While Obama spends precious time with his grandmother, the rest of us are ramping up the efforts to bring home Ohio for Obama.
Our Regional Organizer calls it: The Hunt for Blue October—GOTV.
Butler County... that's where I live. That's the county that won the election for George Bush because undecideds like me broke for Bush at the last minute instead of for Kerry. I cannot let that happen again... My deep shame over having voted for Bush last time has driven me (I mean, really driven me) to do all I can to see Obama elected. Money, weekly canvassing, leading a weekly phone bank, wearing his shirts every day, neglecting children, ignoring my business, forgoing showers... nothing is too much for me this time around.
If you live in a non-battlegound state, below the fold I've detailed the achievements of our Butler County teams so far, the royal awesomeness of the GOTV strategy, and the glorious privilege it's been to be a member of the ground team this general election season. Truly, everything about Obama has already transformed my life. If he can do all this during the campaign, I can't wait until he takes office!
Follow me to awesomeness!
Here's where our intrepid hard-working regular Ohioans (who, as far as I can tell, are Pro-America) meet:
My Field Organizer, Pat (right) and his assistant, Evan (left) work so hard, they rarely eat or sleep... and often go without haircuts.
Our regional organizer and our recently-arrived associate from Seattle, took us through the paces for how to bring it on for Obama in Ohio.
This is where I started to get jumpy and I hadn't even had a cup of java all day. Kristin began by the numbers.
Our southwest region (four counties: Prebble, Warren, Butler and Clinton) has never done more for a Democratic candidate than we've done for Barack. Here's a set of fat stats!
In four months we've:
Knocked on 61,000 doors (1.4 million in Ohio)
Made 130,000 phone calls (3 million in Ohio)
Had 50,000 conversations with undecideds (1.2 million statewide)
Just last Wednesday night, at the phone bank I lead, we made 1200 calls by 14 people and contacted over 200 people.
This week canvassing my own neighborhood, I knocked on 75 doors, contacted 32 people and an astonishing 25 committed to Obama! You have to understand - this is a neighborhood that had not a single Kerry sign in it last election. There are six Obama signs in a row in one stretch now. This kind of support for Obama is simply astonishing. (Remember, we are one town over from Fairfield where that despicable effigy was hung.)
But as Kristin said, we can't slow down now! In a conference call to all the FO's last Friday, Barack told them that he is twice their ages (47 while most of them are barely 23-24) and if he has the stamina to travel, speak, and kill it, so do they! Don't give up. Keep it going. Sprint over that finish line.
So here's how we're going to do it. Buckle your seatbelts. Team Obama is unreal!!!
GOTV's Three Phases:
GOTV starts October 29.
Phase One: Oct. 29 - Nov 2 We continue to canvass and call in persuasion mode (30,000 voters, talking to them two or three times). Apparently during the Kerry campaign, they shifted to already decideds during the last week and that is what lost them the critical undecideds (like me who went into the booth still nervous about pulling for Kerry and caved to Bush). So we will keep it up, talking to undecideds right up to Sunday. (1007 volunteer shifts)
Phase Two: Monday, Nov. 3 (Election Eve) We will target every Democratic voter (nearly 50,000 people) with door hangers, making personal stops at every single house. We need huge volunteer recruitment to do it and are working on that now. (500 volunteer shifts)
Phase Three: Tuesday, Mov. 4 (Election Day) This is where we contact 15,735 sporadic Democratic voters. We visit the same set of houses THREE times in one day (9:30 canvass, 12:30 canvass, 4:30 canvass). (511 volunteer shifts)
There are three teams that work to achieve this goal - Blue, Red and White.
Blue is best! We are the canvassers and we do the GOTV directly, face-to-face. We are recruiting these volunteers first. Join us if you are nearby. :)
Red is crazy! They handle these cool operations of staying on top of polling operations, reporting numbers back to Columbus, keeping lawyers abreast of any wayward activity, etc. They are also putting people in place at targeted precincts so that they can report back to HQ about the kind of turn out so we can adjust or modify who we GOTV. So if there is a dirth of 18-29 year old women who should be voting but AREN'T, we can immediately dial up those addresses and go get them to the polls, RIGHT THEN!
Seriously folks, isn't this crazy?
We also have Red Team line managers. Let's say that the lines up in Cleveland get really long. How can we keep people out in the dark and cold in line? Why, by sending Gospel choirs, stomp groups, and celebrities to entertain them! Bring them water and sandwiches! Do whatever it takes to make line-waiting a joy.
Additionally, Poll Watchers will be reporting turnout numbers in REAL time so we can simultaneously scrub our voter file. No need to go back to houses where they've already voted!
White keeps everyone else going! They are at the staging locations handing out the canvassing packets, giving out water and food to tired and hungry canvassers, and they keep track of the needs of team captains.
On election day itself, exit numbers are reported through some sophisticated chain of command that goes to Plouffe himself. When they are clear about which state needs him, Obama will be sent either to Ohio or Florida (or perhaps somewhere else!) at the 11th hour to appear and close the deal.
Voter Protection is strong! Lots of lawyers. Lots and lots of them all over the state, in and out of polling places.
By the end of the evening (the second of two identical meetings, each attended by over 60 people), we were all juiced up and ready to go! Everyone was encouraged to sign up for three four-hour shifts during election week. We are counting on phone calls, from California and New York and anywhere else Obama is likely to clinch, into the state that week so that the phone bankers can take a break and get out into the neighborhoods.
Kristin asked if we had anything to add to the meeting. Immediately one man raised his hand to thank her for the opportunity to work for Obama. We all agreed that it felt incredible to have these young leaders literally hand us the whole operation. We know we are valuable.
Then I raised my hand. As a lifer in the Republican party who has gradually alienated myself from my environment by becoming obsessed with Obama and the Democratic agenda this time around, I had to share. I said, "Thank you for transforming my social life! I've found "my people" through this campaign. I didn't even know they lived in my community. After the election is over, I will have made so many new friends, I'll never go to coffee alone again."
What a journey! We're almost there. Help win this thing for Obama wherever you live! Won't it turn our red state, blue? You betcha!
My first canvassing partner watches Obama in Cincy:
Why we're doing it:
Bring it home for our inspiration, the man who got us into this thing!
(And one special shout out to my old home of California - do the same for Prop 8! We're counting on you.)