I'm writing this because we all need to keep an eye on the ball. Right now the polls look good for us. The narrative is good, projections look good, we can all see the light at the end of the tunnel and have the words "President Barack Obama," on the tips of our tongues. None of this can happen if we don’t GOTV. The ground game is key and those volunteers down at each headquarter is key.
Many of you may know this already but others may not. Each headquarters has a "Wish List." It’s a list of things the headquarters would like donated. Food is always a winner along with drinks. Many of these headquarters have been operating at high levels focusing on registration, but now that GOTV has arrived I’d venture to say that we’ll see even more activity.
I stopped by my headquarters last weekend and took a look at the list they had posted on the wall, spoke with someone behind the desk and asked what they prefered the most, then took my butt over to one of my local Sams Clubs and purchased some office supplies, paper and a crazy number of cases of bottled water... basically what my SUV could hold, and then made a donation dump for the good people working their tales off in Nashville, TN. They were quite happy and it flet good to give a little something beyond a $25 donation here and there. This counts as a donation, so those of you who would rather give something tangable this is a great way to support the campaign. Bottled water is probably on the top of a lot of headquarters list, Toilet Paper is too (although for some reason Nashville has way more than they will ever need.) Printer paper (20lb Box's is a good start), ink cartridges, pre-paid cell phones with a few weeks service for local calls, food food food food food, pens, pencils, markers, highlighters, trash bags and a whole lot more.
We cannot win without a great ground effort and supporting those in the field is key to winning. I know that TN will go Red in Nov. but the energy at our local HQ is amazing and those working the phones are doing their best to turn TN blue again. When I stopped by every phone was being used, car loads of volunteers were heading in and out on registration drives, a line of people were waiting to sign in to help out, and another person was dropping off donations as I was.
Keep your local HQ well stocked and well oiled. I know not all of us can canvas, man the phones, and do whatever else needs to be done, but we can sure as hell help support those who can. Look up your local HQ here. Call them and ask what they need. Find out when they’ll need large food orders. Or just go down and talk to the good people running the operation.
For those of you who can’t afford to make donations, volunteer to phone bank, canvas, or even volunteer to help keep the place in order.... Yes they need that help too. Oh, and don't forget you can always phone bank from home or just ask camp Obama what they think you should do. Or visit the Action Center.
Let's wrap this up folks!