I have a headache, my feet hurt, my back hurts. I canvassed for about 8 hours today, and plan to do it all over again tomorrow. Guess what? THE PAIN IS WORTH IT!!!! That's right. If this is what it takes to see Barack Obama in the White House, then I'll do it.
Today I canvassed in two parts of Tampa. First, in the more affluent South Tampa area, then in what locals call New Tampa. New Tampa is still Tampa, just new and of course, affluent.
Follow me below the fold to find out how it went, and hear about the McCain/Palin people who stalked me.
I started out early this morning. Apparently the campaign has tons of yard signs now, so we went to put them up along major roadways. We would put one or two every mile or so. Unfortunately some of the signs didn't last the whole day. I'm not sure how long they lasted, but several were gone when I drove back by where they had been. Enough with that...
Next I went canvassing. I found a lot of support today. I only had one door slammed in my face, and I was only called a socialist twice. I knocked on about 60 doors in South Tampa. I found about half of those people home. I found 38 Obama supporters, 12 McCain supporters, 2 Ron Paul supporters, 3 Bob Barr supporters, 1 PUMA, and 4 undecided voters. Out of the 38 Obama supporters, 29 had voted early. The others said they would vote on election day. I took their names and numbers and told them I'd call to remind them on Tuesday.
The undecided voters were all elderly. They've heard the charges about Obama being a socialist, and that he "palls around with some bad people." I talked to them about how McCain would cut medicare and how their kids and grandkids would suffer under a McCain presidency. They each listened and I hope I made some sort of impact on them.
On to New Tampa. I canvassed in an apartment community. I found several Obama supporters, and a few McCain supporters. One McCain supporter and his wife decided they would follow me. They follow me door to door. As I would try to talk to voters they would stand behind me and try to talk over me. I finally told them to stop following me or I would call the police. They didn't, so instead of causing problems, I just left for another area to canvass.
Little did I know, they followed me there too. As I was going door to door in a neighborhood, they rolled along in their truck and shouted from the curb as people answered their doors. At once house I encountered a McCain supporter, and the stalkers yelled out all sorts of things about Obama. The McCain supporter asked me what was going on and I told him they had been following me. He went out to their truck and told them to knock it off. Thank goodness they listened. I don't know what the man said to them, but I thanked them. He offered me a bottled water and wished me luck. He said he admired anyone who would go door to door for a candidate. This showed me not all McCain supporters are bad.
Overall, I found a ton of good support for Obama today. Early voting ended today in Hillsborough County (Tampa). I heard reports that lines at most locations were 3-4 hours long. I am confident that many of those voters were out for Obama.
I'll canvass all over again tomorrow, reminding people to vote on Tuesday. Now its time to rest my tired feet, and enjoy the evening.