I have always told my wife that I wanted to make a difference in this campaign. Well, today I did. I made a difference. Except not quite in the way that it was supposed to happen.
My day started off by waking to the beautiful sunrise here in DC. I had flown in yesterday from Europe, and had a work related meeting at the GAO this morning. My plan thereafter would be to head down to the DC Obama headquarters on Florida Avenue to do some phone banking with a buddy of mine. That part went all according to plan.
We arrived at the office, stated our interest in volunteering, and were put straight to work. After making many calls - some successful, some not - I felt it was time to take a picture of my fellow volunteers all working the phones. Hoping to get a better picture by adjusting my angle, I leaned back just a bit further to get the best shot. I leaned back juuuust a bit too far, and to my absolute horror inadvertently set off the fire alarm.
The whole GOTV operation had to be suspended while everyone had to leave the building. We weren't allowed back in until the Fire Dept. had come, but since they had been told that it wasn't an emergency, they were in no particular rush to get there. I felt very stoopid. I saw the potential number of calls we could make go down the toilet, and precious time being lost. I was very lucky though: Tony, the leader of the effort, was very understanding and everyone else had a good sense of humour about it and asked if I was working for the McCain campaign!
Then something amazing happened: because we were all standing out on the street and the weather was as incredible as you could wish for, a a spontaneous rally broke out. There we were, a random mix of people shouting "Yes, we can!" and "O-ba-ma" and being honked by car after car, truck after truck, most with VA licence plates! Everyone - black, white, young, old, rich, poor - was getting more and more energised. The result was pandemonium. By the time we all went back inside, we were all so fired up!
It was an incredible experience. You simply cannot force this level of enthusiasm into people, it has to come from within. This was my first volunteering ever for a campaign (and hell, I'm not even a citizen!). It was an experience I will not forget because the warmth and eagerness was simply real. Just inspiring.
Well, as I said, I'm here to make a difference!
(I took a ton of pictures, but as I'm here away from home, I don't have my cable to upload from my camera. It's a pity, because the expressions on the pictures were priceless).