Obama Rumblings in Heretofore Red Amador County

By Randy Bayne
The Bayne of Blog's California Notes

The Amador Democrats would like to apologize to Amador County Fair goers for underestimating Barack Obama’s popularity in our “red” rural county. After less than two days of the four day fair, we ran out of Obama buttons and bumper stickers, leaving many of you unable to show your support. We are truly sorry.

For those who missed out on getting their Obama button and stickers, we will be ordering more and will have them available at our headquarters in downtown Jackson.

Running out of the Obama gear was a pleasant surprise. If that isn’t an understatement, I don’t know what is. Though we have been experiencing a surge in Democratic support and registration in Amador County, Democrats still lag in total voter registration, and most people consider Amador hopelessly lost to the other party. We ordered what we thought would be plenty of Obama buttons and bumper stickers to last the four days of the fair. Response at our booth outpaced our supply, and we had to say words that surprised even us — “sold out.”

This tells me something the numbers don’t. Democratic leanings are on the rise in Amador County. Throughout the weekend dozens of Republicans stopped by the booth and told us they were going to vote for Obama. When asked why, it came down to one word — hope. Eight years of Bush/Cheney, they explained, left them feeling lost, hopeless, unable to move ahead. It is time for change, and Obama is the only candidate that can bring the change we need and want. John McCain offers continued failure, continued hopelessness, continued despair.

So, though we apologize for not being more optimistic and having more Obama gear available, we make no apology for changing attitudes in our county. As a matter of fact, we revel in it, and look forward to momentum to push two other candidates over the top in their races.

Dr. Bill Durston is running for the 3rd Congressional District, and Alyson Huber for the 10th Assembly District. Both should benefit greatly from changing attitudes in Amador, and we look forward to an exciting campaign season as we are energized by new found support in a county that conventional wisdom had written off.

Randy Bayne is Chair of the Amador County Democratic Party. This article originally appeared in The Bayne of Blogs and is published with the permission of the author.

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