"I'm voting for Obama!"
Yesterday, for the first time in my life, I made phone calls on behalf of a political campaign. In the past, I've always donated to and voted for Democrats, but have never taken the final step of volunteering. Sometimes it was because personal circumstances made it difficult. Sometimes it was because I was not sufficiently inspired by a candidate. But most of all it was because, as a rather shy person by nature, I didn't feel comfortable telephoning strangers or knocking on their doors.
By now we've all heard that John McCain's last Hail Mary pass will beto try to turn Pennsylvania red next month. Open Left has a good analysis of the probable reasoning behind this strategery and why
I signed up to volunteer in PA weeks ago back when PA really was too close to call in many polls, committing to come up when possible during the last few weeks before the election when my schedule permitted it and when need would be greatest. Quite frankly, the thought that a truly wonderful, inspirational, and gifted leader like Barack Obama might not be elected President was too much for me take. I still think this country and the world would have been so much better off had the Supreme Court let the votes be counted in 2000 and Al Gore had become President. The final push, though, came from Sarah Palin. The thought that she, and not Barack, could be our future President, filled me with terror, horror and disgust. At the very least, I figured, I had to do what I could to prevent that from happening--so when the Obama campaign's call for out-of-state volunteers for PA came to my inbox, I immediately signed up. Lately, though, as Obama built up a double digit lead in PA, I began to wonder whether I wouldn't be better off helping out in VA. But with the latest news out of the McCain campaign, I'm glad to be helping fend off the GOP's last ditch challenge.
The campaign asked me to go to York in south central PA--very red territory. The county went 2-1 for Bush in '04 and, judging from the many McCain-Palin signs I saw on the drive in, will still go GOP in a few weeks. Limiting McCain's margin in places like York will be crucial to ensuring an Obama win in PA.
If my experience yesterday is any guide, McCain's new PA strategy will have about as much success as another last ditch PA offensive: Pickett's Charge. I've been reading about the Obama ground game for weeks, but yesterday gave me a first-hand appreciation of the hard work, dedication, and sophistication of the Obama operation. More importantly, though, I met dozens of volunteers, ranging from college students involved in their first election to mothers and fathers taking a few hours off to work the phones, to a retired couple from New York--veteran Democratic activists--who are spending five weeks in York volunteering for Obama. The office was energized by Colin Powell's recent endorsement and, like me, many there had come from out of state to help.
I could go on at length about my experiences yesterday, but I would rather just highlight a few.
One of the volunteers I met yesterday has to be one of the most inspirational stories of this campaign. Forget Joe the Plumber; this election is about people like Leslie Wars, a middle-aged African-American woman who registered to vote for the first time in her life, and then proceeded to single-handedly register over 1,100 new voters in York County. It is about the people who have been ignored by our political system and our country for far too long speaking up and making their voices heard. It is about Barack Obama reaching out to these people, inspiring them, and bringing them into the politics of this country. It is about uniting people and lifting them up, not cynically dividing them and playing to their fears and prejudices as Bush and now McCain have done.
The McCain campaign may think Sarah Palin is their secret weapon in PA because of her appeal to Catholic voters and working-class Hillary supporters. I don't think so. No one I talked to yesterday had anything good to say about her. Several previously undecided voters who are now backing Obama cited Palin as a main reason for doing so. No one I talked to thinks she's ready to be President and frankly a lot of people just don't like her. Even some of the uncommitted voters I talked to--women who supported Hillary and said flat out they thought she should be on the ticket--had nothing but disdain for McCain's choice of Palin.
But two calls in particular made my day, and give me confidence that if we keep at it, there is nothing McCain can do to keep Obama from carrying PA on Nov. 4th. The first was a call to a sixty-five year old man in a wheelchair who says he has never missed an election. He had previously been undecided, but now, he told me, he wouldn't vote for McCain/Palin if they were the only ones on the ballot. He's got his transportation lined up and is itchin' to vote.
The second was even better--an undecided man in his mid-eighties. His wife answered the phone and told me that he couldn't speak because he can't hear the phone. So I asked her if she knew who he'd be voting for. "I'll go ask him," she said. Then, in the background, I heard a loud, booming, powerful voice.
"I'm votin' for a winner! I'm votin' for Obama!"
With Obama, we're all winners. Leslie Wars and a thousand other Americans are now part of the political process. People in PA and across America are excited about changing this country and the direction it's been going for 30 years. And, while I've been a dutiful and informed voter for years, I feel connected to our democracy in a way I simply haven't since I voted in my first election more than twenty years ago.
Thanks Barack. I can't wait to go back & help out some more.