It isn’t every day that I read a British newspaper story about the small Ohio town where I grew up, but these are interesting times.
But there are signs that Hudson’s longtime reputation as a Republican centre is changing. “The joke has always been that you could fit all Hudson’s Democrats into the phone booth at Saywell’s drugstore,” says Susan Terkel, a leader of the Kerry campaign in Hudson. “But now lots of Democrats have come out of the closet. The former mayor is campaigning for Kerry and lots of others. We had a gathering of 400 people which was exciting. But now some Republicans are boycotting the restaurant where we had the meeting. Isn’t that terrible?”
Well, yes, it is.
For a little local color, I remember checking my home zip code at opensecrets.org during the 2000 election and being shocked; a non-systematic scan showed that more people had donated to Buchanan than Gore. This year, my dad says that there are roughly as many Kerry signs as Bush ones in the neighborhood. (I realize that these two facts are not directly comparable, but they still leave me optimistic.)
{ 7 comments }
Kieran Healy 11.02.04 at 4:46 am
I remember Dan, the druggist on the corner, He was never mean or ornery,
He was swell.
Jeffrey 11.02.04 at 5:05 am
Oh yes indeed, the people there are just plain …. folks!
blah 11.02.04 at 5:59 am
Dude! I grew up in Medina, Ohio. We always thought the people from Hudson were very snooty. Glad to hear things are changing.
Glen 11.02.04 at 1:38 pm
I didn’t know you were a Buckeye. So am I, in a 30 years, ex-pat kind of way: I’m from Columbus. I forwarded your post and link to family members. Happily, most are voting Democratic.
My home of choice, NYC, is obviously the bluest part of the bluest state in the nation. But I am going to follow the results from Ohio all day long, avidly. Good luck to us both.
nobody's home 11.02.04 at 1:58 pm
I grew up in Chillicothe. I’ve heard the priest at St Mary’s there has been getting hate mail and threats from all across the nation since holding a private mass for Kerry when Kerry came through town. Repubs in the parish are trying to get him removed for “politicizing” the Church.
Uncle Kvetch 11.02.04 at 5:06 pm
My home of choice, NYC, is obviously the bluest part of the bluest state in the nation.
If you don’t count the Republican mayor and Republican governor…
Michael Stack 11.04.04 at 9:17 pm
Wow, I spent my senior year in Hudson (back in ’91), and interviewed Susan Terkel for a paper I wrote in high school. Small world.
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