ALAN: Up until today we'd focused our efforts on three aspects of campaigning: voter registration, phone canvassing, and volunteering at yesterday's rally. What we had yet to do was in-person canvassing, the truly skilled labor, and most rewarding aspect of campaign work. Today we got our chance to do the real work on the ground, and the experience was exhilarating.
We went door to door for about two hours in an area of Williamsburg near the William & Mary University Law School. Lauren and I started out with Linda Rice, a volunteer with the Williamsburg office and veteran of many Democratic campaigns. Linda has an easy way about her and was ideal to use as a canvassing role model. After going to about six houses with her, we struck out on our own. All told we ended up going to about 20 houses, and ended up with about eight in-person contacts.
I figured that with Lauren at my side, we would be treated better than if I had been going it alone. That proved true. Lauren was carrying a water bottle to stay hydrated in the near 80-degree heat, and people in two of the houses we visited refilled her bottle without us even having to ask (both were Obama supporters!!).
Given the close proximity of our canvassing area to the W&M campus, it came as no surprise that most people we met were Obama supporters. Along the way, however, we found a couple of students who had yet to register to vote, and we gave them registration forms to fill out. Both indicated they would be voting for Obama.
Three encounters along the trail were notable. One woman in her late 60s had been a Hillary Clinton supporter and was quite upset with the choices. She said she was leaning toward Obama but said "it's upsetting that money has to decide who we get to choose." I told her that I understood her anger (first rule of canvassing: be empathetic!!!), but then asked her to consider the alternative (McCain), Just when I said that, her husband appeared and said he was supporting Obama. "You two need to have some quality time together," I said in jest. We all started laughing uproariously.
A man whose we visited was quite angry. "I'm voting for Lou Dobbs", he said indignantly, referring to CNN anchor Lou Dobbs, who has functioned as a kind of shadow independent candidate. "I understand, but Lou Dobbs isn't running," I replied. "I don't care," he said, "I'm voting for him anyway...have a good afternoon." And with that he shut the door.
Then there was the gentleman who was a retired Defense Department employee who said he was undecided. This encounter didn't occur during canvassing, but afterward while we were standing in line at Aromas, a coffee bar in downtown Williamsburg. The man saw my T-shirt saying "Change We Need", and asked matter-of-factly, "What I want to know is, what kind of change is he talking about?" I told him that change meant policies that were targeted to benefit the middle class and not corporate interests, PACs or lobbyists. After I explained how this would translate into health care reform, he said "You've helped make the case."
"So did I get you off the undecided bandwagon?," I asked him.
"I don't know about that, but you gave me something to think about," he replied. That was good enough.
With that I brought Lauren her piece of triple chocolate cake. I sipped my iced coffee, and we called it a day and returned to our hotel in Hampton to work out and chill.
"Was this fun?" I asked her.
"It was tiring, but amazing," she said.
"Ready to go home?", I asked.
"Definitely not," she said.
I feel the same way. We''ll be dragged kicking and screaming from this beautiful state full of exceptionally kind people, now the ultimate electoral battleground.
Recent Comments