Charleston, SC- Elizabeth Colbert Busch, Democratic Candidate for the US Congress Special Eleciton, will take a CARTA with the Candidates bus ride from her home to work on Thursday, March 14 with the local public transit advocacy group, Hungryneck Straphangers www.busec.org
Staff and friends of the campaign will board the Coleman Blvd. 41 bus from in front of the Visitor's Center in Downtown Charleston, opposite the Charleston museum at 8:40 am and ride out to Mount Pleasant. Parking is available at the Vistor's Center Parking garage. Anyone wishing to join the candidate for her ride into the city can board the Coleman Blvd. 41 with us there or anywhere along it's East bound trip. Stops include Mount Pleasant Waterfront Memorial Park, Patriot's Point, the stop with the Shelter Adjacent to Whole Foods on Houston Northcutt, and the stop in the pocket park just East of Moultrie Middle School. Stops for the Eastbound/Outbound trip are found on the South side of the Coleman Blvd., the same side at Moultrie Middle School or Patriot's Point.
The bus will arrive at the end of the line stop on the West Side of the parking lot of the BI-LO Shopping Center on Ben Sawyer Blvd at 9:13 am. The stop is located adjacent to the Goodyear Tire Dealership.
The candidate will baord the Coleman Blvd. 41 bus for her trip into the City at 9:13 am. We'll visit with the candidate and discusss transit related issues whle the bus travels West on Coleman Blvd., over the bridge, into the City, arriving downtown at the Vistor's Center at 9:50 am.
Afterwards interested transit advocates can meet at the Charleston Tea Company for coffee, across Ann Street from the Visitors Center. Alternatively, they can return to Mount Pleasant immediately on the 41 or 40 bus.
Six other candidates for the US Congress SC1 Seat have taken a guided ride on CARTA with the Hungryneck Straphangers as part of this month long effort: Republicans Turner, Moffly, Larkin, Hoffman and Bryant and Green Party Candidate Carter Center. Neither the front runner for the Republican nomination Mark Sanford nor any of the candidates currently holding elected office have chosen to ride.
Two thousand post cards were distributed to transit riders in March asking them to contact the campaigns and urge them to take a bus ride. While this effort had limited success, riders did engage the political system.
All six candidates who have previously taken the rides have met hundreds of potential voters, learned about Charleston's public transit system (which provided five million rides last year) and stepped outside the partisan primary info bubble to meet real people with real problems. Each candidate enjoyed their ride and felt is was a great way to learn and campaign. Democracy really worked on the bus in a way it doesn't any longer in most places.
Johnathan Hoffman, a conservative Republican candidate was struggling to connect with working class riders soaked to the skin on February 7. After several tries, he finally sat down and looked the other riders in the eye and asked, "what pisses you off?" which launched a soggy, but meaningful conversation.
There is a Facebook Sign up for the event http://www.facebook.com/...
For more information see the web page for the CARTA with the Congressional Candidates Website
http://busec.org/...
In April, shortly before the special election, Hungryneck Straphangers will execute a major transit rider voter mobilization effort, distributing tens of thousands of voter information cards at bus stops.
Contact Straphanger's Coordinator William Hamilton at 843 870-5299 or wjhamilton29464@gmail.com