Reachout to your circle - it is not too late.

Co-WAP supporter Jill attended the McCain protest (and McCain's speech) on Friday. Afterward, she sent this letter to her circle of family and friends. It is a pretty powerful letter, and we encourage you all to reach out to those in your circle who might still be undecided, or who might still be open to changing their vote to Obama. We also really appreciate Jill's ultimate message - regardless of who you're supporting in this election, and regardless of who wins, we have our work cut out for us to heal this country.
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Dear Family and Friends,

http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/think/CQ8j

The above link is video of a John McCain rally I attended this morning in Denver. Before I went in to hear McCain speak, I stood outside with Obama supporters who were standing (completely lawfully of course) near the line of people going into the event (which was free and open to the public). I and the other Obama supporters were holding pro-Obama signs, and one person had a lifesize cardboard figure of Obama. Someone had a video camera and filmed the reaction we got - see the above link.

Some things you shouldn't miss on the video:

-- The family at the beginning with the young girl acting like a monkey. You have to listen carefully, but what the young girl says, referring to the cutout of Obama, is: "A monkey president. A monkey from Tarzan. That's a monkey from Tarzan."

-- The man punching the head of the Obama cutout.

-- The man calling the Obama figure: "Hussein. President Hussein" (followed by his wife saying to us: "You make me sick").

-- The woman saying (referring to the Obama cutout): "He needs a rag on his head."

-- The woman saying to us (the Obama supporters): "You need turbans."

-- The numerous people referring to the Obama cutout as "Osama."

-- The so-called Christian man saying: "The important thing is God may not be on my side, but Satan is on your side."

What the camera didn't capture was the man who came up to me and said: "You're white. Why are you voting for Obama?" Quite startled, I responded: "Well, sir, I'm not a racist." This set him off. And when I say "set him off" - I mean set him off. We ended up having to call 911. (The police, by the way, were extremely nice.)

The camera also missed the young man - with "Jesus Christ" on his t-shirt - who came up and said: "Obama is the closest thing yet to the Anti-Christ." (I don't attend church regularly anymore, but I know for sure such hatred is not what Jesus Christ was all about.)

I realize that some of these people were probably unstable. But they couldn't ALL have been (and if they were, we really need to increase public funding for mental health services)! The whole thing shocked and saddened me. The saddest was the young girl who was clearly being brought up as a racist. A close second were the so-called Christians citing their religious beliefs as they spewed hate and intolerance.

So why am I sending this (my first mass e-mailing ever)? Because I think people should see the ugly underbelly of America. I thought such people were few and far between. My eyes were certainly opened today.

If you're on this list and are voting for Obama, good for you. If you're on this list and are voting for McCain, good for you. I know you're voting for McCain for the right reasons (because you agree with him on the issues, like his background, etc.). If you were voting for McCain for the reasons of the people on the video, you wouldn't be on my e-mail list! But if any of you happen to run into McCain supporters who are like the people on the video, please don't stand by silently. Call them on their ignorance, particularly their racism. Whether it's Obama or McCain who wins in 11 days, fair-minded people like you and I know America is better than the ugliness shown on the video.