Update IV: We have contact! Dan from Cheshire County Field Hands has established a wi fi connection from the Unity event and has just posted this to the comments section below:

Hi everyone, They set up a WiFi here and we're live. People moving through the screening slowly. It's tough to find the cursor in the sunlight so I may be posting slowly. Not many Hillary or Obama buttons but the women from Unity I spoke to were Hillary supporters and were all on board without any big problems. Good local band warming up the crowd , a festive summer event in New Hampshire, just the largest ever in Unity!

Update V: More from Dan Carr, live from Unity...

The folks are filling up the field and while the band Public Seven from Boston is playing. They jusst had a cheer for Obama followed by aq cheer for Hillary. People are still coming through the detectors. There's a long line down the road outside. They're all in the shade of a line of trees in the center of town. The joke so far is "Is this the middle of nowhere, no but you can see it from here." That's the next town over Acworth. Congressman Paul Hodes and Congresswoman Caarol Shea-Porter are coming on stage.

Update VI: CNN has a livestream here (click "Live Video" at upper right corner of that page).

Update VII: Final on-scene comment from Dan (more already in the comments section, too):

“It was amazing”, Said a woman wheeling her baby out in a stroller. There were a few folks who didn’t want to go along with the mood, but by the end nearly everyone was smiling and the two Hillary supporters who brought rally signs were posing for the media more than taking things seriously. Earlier one had shouted “We need you Hillary.” We nearly got cleared out by one of those June rainstorms in new Hampshire but the sun is back out and the people in line are comfortably chatting. One older couple from Unity sat on the bleachers after most had left and said to, there’s no rush, that was great! The woman I posted about before left with a big smile and I think a little more open mind to the changing reality. You probably saw in the middle of Hillary’s speech a kind of realization caught up with her, she felt a pang of loss I thought. The crowd responding to what she had said chanted Obama, but seeing the pause in her demeanor switched to chanting Hillary. Though no one cheered when Hillary asked the crowd to support Barack and work for him like they did for her by the end a general elation was shared by all. It was as if we really could lift the pall of the last seven years. The WiFi has been extremely slow today here so My posts to you all have been more limited than I hoped. I have to take a look at the photos, if any are interesting I could share them.

Thanks, Dan! Through sun glare, rain shower and bad wi fi connection you went, you saw, you conquered! We're all looking forward to the photos and the post-show commentary.

Photo Update:

A New Hampshire "Nascar Voter" for Obama. Photo by B.J. Roche.

Saturday Morning Update: Dan has written a recap of what he saw and heard yesterday from the press section in Unity, NH. It now appears at the jump...

The Trip To Unity, First Let's Have A Picnic

By Dan Carr

On the Press bus ride out to Unity today I struck up a conversation with a photojournalist. It turns out she worked photographing for the Obama campaign, particularly during the primary in New Hampshire. We started comparing the vintage of yard signs we each had collected, January 8th, March 4 and the "Change" originals. We were talking about how we had to walk on eggshells lately, She said what I felt, we want to shout out we won, not someone else was beaten but we won. How the campaign had stretched on beyond necessity. Then we arrived in Unity. The little Elementary School the ball field of which would soon fill with 4,000 people, by the best estimate, 130 volunteers standing outside in a large circle getting instructions. More than a dozen State Police in a circle in the road. The secret service setting up discreet detectors, and the press discussing important issues like water and other facilities. English, Danish, Chinese, Japanese, as well as many American reporters were gathered, including Telemundo whose reporter and I talked about the indirect roads of New Hampshire and the Latino population here.

First the walkers arrived from the town of Unity. Four women talked with me briefly saying they were Hillary supporters but they were ready to vote for Barack. Soon buses started arriving and we all started the screening process. Two great bands played while this went on, the second was called Popgun Seven and the first, whose name I missed, played "This Land is Your Land." I spoke to one volunteer from a town near mine who told me this was the only thing that could make her happy right now. Her husband died last week and the next to the last thing he said to her was that he regretted he wasn't going to get to vote for Barack. Soon the buses had brought enough people that a long line formed along the road. Peace protestors came down the road walking into the center of town, such as it is-school, farm and town hall, with huge banners. 

I spoke with a woman, mother of six, special education advocate, who was wearing her Hillary button. She said she came from Merrimack only to see Hillary, that she didn't think she could vote for "him." She would probably not vote because she couldn't see herself voting for McCain. She saw herself as an independent New Hampshire voter and she didn't want to vote for a party. She ran down a well polished list of talking points that were still fresh in her mind and still meant to convince. Familiar issues which I didn't dispute directly. One that I hadn't heard before, that one candidate could think more quickly on their feet than the other. I refused to take the challenge on that too. At one point I said I could understand, meaning it sincerely, but that I thought Obama had a commanding demeanor a calm response to so many attacks. She thought about this a little and then said she admired Hillary for holding on so long. I answered that in a long hard campaign it was hard to disentangle feelings. I decided not to walk on eggshells but to speak clearly about a core decision in my choice. I told her that because the Bush family and the Clinton family had fought so much in the past I was afraid that it would just keep going on and that I wanted someone completely new. I repeat this here because this changed our whole conversation and she asked to shake my hand. My two most in depth conversations so far were about the things we are sometimes afraid to say, that if they are said can bring a transformation, even if it is only a small change.

There were a few other Hillary supporters who were intent on resistance and were vocal, one who shouted "We need you Hillary," but it was a little like the guy who shouted "Peace Now" several times. One woman held up a sign saying "Hillary is the people's choice." The sum total at this point of the popular vote distortion. There were sections of the audience sitting in a couple of blocks, between a quarter and a third who cheered Hillary a little louder and more often but they were on board with Barack too. They showed no interest in the few antagonistic pro Hillary events. In fact the two or three women holding Hillary rally signs spent most of their time performing for the CNN camera.

The weather held up its New England reputation. At one point it was hot enough that someone fainted. While she was being cared for a representative of Unity, who was introduced as the honorary Mayor of Unity came on and told us how pleased he was that these two Democratic Senators and so many people were making history in his town. Then as if he had surprised himself he said and "I'm a lifelong Republican, who voted for John McCain in the primary... but I just may be part of this change myself." 

There was a moment when things came full circle for New Hampshire. Hillary realized in the midst of her speech that she had to deal with a loss. I have described it as a change of mood but others have said she almost cried, it was a very genuine moment with no room for doubt that some felt about a previous moment in New Hampshire jsut before the primary. The crowd responding to whatever she said started to chant Obama but realizing that the moment was charged they spontaneously changed to start chanting Hillary, everyone it seemed. A friend said that sensitivity and that moment almost made her cry. Despite a strong sense of coming together not everything was put away. There were no cheers when Hillary asked her supporters to work as hard for Obama as they had for her. Barack's speech seemed to carry the unity forward. 

At the end people were streaming out in a good mood. It was a feeling I have felt once before in an old English Country Pub, there was no music required, the room was buzzing with warm feeling. A light rain got most of the media packing but it stopped and then the sun came back out. I caught one of the last buses just after the skies opened up for a real downpour. Despite hurriedly closing the windows as water streamed in soaking everyone, we drove down the road with that same feeling, a little tired from the day. I chatted with my neighbors and one man told me he was on the receiving line and something happened that really struck him as unique. Hillary had gone first and Barack followed. He shook several hands then said "You know I really want to stay here longer but I'm gonna keep moving along, that cloud doesn't look good and I don't want you guys to get soaked." Imagine a politician saying that, the man said, most wouldn't care.

The day in Unity went well Obama supporters were welcoming and Hillary supporters were for the most part willing to be supportive. There were more eager Hillary supporters cheering for Obama than there were reluctant ones. Several times I said to myself this feels more like a town picnic than a national election. Barack encouraged us to support the local kids by buying burgers and hotdogs from the Kiwanis volunteers. Campaign volunteers brought cool water to the media. If a few people were still upset about the election of the new town manager, it couldn't be helped. Those things that needed to be said were said, the town was moving forward together. There were bigger problems coming, but not today. Today was a fine day.