By now, most of my friends and family know that I am a supporter of Senator Obama. But prior to my involvement with Senator Obama, I was a typical voter - I voted, but that was about it. I was never really involved. Then I came across his 2004 nominating speech. I was amazed. I ordered "The Audacity of Hope" and when it came, started to read it right away. In the prologue of the book, Senator Obama tells of a media consultant who was encouraging him to run for statewide office in Illinois. The meeting had been scheduled for late September, 2001.
From "The Audacity of Hope," by Barack Obama.
“You realize, don’ t you, that the political dynamics have changed, he said, picking at his salad. “What do you mean?”, I asked, knowing full well what he meant. We both looked down at the newspaper beside him. There, on the front page, was a picture of Osama bin Laden. “Hell of a thing, isn’t it? he said, shaking his head. “Really bad luck. You can’t change your name, of course, Voters are suspicious of that sort of thing.”
I vowed that this man would not be defeated by the random coincidence of a name. I started a local web site to keep track of the Obama campaign, while also providing a way for East Stroudsburg residents to find a way to connect to the national campaign.
I became a frequent visitor to barackobama.com, and then started to read about a special training that was offered - Camp Obama. They were being held throughout the country. Unfortunately, I missed the training that was held in New York City, and so had to enroll in one of the last classes in Chicago. Attendance at Camp Obama was not necessary for anyone wanting to volunteer, but it was highly recommended if you did not have any extensive campaign experience.
That was me. With the exception of canvassing for Kerry/Edwards in 2004, and a couple of stints as a poll watcher, I was more of a ‘bumper-sticker” Democrat.
The training was lead by Jocelyn Woodards, and included a visit by Mike Kruglik, who was the organizer Senator Obama had worked with on the South Side of Chicago in 1985. Mike’s message to all of us was inspiring - he urged us all to consider ourselves “organizers” who would contact others we knew and urge them to become part of the Obama campaign. He said the time was past for us to talk about how we liked Obama, how he was charismatic guy, but instead, he urged us all to ‘Be Obama” As such, as the face of the campaign, we were not to engage someone in a negative battle to ask for their support.
At the end of the training, I signed a pledge to volunteer to work in an “early state” - Iowa.
Iowa State Flag at Nathan Weeks Middle School, Des Moines, Iowa
The flight was surprisingly easy, with no delays. I got to my hotel around midnight, and set my alarm for 8:00 AM, as all out of state volunteers were requested to attend a training at a UAW union hall in Grimes. After the meeting, we broke up into groups and assigned to our field captains, who in turn assigned us to the Precinct Captains who would collect our completed walk lists each day.
My contact at this level was an accomplished water color artist in Grimes, Nadine Hawbaker. She showed me a beautiful watercolor portrait of Senator Obama she had completed because she admired him, (it had been signed by the Senator).
Each morning or in the evening, Nadine gave me my “walk lists.” These lists were culled from Democratic voting lists, along with calls made by Obama campaign volunteers to identify potential Obama supporters.
Each list contained about 40-45 addresses. Theoretically, these walk lists were designed to be completed in 4 hours, and since we were assigned two shifts of four hours for door knocking (voter contact), we were supposed to complete two of these lists each day.
But Des Moines was still recovering from an icy snowfall, with most side streets and sidewalks still snow and ice-covered. I found that I was not able to complete more than one list per day, since the footing was better suited for the National Hockey league than for quick walking. Plus, I would occasionally encounter an extremely well versed Iowan, who would talk to me at great lengths about the minutia of policy differences between John Edwards and Senator Obama.
Since once such Edwards supporter told me he would support Senator Obama as a second choice, I did not want to cut him short. Second choices are extremely important in Iowa’s caucus system, since after the first count, non-viable candidates can “re-align” with a second choice.
I estimated I knocked on about 240 doors. Not everyone was home, but I would leave literature which told people about the caucus process. I was out sick for one day with a bit of a head cold - temperatures the day before were 5 degrees with wind chills at -15.
My field organizer, Jaclyn Urness, and Nadine Hawbaker told me to take a day off and rest up for caucus night, since I was going to drive some senior citizens to their caucus location. I picked up Merline, who was 68, and got to the caucus by 6:25 PM. You have to be in line by 7:00 PM to caucus.
The community center in Grimes (a suburb of Des Moines) was absolutely jammed. The Republicans also had their caucus in the same location. Initially, we were in a fairly large room that wasn’t nearly large enough. An announcement was made that the caucuses were being moved to the gymnasium. Apparently large turnouts all across Iowa caused similar overcrowding. Nadine Hawbaker made sure that everyone who was going to caucus for Senator Obama got a sticker placed on them.
It was exciting to see the initial count. There were 250 in total attending the caucus. The first count was 81 for Obama, 61 for Edwards, 51 for Clinton, with no other candidate being viable. By the way, the formula is 15% of total attendance equals the number needed for viability. So a candidate needed 38 people standing up (or sitting down and raising your hand) to be viable.
There was 30 minutes for re-alignment. Most of the Richardson caucus-goers moved to Edwards, which I found odd, since Governor Richardson had asked that his supporters pick Obama as their second choice. After the re-alignment, Senator Obama picked up an additional 12 votes.
So Senator Obama got three delegates, Edwards three, and Clinton two. I then got a text message on my phone - Obama Wins Iowa!
I picked up another senior citizen for the ride back to their homes in Grimes (she was 78), and then headed to The Wells Fargo center in downtown Des Moines to hear Senator Obama make a victory speech. Michelle Obama and their daughters, Sasha and Malia also made a brief appearance. The crowd of Obama supporters was overjoyed, and I felt that I had made a small contribution to our democracy.
I came home and did not consider my work done. I attended a meeting in Harrisburg and submitted my name to become a delegate for Senator Obama in the Pennsylvania primary. I was selected, and went about collecting 250 signatures for myself and Senator Obama. I eventually obtained 380 signatures and appeared on the ballot. Unofficial results show that as an alternate delegate, I received 28,999 votes from my fellow citizens in Pennsylvania. I did not win a spot to attend the convention, but it has been an honor to appear on the ballot of a presidential primary, and to receive the votes of so many people. I thank all of you who participated, no matter who you voted for.
It has been a long journey. By my participation in this primary, I am no longer a passive American, and am proud to be actively participating in our Democracy, what Thomas Jefferson called "an experiment." I have hope now that this is an experiment that will continue to thrive and flourish for generations of Americans to come.