Stories from the Campaign Trail
I've been knocking on doors, talking to voters and constituents, for months. In the past few weeks, as more people focus on the upcoming election, the conversations and enthusiasm have increased. Here are some of the funnier stories from the campaign trail lately!
There was the dog bite that tore my jeans but didn’t draw blood. Here's how that went: I was walking in the neighborhoods in the southern part of my district, where there are larger homes on larger lots, and there must also be a rule that everyone own a dog, because there are a lot of dogs. I like dogs, and I understand that some of them perceive an unknown person walking up to their house a threat, so if there's growling, or posturing, or barking, I back off. No need to traumatize the protective family pooch! But in this case, I was walking from the street up the driveway, and a little black and white terrier-type dog greeted me. No barking, no growling; instead, tail-wagging and walking alongside me! I greeted him but didn't reach out to pet him, and he continued walking with me, but hung back a couple steps. Then I felt a tug and heard my jeans ripping (just below my behind!) and that little dog was trying to take a bite out of the candidate! I couldn't believe it! No indication that he wanted to taste-test the visitor! I drew my hands up and turned on my heel and walked back down the driveway, so surprised! His owner came to the door of her house and said, "Oh, he's friendly." Huh. Maybe so, but he's also apparently hungry! Ask to see my dog-bite jeans sometime. That little dog was going right for my tookus.
Last week in my neighborhood I knocked on a door and a lady answered. We talked for a couple minutes before two little six- and eight-year-old girls poked their heads out around their mom and told me they’d vote for me! For more support, they each took Pomnichowski bumper stickers for their bikes!
I was out on a miserable cloudy and wet night, and knocked on a door in a nice neighborhood to the south. By that time, I was pretty well rain-wet and not very presentable, but a lady offered me dinner at her table! People are kind, even to politicos!
One of the best days was an early Saturday in October, wet, snowy, and cold, so it must be...MSU Homecoming! My pals and I stocked up on blue and gold mini-footballs, and tossed them to an appreciative 'Cats crowd all along the parade route! That was a blast. I'm an MSU grad, and I've been the only girl on the MSU Football stat crew for 19 years; it was great throwing footballs to the hometown crowd in a snowstorm at the Homecoming parade!
Last weekend, I was in Bridger Canyon and Jackson Creek Road and drove up to a house, knocked on the door. A lady answered, and in the background, I could hear a football game on TV and somebody cheering loudly! I must have looked a bit curious, because she said, "Football. First the early game and now the afternoon game." No humor about the situation. I said, "Well, at least there's no Sunday night game tonight." Through gritted teeth, she said just two words to that: "World Series!" Other than being clearly disgruntled with the full-on sports day at home, she was gracious to me, and took my campaign info, a bumper sticker, and a yard sign! But thinking back, maybe she took the yard sign just to get out of the football-fanatic house for a couple minutes!
The funniest thing from the campaign trail has to be my fellow representative, Mike Phillips, who so believes in me that he has bought a house in my district and is moving there before Election Day, just to give me three more votes! Mike, his wife, and adult daughter vote Pomnichowski! Thanks, Mike and family!
There was the dog bite that tore my jeans but didn’t draw blood. Here's how that went: I was walking in the neighborhoods in the southern part of my district, where there are larger homes on larger lots, and there must also be a rule that everyone own a dog, because there are a lot of dogs. I like dogs, and I understand that some of them perceive an unknown person walking up to their house a threat, so if there's growling, or posturing, or barking, I back off. No need to traumatize the protective family pooch! But in this case, I was walking from the street up the driveway, and a little black and white terrier-type dog greeted me. No barking, no growling; instead, tail-wagging and walking alongside me! I greeted him but didn't reach out to pet him, and he continued walking with me, but hung back a couple steps. Then I felt a tug and heard my jeans ripping (just below my behind!) and that little dog was trying to take a bite out of the candidate! I couldn't believe it! No indication that he wanted to taste-test the visitor! I drew my hands up and turned on my heel and walked back down the driveway, so surprised! His owner came to the door of her house and said, "Oh, he's friendly." Huh. Maybe so, but he's also apparently hungry! Ask to see my dog-bite jeans sometime. That little dog was going right for my tookus.
Last week in my neighborhood I knocked on a door and a lady answered. We talked for a couple minutes before two little six- and eight-year-old girls poked their heads out around their mom and told me they’d vote for me! For more support, they each took Pomnichowski bumper stickers for their bikes!
I was out on a miserable cloudy and wet night, and knocked on a door in a nice neighborhood to the south. By that time, I was pretty well rain-wet and not very presentable, but a lady offered me dinner at her table! People are kind, even to politicos!
One of the best days was an early Saturday in October, wet, snowy, and cold, so it must be...MSU Homecoming! My pals and I stocked up on blue and gold mini-footballs, and tossed them to an appreciative 'Cats crowd all along the parade route! That was a blast. I'm an MSU grad, and I've been the only girl on the MSU Football stat crew for 19 years; it was great throwing footballs to the hometown crowd in a snowstorm at the Homecoming parade!
Last weekend, I was in Bridger Canyon and Jackson Creek Road and drove up to a house, knocked on the door. A lady answered, and in the background, I could hear a football game on TV and somebody cheering loudly! I must have looked a bit curious, because she said, "Football. First the early game and now the afternoon game." No humor about the situation. I said, "Well, at least there's no Sunday night game tonight." Through gritted teeth, she said just two words to that: "World Series!" Other than being clearly disgruntled with the full-on sports day at home, she was gracious to me, and took my campaign info, a bumper sticker, and a yard sign! But thinking back, maybe she took the yard sign just to get out of the football-fanatic house for a couple minutes!
The funniest thing from the campaign trail has to be my fellow representative, Mike Phillips, who so believes in me that he has bought a house in my district and is moving there before Election Day, just to give me three more votes! Mike, his wife, and adult daughter vote Pomnichowski! Thanks, Mike and family!
