We're on the home stretch, now, finishing our final persuasion calls and canvasses, and getting ready for GOTV (get out the vote). The Obama campaign is on the home stretch as well, and sent out a mail asking for the final matching donation of the campaign.
I checked my account, and I had twenty dollars. The campaign was asking for twenty-five, but I didn't have that. So I took a deep breath, held my partner's hand, and committed the last twenty dollars I have to the Obama campaign.
I thought through all the things I might want or need: lunch while I'm at the dialysis clinic on Wednesday, at least a bit of walking-around money from now until the end of the month, a chance to contribute to other, more local campaigns that also need money...but it is so important to me to see Barack Obama make his acceptance speech and move into the White House on January 20th of next year that I committed everything I had to the campaign.
In terms of volunteer time, I'm also close to committing everything I have, and once ballots drop on Thursday (we are all vote-by-mail here), I'll be working on GOTV seven days a week, including from 10am to 8pm on election day (and long days every other day I can manage). Then I hope to watch the returns with my partner and my fellow voluteers, cheering as state after state turns blue and Obama develops a overwhelming lead in electoral votes. That is my dream.
Here's the email that got me to give my last dollar to the campaign:
River --
In these final three weeks, our opponents are signaling they will do whatever they can to distract voters and distort the truth, so we need to redouble our efforts.
The negative ads and smears seem to grow by the day. The most effective way to respond is by reaching out to more people than ever before with the truth -- the stakes in this election are too high not to.
We need to grow this movement by 100,000 new donors before Friday.
By promising to match the contribution of a new supporter, you will encourage them to give for the first time. This is your last opportunity to partner with a fellow supporter and make your donation go twice as far.
Your donation of $25 will become $50 when it's matched by a new donor. Will you double your impact by making a matched donation today?
Make a matched donation
Our first 100,000 donors gave this campaign the strength it needed to become a movement. [Diarist: I was among them.]
Back then, few pundits or insiders thought we had a chance. But we overcame steep odds. Those first 100,000 donors turned into millions of people like you, all across this country, coming together to work for change.
Now we need to come full circle. We have just one week to grow this movement by 100,000 donors.
It won't be easy, but we've always grown this campaign when it mattered most.
Will you help another supporter step up and own a piece of this campaign? By making a matched donation right now you can double the strength of your gift:
https://donate.barackobama.com/...
We only have 22 days left. Help this campaign finish as strong as we started. Make a matched donation today.
Thanks,
Barack