My first diary...please be gentle.
I am here in the reddest district in one of the reddest states (hopefully not for long) - Forsyth County, GA. Our little field office for Camapign for Change was in full swing yesterday, as we had volunteers literally occupying every square foot of space we had, and then some (6,000 GOTV calls made this weekend!).
Anyway...a little story of what happened here yesterday that reinforces why I work on this campaign, day after day. Yesterday, (Sunday), a gentleman appeared at our door, visibly shaken, and having a hard time communicating with me.
He asked me to wait a moment while he ran back to his car for something. When he returned he was waving a "non-partisan" check list that his church apparently gave him to help him vote. He was in tears. After calming him down he explained that he was from Nigeria and had always voted Republican. He then went on that the hate that was coming from the pulpit had just built up to the point that he couldn't handle it. This had been going on apparently for a couple of months now. He decided he had enough and stood up in the middle of the service and grabbed his wife and two children and left. Our campaign office is just a few blocks from this church. He said he knew where we were (we're pretty well hidden) and wanted to know if he could help. I told him we would love to have him. He then said he needed to drive his wife and children home first (his car was still running in the parking lot with his family in it).
Sure enough he returned about 20 minutes later, a little more composed, but still angry. I asked one of the volunteers to take a break for a few minutes so that he could use one of our phone lines, and after 5 minutes training turned him loose to make some GOTV calls. He proceeded to dial voters for 6 straight hours, never once looking up at any of the other volunteers. Finally, one of the other volunteers tapped him on the shoulder and asked if he wanted to take a break. They also pointed to another gentleman dialing at the other end of the table, and said that he was from Nigeria as well (now what are the odds of two gentlemen from Nigeria to be sitting in a campaign office in Forsyth County, GA). His eyes lit up as the two started up a conversation as they walked out the door to get some fresh air. They talked for nearly an hour before he came back into the office. He said that he had to be heading home to his family. As I extended my hand to shake his, he reached out and hugged me. This was a completely different man than the one who walked in 6 hours earlier. As he was leaving he asked me if it was okay for him to come back the next night after work. After telling him that he was always welcome here, a big smile appeared and he waved goodbye.
I know he will be back tonight.