I am not a very social person. Never have been. It's not that I don't like people, I'm not anti-social. I'm asocial. Not a party person. Not a going out person. Not much of a phone person.
But I come here, day in and day out and read all your damn stories about your damn volunteer work for the damn Obama campaign. Then I see that damn Obama on the TeeVee, talkin' hope and change and . . . well, sense. Then I see that damn McCain, talking out of both sides of his mouth and just about any other orifice that will make noise. And that damn Palin, with her scary damn beliefs and politics of personal damn destruction.
Then I look at my damn kids, and think about what's at stake for them.
Dammit.
So I did it. I went to the local Obama HQ --did I mention I live in Indiana?-- tonight and got on the damn phone, and called the damn people, and talked about Barack Goddamn Obama. 99.93% of the people I called weren't home. Lots of them were polite enough to hang up as soon as possible before they said something racist. Just a simple "Not interested in talking about Obama."
Fine. Cross you off the damn list.
Then I talked to the husband of the 82 year old woman. She was on the list, but couldn't talk. Because she has damn Alzheimer's. Expressed my condolences because I hate damn Alzheimer's as much as I hate damn cancer. Told him why I had called, he said he was definitely voting Obama, and had sent off for his absentee ballot today. I thanked him heartily and wished for the best with his wife.
Then I talked to the sick college student who was absolutely voting Obama.
I talked to the Teamster who had just gotten home, and sounded like he didn't want to talk. He was open for a question, though. He was a damn undecided voter. One damn question turned into a 20 minute conversation. Heard him eating his damn dinner while he talked to me. Had some damn questions. I answered his damn questions. He still wasn't sure. He bitched about stuff. I told him Obama felt the same way. Bitched about more stuff. I told him McCain was in favor of doing stuff about that that would piss him off more. He bitched some more, I told him that that damn Obama agreed with him again. At the end of it, he was still undecided, but I told him to consider the damn fact that he and Obama agree on damn near everything.
Told the staffer about that call, mentioned he was a damn Teamster. She called him right back and convinced him and his damn wife to come out to a Union Solidarity event on Saturday.
Damn undecideds.
Talked to an older guy who was "undecided." Answered his damn questions, and guess what? He agrees with Barack Obama on damn near everything. Surprise. I told him that. Asked how I could put him down, because we like to quantify stuff like that for our damn list. He said he was leaning Obama. I thanked him and told him we'd call him back later to help him make up his damn mind.
Talked to another guy who has probably listened to too much damn hate radio and has too many damn wacko relatives, and will possibly never vote for Obama even though (guess what?) he agrees with Obama on damn near everything, and/or bitches about things that Obama's damn policies would alleviate. He did swear several times that he'd never vote for John McCain, as that would just mean four more damn years of the same damn thing.
Fine. I'll take that.
This was not a transcendental event for me. There wasn't one magical phone call that changed my evening. The staff and volunteers were fantastic. My wife brought pizza by. They loved it. Everyone was upbeat and positive. Even the people who are probably damn bigots tried to be polite when they hung up on me. But I still hate talking on the damn phone, and going out and being with people I don't know. That being said, I did manage to enjoy my damn self.
Damn Hopemongers and their damn infectious moods.
Most importantly, now I can look at my damn kids and know that their damn dad is trying to do what he can to make their damn world a better place, and that is more important than any of my damn social phobias or insecure whateverthehell I might have.
I told the staff to not count on pizza every night, but I'm going back on Friday. Then some more next week.
We've got a state to turn blue, and an election to win for my damn kids, and Barack Goddamn Obama.
There. Happy now?