A Father-Daughter Political Journey: Campaigning for Obama

Choosing a "battleground" state

The next task was to pick a state in which we could potentially have an impact by our presence.   We applied two criteria:   first,  the state had to be easily reachable (i.e. within about a half-day flight or drive);  and second,  it had to be an interesting place to visit.    New Hampshire would seem to have been the obvious choice;  after all,  it's less than an hour up the road and is a place where we've been skiing, boating and have enjoyed many good times as a family.   But it seemed almost too easy,  and in any event,   a number of my friends said they had planned to go up there to campaign.    Instead,  we looked southward,  to Virginia,  a state that has not voted Democratic in a presidential election since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.    I looked online and found non-stop flights both to and from Richmond;   flight time would be about an hour and a half.   Then I went online and read articles from both the Washington Poat and the (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot that detailed the Obama campaign's emphatic efforts to register voters in Virginia.

The more I read,  the more excited I became at the prospect of joining the proverbial fray,  of combining the father-daughter bonding trip of a lifetime with the chance to make a difference in one of the election's most crucial states (and a great place to visit)  and to accomplish both via a short flight.  

Thus the decision was made.    We would head to Virginia.    We were going to turn a red state into blue.  

Hatching the idea: a "teachable" experience

I count myself as an ordinary dad with two extraordinary daughters,  13 and 10.   My younger daughter, Lauren,  has become enthralled with Barack Obama's candidacy.     She keeps saying that Senator Obama will "bring us all together, Dad...he really will."   As Lauren and I were so moved by his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention last month,   I had an epiphany.   What if Lauren and I could pursue our mutual passion for the Obama candidacy by hitting the campaign trail together on his behalf,  in a state that was up for grabs?   The idea  became an instant hit with Lauren.   "That would be s-o-o-o-o-o-o amazing," she said,  in her standard melodramatic tone (Lauren is an aspiring actress who has appeared in several theatrical productions).

In discussing the idea of campaigning out of state,   I confronted the reality of having to take Lauren out of school for a few days.     Toward that end,  I contacted both the principal of her school as well as her teacher.   They were supportive of the idea and I am ever so grateful to them for their encouragement.   But beyond support,  there was this notion of making our trip a "teachable" experience.    So Lauren started reading articles about the campaign in both newspapers and the Internet,  the goal being to have her understand as much about the issues--and the candidates--as reasonable could be expected by a fifth grader.