You've seen the email from Lilly West, our DFD in Indiana. I'm here to tell you, just how important F2F contacts are. Surely your intuition must support this - if you can tell your neighbors why you support Barack ... that has to be worth more than a lot of mailings, or even a few phone calls.
Who am I? According to Lilly, I "stand alone" as a Hoosier canvassing volunteer (I don't speak for the campaign, but I have knocked doors for the last 4 months).
That's not important ...
In my humble experience, the two most important issues are wheher the next President can help the middle class and implement an intelligent policy to focus our energies and allies against terrorism
Let's talk about domestic policy ...
- McCain is going for oil and nuclear. Go to the DOE website, check out what they say about our proven oil reserves. The GOP wants to convey the impression that we have infinite oil ... nonsense! And, if we're going towards nuclear, um ... do you want a plant in your town?
- Obama doesn't just want to move away from oil, he wants to create 5 million new green jobs by direct investment.
- McCain is pushing H/C tax incentives. Excuse me ... one in six Americans has no health ins, two million go bankrupt every year, according to the AMA. Don't we need a national risk pool, for the uninsurable (due to pre-existing cond.s)??
- Bush tax cuts for people who make over a quarter a million a year? Many voters don't understand that their cap. gains and dividends on 401Ks are tax free. That's not what the Bush tax cuts deal w/!
- Privatising Social Security ... are you kidding? We can tweak the system, the way Reagan and Tip O'Neil did, back in the 80s. Even if you have a 401(k), there must be some base of guaraneteed return.
Let's talk about foriegn policy ...
- Of course we wre wrong to be in Iraq. Iraq wasn't the "central front" in the "war vs. terrorism" when we invaded, and was only - briefly (according to Al-Queda) before they got kicked out by the Sunnis. McCain doesn't seem to know the diffo. between Sunni and Shia - all he can talk about is "victory" ... you know what Obama said about Afghanistan!
- How do we lead our allies, in Europe, and/or abroad? McCain - for all his self-proclaimed maverick status, and studied details about the CIS countries, has never said that we must lead by consensus, whenever possible!
Let's talk about experience on foriegn policy ...
Time on the clock isn't the point. Nixon had more "experience" than JFK, but JFK was a careful, thoughtful President.
During the Cuban Missle Crisis, JFK refused to invade immediately - despie being told by the "wise heads" that he must, in order to take out the Soviet missles. Instead, JFK opted for the blockade, and many called him "weak."
It turns out that the Soviets had tactical nuclear weapons in Cuba - with no launch codes, or other fail-safe devices (Push a button, get a nuke ... get a nuclear war!)
If Nixon - the guy w/ more time on the clock had been President, he very well might've invaded!
It's not about who will "take the fight to the enemy" or who has more "time on the clock" - it's about who has judgement.
Let's talk about the surge. Bush fired the Generals who said we needed more troops in Iraq Is McCain running for Chair of the Joint Chiefs, or Commander-in-Chief?
Those are just a few thoughts. Be sure to visit http://wwww.barackobama.com/... and print out what you'd like. Voters love policy issues ... they're sick of the "horserace" coverage that the find in the media.
And you're their neighbor. Get out there, and knock thm doors!!
This is Yours Truly, Indiana's Mad Canvasser!, wishing you the best of luck when knocking doors, tomorrow! (Knock 50, and you'll get a yard sign!)
P.S.: If you don't want to knock doors, you can call for us. You can find your local office at http://www.barackobama.com/ or if you don't want to call, just bring food down to your local office. We have many staff members and vol.s who never get home-cooked food.
P.S.S.: Of course, in Indiana, many voters will not care to discuss politics w/ strangers, so they go to work, Church, etc. and then they meet someone who says "Obama's a Muslim" (Or: he doesn't salute the flag, he's the AntiChrist, etc.) We NEED YOUR HELP in reaching those folks! They'll talk to people they know :) Note that you can go to http://www.FightTheSmears.com for more info.! That's what you can do, even if you can do nothing else! :)
By the way, since I've knocked over 15,000 doors in Indiana, I have to say: Obama can't be the AntiChrist, because so many folks suspect him of same. One of the co-authors of the "Left Behind" series said just that, in a recent interview w/ CNN. That may be of value, to other Hoosier canvassers. That's just some news from my foxhole LMAO.