My wife and I went canvassing yesterday in Pensacola with two other Obama volunteers. Our canvassing list centered on Escambia County just north of City limits. 30 years ago, this area was in the country with pecan orchards, farmhouses, and small houses with large lots. Now, it is intermixed with subdivisions and low income housing developments. The area parallels the road name, "Ten Mile Road." This is Ten miles from the downtown Pensacola area on the bay, but only 3 miles from the city limits.
Edith and I have been canvassing each weekend since the beginning of July. Our list this weekend consisted of independent voters. Both of the other volunteers were out for the first time and were nervous. Our scheme was simple: We would drive to a street with more than two houses to visit. Then we would split up. Edith, my wife, would get out with John for the first house and Jeannie and I would drive further down the street to the 2nd house. I look upon canvassing as a social event and a chance to meet new and interesting people. Most are friendly, even if voting for McCain. This Diary compresses hours of canvassing into visits to 3 households.
House No. 1
Edith and John knocked on the door and a man opened it. Edith said she was from the Obama campaign and before she could finish, the man said he wasn't going to vote for anyone with a Muslim name. Edith patiently talked with him and found out he had lost his job and is terribly worried about his future. He had a nice house about 2,000 square feet in size. Regardless of his personal plight, he was against Obama, not on policy, but due to Barack's name. The more Edith and John talked with him, the politer he got. But he was dead set against a vote for Obama. Then he admitted he wouldn't vote for McCain either.
House No. 2
I got separated in a subdivision from Edith and the other two volunteers. At my assigned house, I drove up to a circular driveway and parked in front of a huge residence. My 1988 Nissan Stanza wagon with one hubcap missing must have looked shabby (still gets 31 mpg). I estimate the house was nearly 7,000 square feet in size on two acres. It had two stories and a steep pitch to its roof. The house had two wings.
In back of the house was a mother-in-law house; it was also two stories and was nearly 3,000 square feet. A large Coach-sized RV was parked at the side. I went up to the bigger house and rang the doorbell and knocked. After a long wait, I could see a figure come to the door and peer through the beveled glass. A lady, about 50-years-old, opened the door. She had upswept hair and a very billowy dress. I recognized the dress style and hair style from the Mormon cult group that I had seen pictures of this summer on television. She looked a little frightened. I told her my name and said that I was from the Obama campaign and that I was calling for... "NOT INTERESTED." I said, "Thank You," and left one of the largest residences in Pensacola. Judging by what I had seen and guessing from the lady's dress, I thought this might be the house of one of the pastors in Pensacola who has a mega-church.
House No. 3
We drove to our final page of our list. There were 15 names of individuals for a low income housing development. There were no apartment numbers for our list. There were 10 buildings. These were run down buildings with four apartment units--two on each side. There was trash in every yard and the mud puddles from the last storm required wide detours while walking from building to building. In these residences, there is rapid turnover and it is unlikely we could find our voters on our list. In this case, our strategy is just to knock on every door of each building and do voter registration and try to talk up Obama.
The first door that Jeannie and I knocked on was opened by a skinny white man without a shirt who was about 50-years-old. He looked like he hadn't had any sleep for a week. His long hair was greasy and matted. I told him my name was "Bill" and asked if he were registered to vote. He said he wasn't. I could see that he needed a lot of dental work. He was missing teeth. To me, this is always a sign of bad health...and poverty.
I showed "Robert" how to fill out the form we had brought. I talked with him as he filled out information on the clipboard. He said he had just been released from Chattahoochee, which is Florida's State Hospital. I asked him which campaign issue was most important. Here is what he said:
"I don't like the idea of this bailout. Those bankers on Wall Street caused this problem. Personally, I don't want any money to go to Wall Street to help them. I want the whole thing to collapse. Then they can come and live like we do."
Once I finished absorbing how profound this was, I asked him whom he was going to vote for. He said, "McCain." I pointed out that we were for Obama, because we felt that Obama would give everyone a better shot at jobs, healthcare for children and for everyone, and good schools.
He didn't want to discuss this. Regarding work, he said he was "retired." He didn't even know which zip code he was in as we finished the form. I asked if there was anyone else in the house unregistered. He called for his roommate to register, and I could hear this man call out from a back room, "No, I'm not going to vote." So we left Robert with a parting greeting that he should think about Obama. He went back inside without saying anything.
Parting View
The lady in the Monster House probably thought I was a threat. In 2008, imagine how much it costs to use the air conditioning or pay the property taxes of a 7,000 square foot house. We didn't have gasoline in Pensacola in the last week after the hurricane blew by and smacked Galveston. If distribution from a sick economy breaks down, the lady behind the beveled glass door will have a lot more to be frightened about than an Obama volunteer at her door. It will be her whole ostentatious way of life that will be threatened.
I worry most about voters who are willing to vote against their own self-interest. This diary is a corollary to "What's Wrong with Kansas" by Thomas Frank. Even if people have lost their jobs and are miserable from the stress of keeping their house or finding a place to live, or trying to keep sane, they don't seem to make the connection between their own misery and the current Bush regime trying to pass the baton to John McCain. Some voters can't hear Barack's message for listening. I feel frustrated that Edith and I can't get his message across to voters.
Or maybe we are effective? We are the only ones to talk to these two unemployed voters about the election. What will they remember before leaving for the polls? Barack's name and that the color of his skin is not white? Does that block out thinking about a simple message: Jobs, health care, and schools. And Hope.
If you have no Hope, why are you deaf to Barack's message?