There were plenty of reasons for me to head south when we were done cleaning out the HQ in Dubois, PA. My mother and my paternal grandmother grew up in North Carolina and my brother-in-law lives between the tallest peak east of the Rockies and Sugar Mountain. I won't have the option of pushing this hard when my wife is in her third trimester so I headed the opposite direction from where the campaign was desperate for canvassers. A volunteer and a true believer in the 50 state strategy, I want to follow that philosophy to the county, to the neighborhood, to the block, to the individual. People will stop worrying about who others won't support when we demonstrate how important the support of every individual is.
The best thing that can happen on May 6th is for Obama to paint an election map that doesn't so closely resemble the urban/rural split that separated the Kerry vote from the Bush vote in 2004. Obama's traction in rural America is growing despite the best efforts of demograph-o-gogues. If there's one thing the campaign should never do, it's to take any lead (or any state) for granted. The work we did in the heavily Clinton/GOP district in west central PA helped him surpass the 37.5% threshold needed to split, and passed it with 44% of the vote. There are still plenty of supportive registered Republicans who volunteered, proudly displayed signs and buttons and even showed up at the polling stations expecting to vote for Obama. Priorities in rural America are changing, whether in the pews or in the breakfast spot.
Since the demand for organizers is so high in Asheville, I've focused on recruiting and training volunteers in Yancey, Mitchell, Avery and McDowell Counties. Canvassing the entire area would require a ludicrous amount of driving per voter, folks aren't accustomed to canvassers and plenty of people don't vote. The first day, I was exhausted from the drive and the whiplash of the switchbacks in the road. I canvassed just one walk list but I had time to familiarize myself with the area. Today, the time I spent reading the papers and listening to undecided voters paid off. I found volunteers everywhere I went, from canvassing in Marion (McDowell County), to a Mexican diner, to Woody's Chair Shop, to the Yancey County Democratic Party Meeting, to a Bluegrass Concert. The 15 local volunteers I've motivated include two retired nurses, three first-generation immigrants, one home health worker, a volunteer fireman, a Sunday School Teacher, a headmaster, the family of a School Committee candidate and two Raging Grannies. Tomorrow looks promising too.
This district comprises four counties so it can use a lot of help. One very friendly Clinton supporter actually asked me if I'd heard that Hamas had endorsed Obama... with a straight face. Fortunately he recognized that the Republicans have been using that sort of tactic against Democrats for years. I only met him because he had stopped by to visit the undecided voter that had just decided to volunteer for Obama. There isn't too much on local radio stations to debunk that kind of spin, so face-to-face interaction is key to winning the support of Democrats now and before November. More importantly, the people that will help don't necessarily appear on the walk-lists. That same volunteer (the first of the day) put me in touch with her friend who lived on the opposite side of the County. Luckily, I couldn't comprehend the directions I was given. Every time I stopped to ask for directions, I met another volunteer (and once, a ridiculously tasty burrito).
When you know you're lost, the first thing to do is stop. When you're a city boy in Appalachia, you shouldn't be afraid to ask for direction. If you meet a person that doesn't know how to help, they probably know plenty of others that don't know how to help. We'll get there if we keep finding people that want to go in the same direction.
North Carolina allows registration up to primary day for new voters only. If anyone wants to offer tips for how to mobilize a registration drive, this district can really use one.
I will probably only be here until Tuesday morning, and then I'm headed off across the state before veering north.
Wish me well.