We had 24 hours notice, but we were not caught off guard. Hundreds of South Carolinians had been trained and were ready to serve in the fight to save the Republic, which hinged on this critical vote in the SC House. We have had our share of ups and downs to get to this moment, but we never gave up. As our ranks of volunteers have grown larger, our influence and relationships have grown stronger, and the legislature has taken notice.
We got the news on Monday that we would finally be getting our House floor vote on Tuesday. We put out the call to our activists to gather in the capitol early on Tuesday morning, and they came in droves.
Maybe our opposition thought they could dampen our impact if they kept us out of the gallery, but they were wrong. We needed to make our presence felt, and WE HAD A PLAN.
First, we split up our large group into three. One group with signs at the entrance to both of the legislators' parking garages, so as they drove into the capitol, they were greeted by COS activists with signs. The third group was sent to the lobby of the Statehouse so they would see our smiling faces as soon as they entered the building to head into the chamber.
We weren’t done yet. We knew that when they broke for lunch in another building, they would by walking down a corridor of glass windows. We lined the long corridor with our signs, which was something most of them had never seen before. Check out these photos to catch a glimpse of what the SC legislature saw on their way to lunch:
When they came out of the lunch an hour later, they were again greeted by our signs imploring them to vote yes today on H3205!
After lunch, many of us lined up on the Statehouse steps to snap this photo before heading up to the chamber lobby:
There I am, center of the front row in my blue COS shirt, surrounded by my fellow COS patriots.
Now things were about to get serious. We headed up to the chamber lobby where we would watch the debate as it was happening on closed circuit televisions. After several hours of dramatic testimony and attempts from opponents to kill the bill with amendments, we all huddled together to watch the final vote.
We held hands and put our arms around each other while we watched one by one as the legislator’s names turned green or red. This was the moment of truth: would the relationships we had been building and the commitments we got from legislators hold?
When the final tally was taken, it was Ayes 66, Nays 42. WE WON! As the crowd hugged each other and cried tears of joy, one of us started singing “God Bless America.” Soon, we all joined in. It was a euphoric moment, one that made all of our years of hard work worth it.
We are keenly aware that our work is not done. The bill now goes to the Senate. With your help, we will continue to grow the team in SC and all over the country. We will continue to build our influence, and we will call America’s first Article V convention. We must because the future of this “land that we love” depends on it.
Wendy Damron is a volunteer for Convention of States South Carolina and an External Relations Manager for the Convention of States Project.
