I had the BEST DAY today. I live in a small, conservative, christian, republican town in Georgia and today I went canvassing to get those last few unregistered voters. The Obama campaign had given us our names and addresses and we were off. It started off slow with people not being home or people already registered. We then went to the next house on our list where we found several people grilling in the front yard. They were excited to see us and invited us to attend a kids birthday party later in the day. What happened next put the biggest smile on my face. We went to a subsidized apartment complex. The first two doors we knocked on we only received shouts through the door. We explained we were from the Obama campaign and they yelled back they were already registered. I was beginning to think this would be a waste of time. As we exited the car at the next building we heard through an open window "Holy crap-there's white people wearing Obama shirts coming this way."
By the time we arrived at the building there were 5 African American men waiting for us. As we stood outside, various neighbors walked up and were drawn into our conversation. We registered several men and women. We had wonderful conversations about the vice presidential debate, CNN, MSNBC, Joe Biden and Barack Obama. One man kept leaving and bringing new people to us to register. We exchanged names, phone numbers and emails. A fellow canvasser from South Carolina even gave us money for gas. We were so happy we decided to head to the birthday party at another subsidized complex. Again people were thrilled to see us. We informed everyone about early voting and used the last of our registration forms. But I saved the best for last. As we walked away a young African American man called me to the side. He asked if he could tell me something. I wasn't sure what to expect. He then said, "I want to thank you for being a Democrat and doing this today. It means a lot to us." I have never felt so appreciated and felt that something I had done had made such a difference. So don't be surprised when Georgia goes BLUE! I won't be.
***I don't know what the proper rules are for reposting a diary but this was only on the page for a few minutes last night. Given the new results for Georgia, I thought I would repost it. As an Obama supporter hard at work in Georgia, I believe we will turn Georgia blue this year. Hope you enjoy!