“I’m a Democrat, get off my porch!”  That’s a common phrase McCain hears when he’s out and about going door-to-door for his campaign.  The problem is, this McCain, Richard McCain IS a democrat, running for office and this year he has a very unfortunate last name.

Richard McCain is a Democrat and an incumbent running for Travis County Constable Pct. 3.  A constable is a police officer, like a sheriff who also has deputies.  His Democratic opponent is Robert Eller whom McCain says is a flip-flopper who used to be a Republican.  If either of them deserves the last name of “McCain,” it sounds like Eller would be more politically deserving.

I happened to meet Richard McCain by accident in a grocery store parking lot on Friday in Austin, Texas.  My friend and fellow reporter Liz Burlingame and I were headed to a polling site in hopes of interviewing some of the voters.  We were soon kicked out of the store and told not to come back inside but they did let us buy a sandwich and chicken strips before we had to leave.  We sat outside on a bench to eat when I decided I wanted a picture of the first ever grocery store I had ever been forcefully removed from.

That’s when I met McCain, who was also banished from the store and handing out his flyers to potential early voters.  He says the goal is just to get the literature in their hands.  His flyers have a distinct purpose; half of the entire page is a huge picture of him.  He says what’s important is to give people a face to go with the politically famous name and of course to have “Democrat” written on the flyer loud and proud.  His goal is to prevent an identity crisis.

“I’ve had people drop the f-bomb,” said McCain.  It sure is hard being a McCain sometimes.  I witnessed him getting blown off as well by Democrats but he never gives up, instead he runs after them shouting that he’s a Democrat until they stop and take his flyer.  McCain calls it Democrat loyalty.

With the voter turnout expected to reach record highs, McCain is worried about first-time voters.  McCain says that the hardcore Democrats know who he is; it’s the people who are coming out for the first time who have no idea that on Tuesday they will have a choice which McCain they would like to support.

He says his campaign strategy has been to “knock and talk.”  This plan looks to be more successful than the grocery store parking lot; at least in a doorway there are few places for a confused Democrat to run. He is also hoping that his Houston Chronicle endorsement will give him a boost by making his first name more recognizable.

At the end of the day and despite his unfortunate name issue, Richard McCain isn’t worried.  He says he has a lot of support and the campaign has been getting a good response.  He is confident that many Democrats will vote along party lines and he’s expecting to get independent and Republican crossovers as well.

For McCain’s sake I hope that after Tuesday he will be accepted by his fellow Democratic brothers and sisters and that the amount of f-bombs will decrease, if only by a little bit.