I spent the evening of October 6 canvassing in Eastpointe, Michigan, which used to be known as "East Detroit". The Detroit suburbs are typically red, but that's not quite what I found. Follow me below the jump to find out what I found, and how I serendipitously met the last new voter I registered in Michigan this year.
So, this second installment didn't follow quite so quickly on the heels of the first as I'd hoped. In the first installment, I told you how I was out registering voters on Oct. 4 and Oct. 5. Registration closed in Michigan on Oct. 6.
When I first starting visiting DailyKos a few years ago, I didn't even know what canvassing was. I already went over this in the first diary in this series, but briefly, I'm someone who has always been interested in politics, always voted, often donated money, but never volunteered.
And yet, as I would read stories from people here on DailyKos, I realized, "Hey, these people who volunteer on campaigns are a lot like me. Why haven't I ever done that?"
I guess I always figured that making the phone calls or knocking on the doors was someone else's job, and it was just my job to answer the door or the phone.
This year is just too important for me to sit on the sidelines any more.
The Organizer
I saw an invite on my.BarackObama.com for canvassing in Eastpointe. I live in southeast Detroit, and Eastpointe, along with St. Clair Shores, Harper Woods, Roseville, and Warren are all suburbs just to the east of me. Eastpointe used to be called "East Detroit" until they decided they didn't want to be associated with Detroit. I know that Warren at least has a reputation for being somewhat red, but I'm not sure about Eastpointe.
The event was scheduled for 5:00 pm, which is the time I get off work, but I figured I could slip out a little early. It was Monday, October 6, the last day of voter registration in Michigan, and after registering a number of people over the weekend, I was eager to do more.
When I showed up in front of the Starbucks, I was greeted by a young man who had come up to Michigan from Austin, TX. (I've noticed that most of the Obama volunteers I've met are young, fit, friendly, and full of energy.) He paired me up with a woman, gave us clipboards and Obama literature, and assigned us a street. We also role-played knocking on doors a few times, which helped to settle the butterflies in my stomach.
I think the last time I went door-to-door talking to complete strangers was when I was selling things to raise money for band class. I will admit, it can be rather intimidating, but it turned out to be a lot easier than I expected. Even the McCain supporters I encountered were polite, mostly.
After a little drama with the children of the woman I was paired with, whom she was bringing along with her, we set out.
Taking it to the Streets
We set out down a pleasant residential street. I took the even side, she took the odd side. At the first few houses, there was no one home, and I forgot to leave lit. After a bit I realized this, and went back to correct it. I also quickly found out that the lists we'd been given often had out of date information, and the listed person no longer lived there.
"Hi, I'm David Conrad and I'm with the Barack Obama campaign. Is Phil N. DeBlank here?"
"Yes, I'm Phil."
"We're just going door-to-door to ask people how they feel about the election this year, and whether they will be supporting Barack Obama in November? Have you decided who you're going to vote for?"
"I haven't decided, but I'm thinking about voting for Obama."
"Are you registered to vote at this address?"
"Yes."
"That's great. Do you usually vote Democratic?"
"No, I'm an independent."
"Okay. I'd like to leave you with this piece of literature, and I hope you'll vote for Barack Obama on Tuesday, November 4. Have a great evening."
That's typically how it would go. If they were a solid supporter I would also ask if they wanted to volunteer, but none did. It really isn't hard at all. If you haven't done this, and it seems too difficult, you should really give it a try. You might be pleasantly surprised!
Dealing with McCain Supporters
I knew walking up to the house that it was going to be a McCain supporter. The McCain lawn sign made that obvious. Well, at least I could find out whether to mark him down as "Strong McCain" or "Lean McCain", right? Well, not much chance of a leaner if he had bothered to get a lawn sign, but I was determined to check each address off my list.
"Hi, I'm with the Barack Obama campaign (here he starts to interrupt), I saw your lawn sign, but I just wanted to ask if you'd call yourself a strong McCain supporter, or if you're only leaning toward McCain?"
"Strong McCain supporter."
"All right, sir, you have a good evening."
"All right, you, too."
That was just about the worst encounter I had with a McCain backer, and it was polite and friendly. No reason why we can't be agreeable, even though we disagree, right?
More interesting were a couple of McCain supporters who didn't want to tell me who they were voting for. I don't mean people who just refuse to say. (I got a few of those.) I mean people who apparently felt it was too socially awkward to say it to an Obama canvasser, so instead they pretended to be undecided at first.
One young man told me he was undecided, he hadn't made up his mind, and his wife was undecided, too. (She wasn't home.) When I asked if he was leaning one way or the other, he demurred. When I tried to offer him lit, he said he didn't need any. When I asked if his wife might like to see the lit, he said, "No, she wouldn't want to either, and you can probably assume from that who I'm voting for."
I said, "Well, it's okay, you can tell me. You aren't going to hurt my feelings."
He just smiled, and we bid each other good evening.
"Well, I'm not voting for a racist, that's for sure."
The only confrontational exchange I had was with a guy, who, when I asked if he had decided who to vote for, replied, "Well, I'm not voting for a racist, that's for sure."
I asked him who in this election was a racist, and he answered, "Anyone who could sit and listen to that racist pastor for 25 years."
I thought about telling him that it was only 20 years, but somehow I don't think that would have done any good. What I thought of a few houses later, and wish I had thought to tell him, is that Jeremiah Wright is a U.S. Marine. I doubt that would have changed his mind, either, but at least it might have made him think about it for a moment.
What I haven't told you about yet are all the houses where people told me that they were absolutely voting for Obama, "Everyone in this house is voting for Obama," the houses with Obama yard signs, the woman who said she was undecided and intended to remain so until after all the debates, but who was clearly leaning to Obama. Her main issues? Education, Health Care, and the Economy. There were plenty of houses like that.
One other thing I haven't told you about, yet...
Registering Voters
I had gone out the previous two days to register voters, and I managed to just barely break double digits. But even though the focus Monday night was on canvassing, I still had voter registration forms with me.
We were going to do three blocks, but halfway through the second block, my partner gave out on me. She had to get her kids home to do their homework. She left me with her clipboard and lit. My plan was to finish my side of the street, and hit the rest of her houses on the return trip.
A young man crossed the street to ask me how you know if you're registered. His mother wanted to know. I went over and got her to fill out a voter registration form, just to be safe. The Eastpointe city clerk's office was going to stay open until midnight, so we could still turn in registrations Monday evening.
Later, I found another man on my route who was not registered, and I got him to fill out a form. At yet another house, a woman told me she was registered, but her husband wasn't. He was at the store. I suggested they should come and find me, down the street, when he got home, but she said to forget it because he supported McCain. Heh.
The most disappointing house was one with two qualified but unregistered voters who, although I offered and plied, just would not register. "We're about to make history. You can be part of that." No sale. What could I do? I shrugged and continued on.
But the best one of all came at the very end.
The Obama House
I'm not as spry as I used to be. I'm not ashamed to admit, I was exhausted by the end. I wasn't able to do my erstwhile partner's side of the street, either, but I finished mine. I was dead on my feet by the time I made it back to my car.
Just across from where I parked, at the intersection of the main road with the side street I had been working, there was a Taco Bell. I needed a rest stop, and a tall cold drink sounded good, too.
The young man behind the counter looked like he was about old enough to vote. "Are you registered?" I asked.
Please remember, at this point it is about 9 pm on October 6, the very last day one could legally register to vote in Michigan.
"I just moved up here from Mississippi, and I'm planning on registering to vote," he replied.
Planning? PLANNING!
"Tonight's the last night you can register, and I've got the forms in my car, right outside. Let me go out and get them."
There's an old saying: he who registers last, registers best. Okay, so I made that up, but damn! it was sweet to get one last registration on Monday night. I asked if anyone else working there needed to register, but no one did.
I had to take the canvassing forms to the office, but the registration forms had to be dropped off at the house of another volunteer. "They call it the Obama house," my friend from Austin told me over the phone. "It's decorated for Halloween and it has a bunch of Obama signs in front. You can't miss it."
So I drove along, and I came to a house that had "Obama" and "Biden" writ large on the porch rails. It was decked out just as he had described it. The funny thing is, I had noticed this house while driving by on the previous Saturday, two days earlier. I actually thought about stopping, knocking on the door, and complementing them on their signs! Small world. Anyway, I dropped off the voter reg forms and continued on to the office with the canvassing sheets.
I would say that 2/3 of the people I talked to were supporting Obama or leaning Obama, and several of the rest were undecided. It made me pretty optimistic about Eastpointe.
Getting Active
I never really thought, before 2006, about who the people are who volunteer with political campaigns. Friends and family of the candidate? Activists? I'd always been political, but I never thought about volunteering.
Then, in 2006, I was reading this site, and I read a lot of comments and diaries by people who were phone banking, or canvassing, or GOTV (getting out the vote). Honestly, I had to look up "canvassing". Where the heck does that word come from? What an odd word for going door-to-door, talking to people.
Of course, I knew that DailyKos was filled with a lot of people who are seriously involved in politics, but I had also read enough comments to know that a lot of people were like me. Just regular people, with regular jobs.
So who were these people who volunteered with political campaigns? Could I be one of those people? Should I? I felt a certain peer pressure to get out and do it, just reading the words of those of you who were doing it. But somehow, in 2006, I just never did it. I gave money, but that's all.
This year, that isn't enough for me. I may not break any records for number of voters registered, or doors knocked, or phone calls made, but I am not sitting on the sidelines of history.
And you know what? It isn't as hard as I'd imagined. The people are so nice. Both the volunteers, and 99% of the people I've talked to.
I've learned that I can do this. And if I can do this, you can do this.
I even got to meet a famous Hollywood celebrity at my local Obama campaign office when I went in to do phone banking for the first time.
But that's a story for next time. Until then . . .
GET ACTIVE!