This is my first diary. I've been lurking in the shadows of DKos for many months. I hope I do this right.
I volunteer for the Obama campaign. Lots of people do. I spend a lot of time on sites like Dkos and HP because, well, it keeps me sane in all of this.
I am not a life-long activist and I am not under any delusion that I am changing the world. I cannot claim to have taken matters into my own hands during every presidential election I've been old enough to vote in (several now), but ever since Obama came on the scene and ever since I decided to scrape my ass off the couch every weekend up until and including election day, canvassing in PA and NH, my understanding of what real action is has shifted. I wanted to share an experience I had in hopes of getting more and more people out and in on the ground game.
A couple of weeks ago I was canvassing in a very poor neighborhood of NW Philly. Everyone I met that day was enthusiastic and kind. I was down to one of the last houses on my list. I knocked on the door and waited. No answer. I went to circle "Not Home" on my sheet when this man, about 25, came running down the street, waving his arms and stopped at the house I was standing in front of. He was smiling, a little out of breath, and pointing to the house and then to himself, signing and sounding, "I'm deaf, I live here". I tried to speak to him, thinking maybe he could read lips but he just shook his head and said
"Can't understand". I pointed to the Obama sticker on the back of my clipboard and his smile got even bigger, his eyes got a little wet and he kept nodding enthusiastically and giving a thumbs up. I pointed to a voter registration form I had on hand and he got really excited and indicated that he wasn't registered and didn't know how to do so. I wrote on a scrap piece of paper, " I can register you now". He jumped up and clapped his hands and ran inside to get his ID. We sat on his steps and filled out the form together. He was funny, making a face when he pointed to the "Republican" box, after having checked "Democrat" as his party. After he was done I took the form and wrote out some final information for him that he might need. He took both of my hands in his, signed and mouthed
" Thank you" three times and held my hands and looked at me, still beaming and bright eyed. He then touched the Obama sticker on the back of my clipboard and put a hand on his chest over his heart and closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, exhaled, opened his eyes, all the while still smiling. All that Hope, Hope Obama talks about all the time was there in this guy who probably didn’t have a lot of money, a lot of things to show for, but he believed and in turn made me believe. I think of him every time I feel the traces of panic arise while watching the news, every time a poll doesn’t look right, I think of him. "What an guy!" his eyes seem to say, "What a guy..."
People who need to be heard in this election- people who have been forgotten over the past eight years by this heartless administration- need to be found. They are the keys to bringing the collective voice of Democrats to a roar on November 4th. So if you haven’t already done so, get out there! All that will come of it is good.