Cynthia Nixon Speaks To Women For Obama Group In Sarasota

Actress Cynthia Nixon has won an Emmy, a Tony and two Screen Actors Guild awards, but she is also a strong advocate for women’s issues and an avid supporter of President Barack Obama.

She stopped by the Sarasota Organizing for America (OFA) office to speak to a packed house on Thursday afternoon about some of the points she finds pertinent in this upcoming election, one of which is healthcare.

“For me, as a cancer survivor, maybe the most important thing is Obamacare,” she said. “Under Barack Obama, I know I’m protected.”

In this last week before the presidential election, Nixon is making stops in Florida and Virginia over the next couple of days, hoping to encourage undecided voters to re-elect Obama.

“I feel that four years ago, we were all very excited about the president and what he could do,” she said. “Maybe there are things we wish he could have done differently, but we have a whole list of his accomplishments to draw upon. I feel that these are two very different candidates with very different ideas about what America is and what it should be.”

Nixon’s appearance at a very busy Obama campaign office drew a crowd, but except for the press, most of the onlookers were people who, moments before Nixon arrived, were vigorously making phone calls and creating plans to canvas neighborhoods for their candidate.

Dorothy Watson is a retired diplomat from New York who was busily working the phones, even while Nixon was speaking.

“I’m just calling different citizens on the list to see if they’ve voted already,” Watson said. “We’re giving them some places where they can vote early. Those that have answered the phone have said they have voted already or were on their way to vote for Obama.”

Paul Marquis had been working in the office and was on his way out when Nixon arrived. After he saw her, he decided to come back in and hear her speak.

“I’m a Vietnam veteran and I initially voted for President Obama because of the thrill of voting for something positive,” he said. “I still feel that way.”

While she was there, Nixon encouraged people to keep volunteering their time right up until the election is over. She said that she recently spoke to Michelle Obama, who told her that this election was going to be an especially tight one.

“You have a real opportunity here to reach a handful of people, and that may make a real difference,” she said. “Nothing moves people like getting a phone call—there is nothing like telling people your story.”

Sarasota was the second Florida stop of the day for Nixon. She made appearances in St. Petersburg and Safety Harbor on Thursday and then was traveling up to Virginia on Friday. One of the last questions posed to her before she left the building was in reference to Nixon’s Miranda character from her Emmy-winning show “Sex And The City.”

In case you were wondering, Nixon believes not only would Miranda be voting for Obama, but so would her friends Samantha, Charlotte and Carrie.