I figured I would start a weekly diary to talk about my experiences canvassing the counties of Northern VA (focusing on my county of Fairfax). I thought I would do this to try to convince others who, like me, were scared of going door to door to voters before I started doing it. Hopefully, this encourages everyone else to get out there and do something to help Obama get elected: make calls, canvass, register voters, data entry in offices, etc.
A little bit about myself since I'm new here and its my first diary. I'm a 24 year-old male living in Northern VA - Fairfax County to be specific. This is the first election where I have been involved through volunteering and donating and it was the proudest day of my adult voting life when I got to vote for Obama in the New Jersey primary on Super Tuesday (recently moved to Northern VA). The issues I care about are: uphold the Constitution, gay marriage rights so I can marry someday and receive the same benefits as my straight brethren, responsible spending in Washington, abortion rights for women, rewarding good teachers, funding early childhood education, universal healthcare, making parents responsible for their children's growth, equal pay for equal work, and earning respect around the world again through a sensible foreign policy. There's more but I don't want to bore anyone :).
So my first sole canvassing experience happened this past Sunday, September 7th, in West Falls Church, VA.
I signed up for the event at MyBO.com the morning of the canvassing. One of the reasons I had decided to do it was the thought of Palin being a breath away from the Presidency - she is one scary pitbull with lipstick. I signed up to meet other supporters at a local park in my town and was surprised at the amount of people there - my best guess would be about 40 but considering there were easily 30 of these events going on in Northern VA that day, I was more than happy with the turnout. One of the best parts seeing the crowd was the diversity not only in race, but in age as well. I was happy to see other younger voters like myself there. Not to my surprise, however, was the reason people gave for their call to action - Palin.
We got the introduction and instructions by the precinct captain and off I went. I had chosen a neighborhood in the 8th CD in West Falls Church, VA. Now, for Obama to win the state, he needs to take about 60-65% of the vote in Northern VA (Fairfax, Arlington, Falls Church, Prince William, and Loudon counties) to have a chance at winning the state. These counties represent about 33-35% of the state's population.
Since I'm fairly new to the area, all I can say is thank God for Navigation systems! I finally found the neighborhood, parked the car, and headed out to talk to voters. I had about 35 names on my list and a bag full of Obama and Warner (running for VA Senate) pamphlets. I wanted to run into an Obama supporter in the first house I went to so I'd get some confidence and was dreading a question like "What is Obama's stance on 'new-clear' proliferation?"
So I walk up the stairs to the first house - knock on the door and a man in his 40s answers the door. I give my schpeal and make sure I'm talking to the guy I'm on my list - in the meantime, he hasn't even looked me in the eye yet and has been giving me that "I don't vote for a Muslim" look. So in my head, I'm thinking crap, not a good first house. So I finish up talking and finally he says, "Yeah I'm voting for Obama." YEEEHAWWW! And I ask about his wife who is also voting for Obama. It really sent me on a high from there. I got to the second house and before I even went up the driveway, they had two Obama yardsigns.
I think my most memorable encounter of the day was with an elderly woman who came out of her house and the two of us had a conversation for about fifteen minutes about the election. She was supporting McCain so I asked her if she cared to share why. Her rationale was that he had the experience. I posed the question of Palin and she said it was a terrible choice and caused her husband to switch to Obama (YES!) but she said she still supported McCain because she admired him for years and wanted to cast her vote for him. The best part of the conversation came when we were discussing Obama and she said she'd be more than happy if he won because he's incredibly intelligent and will bring something new to the White House. She even said, and I quote, "I actually hope Obama wins." She even said those smear emails are garbage and she replies back to them telling the people its all false. It was definitely a rewarding encounter and I could tell she could have spent all day talking to me about the election.
I did encounter a bratty 14 y/o who wouldn't let his dad come to the door and told me "he wouldn't be happy to see an Obama supporter."
In total, I'd say it was a 65/35 split of the voters I reached, in favor of Obama. It was an extremely rewarding experience; so much so, that I'm doing it both days of this coming weekend. I was scared at first and it definitely took a few houses to get the hang of it, but the fact that I ran into an Obama house in the beginning, definitely worked to calm the nerves. I encourage anyone who can spare a few hours on the weekends, to do it. We need a superior ground game to win this election.
I'll be providing a weekly diary of my experiences canvassing so fellow Kos readers can follow whats going on in Northern VA in our ground game.
(and sorry, its my first diary so forgive the dryness of it. I'm always amazed at how well others write their diaries!)