It's hard to believe that it's only been five weeks since the first meeting of the Lake Norman for Obama volunteer group. About forty of us showed up for the first meeting, most of us strangers to one another, many having been inspired to volunteer for the first time in their lives.
Last night we celebrated together as Obama trounced Clinton by a margin of 70% to 29% in Mecklenburg county, all of us thrilled to have been a part of making that happen. Follow me across the fold and I'll tell you how it came to pass.
We registered around 400 voters, knocked on nearly 3000 doors, and made over 1000 phone calls. We took cooked homemade meals and took them to the campaign staff in Charlotte. We drove disabled supporters to the polls. We provided so many donations of food and water for GOTV that we were able to take care of our volunteer team in Lake Norman and contribute to to the volunteer team in University City.
But that doesn't tell the whole story of what has made this campaign so special. The night before the primary, the local NBC affiliate "reported" on the last minute efforts of each campaign's volunteers. Their narrative consisted of clips of older white women going door to door for Hillary; black men and college students working for Obama.
And it was no more representative of the Lake Norman for Obama volunteer group than it is of the back story of probably any other group of volunteers working to elect Barack Obama.
Forgot all the harping on the exit poll demographics, ignore the corporate media photo ops. This is how it really went down.
Meet Gary and Maggie. While showing them how to complete their tally sheets, I assumed from the easy conversation between the two of them that they had known each other for some time.
But they'd just met that morning in our office. When they left to do their turf, they seemed a little nervous with each other. I mean being sent off in car with a complete stranger to go knock on the doors of 50 other total strangers is a bit odd for those who have never done it, right?
A few hours later, they were sharing with me their resolve to continue working together during the general election. Maggie said she hadn't realized until that day how much she regretted not doing more during the civil rights movement. Gary said he wished he had done more too.
These wonderful folks spent hours working the phones. No amount of robo-calling can ever have the impact of a few friendly, sincere neighbors calling to remind you to get out to the polls.
This lovely young woman is all smiles as she finishes her shift.
After 6pm on election day and these folks were still on the phones. Jack, in the center, was active in the SC campaign and was a terrific canvassing captain for us.
This young man wasn't even old enough to drive but he canvassed on Monday and worked the phones on Tuesday.
Natasha was the queen of canvassing yesterday, doing three turfs by herself. She'd knock on 50 or 60 doors and come back to the office and regale us with an outrageous story before grabbing another packet and going back out. I can't remember if this photo is supposed to illustrate her encounter with a friendly bail enforcer or the guy who demanded to see her toes before telling her how he planned to vote.
Alex volunteered with the campaign in SC and then joined our group and became one of our top canvassers. He was out there every weekend and on Tuesday, he worked a turf by himself before picking his kids up after school and bringing them with him to do another turf.
And finally, our volunteer team captains, Susan and Vicki. Looking at the photos I took yesterday, it became obvious that our hardworking group embodied the spirit of this campaign: despite our different backgrounds, races, gender, age, and ethnicity, we are one people. And when we all work together, there is nothing we can't accomplish.
Disclaimer: This is just a sample of the Lake Norman for Obama volunteers. Many, many other people were part of the group; these are just a few folks I managed to capture yesterday afternoon.