I've been canvassing a lot lately. When I'm not at work, I'm canvassing. (Hell, I'll admit it, I canvass at work too.) Anyway, tonight, like many nights before I was canvassing in Tampa. I've been going to the affluent areas of South Tampa. Tonight I canvassed on Davis Islands. The islands are just south of downtown, and have waterfront homes worth millions down to more modest homes worth a couple hundred thousand.
Follow me below the fold to find what I found. Also, should we worry about getting our voters to the polls? See my opinion below.
Going up and down these streets is actually pretty fun. It was a beautiful day, although just a little on the chilly side. I found many people not home, but I had a surprisingly high contact rate tonight. The first door I knocked on was identified on my list as an Independent. The lady opened the door and saw my Obama Biden t-shirt and said, "I'm voting for him! Gave me a thumbs up and then said, "My dinner is on the stove. He's got my vote!" All good. I let her get back to her dinner.
The second house I had a Democrat who was leaning towards McCain. He was ex-military and really liked the fact that McCain had served in the military. I found his weakness though. Sarah Palin. I asked him how he felt about her possibly becoming President and his response "It horrifies me." His main concern with Obama was that he was "new". We talked about how Obama was cool calm and collected throughout the financial crisis while McCain seemed eratic. By the end of our conversation, he had said he would vote for Obama. Sarah Palin REALLY scares him.
At another house, I was looking for a woman named Amanda. She is a Barack supporter and I just wanted to make sure she had already voted. Her husband answered the door. He told me, "Nobody in this house would vote for that socialist if our lives depended on it." Then he slammed the door. You can't win them all I guess.
The next house I came to had Obama signs in the yard. I politely knocked just to remind them to vote. An elderly couple answered the door and proudly said they had early voted. The gentleman told me they were Republicans who had never voted for a Democrat. Two more votes from Obama - FROM REPUBLICANS! Excellent.
While I was walking to another house, I heard someone yelling at me from a minivan. I thought it was probably an irritated McCain supporter who was mad to see an Obama canvasser. I slowly turned around and she said, "I'm sorry about my husband!" It didn't hit me at first. I walked cautiously towards the minivan and the lady told me, "I'm Amanda, my husband slammed the door in your face a minute ago." I told her it was OK. Then she said, "I voted for Obama, but I can't tell him that. He thinks I'm going to fill up my van with gas but I just wanted to come down and let you know that I am an Obama supporter even if my husband is a jerk." I was really glad when she pulled off. Some women really have to put up with alot from their husbands.
I knocked on a few other doors tonight. I found some McCain supporters, alot more Obama supporters than I expected, and even a person who was writing in Ron Paul. Most Obama supporters had already early voted. Do I think turn out is low? Not exactly, in Hillsborough County, over 100,000 have voted in person already not including the absentee ballots. Turnout is pretty high here. College students are out voting. African Americans are voting in high numbers too. I drove by a couple of early voting locations earlier and it was great to see people patiently standing in line.
Is our work done? No way. We've got a long way to go. Tomorrow night when I take the kids trick-or-treating, I'll be carrying some Obama literature with me. I'll pass it out to the adults who stand in the street while their kids run up to houses for candy. Saturday I have rented a van to take voters to the polls. I'll hit low income areas where many do not have transportation. Sunday I'll remind people to vote on the 4th. Monday I'll do the same. Tuesday is going to be wild... If you live in a safe blue state (or a safe red one) why not get on the phone and call some Florida voters? It's easy. Remind them to vote. If we get our voters to the polls - we win.