Like many of you, I've been tearing my hair out at the poll numbers, wanting to do an Elvis to the TV whenever I see a Mitt Romney ad(I live in VA) and generally worrying about the the country. But I decided to do what I did 4 years ago and get my lazy butt off the couch and volunteer my time at Obama local HQ. And tonight when I came home, I felt good about this election and seeing how many other people care about the same issues and are as fired-up as I am. Here's my experience.
Tonight was an especially interesting night since it was a big GOTV event and many more people showed up to canvass and phone bank than normally do. Whether that was due to Obama being in VA or the second debate, it was nice to see. I had to call people so I was put on data entry duty which basically is entering data that the canvassers and phone bankers gathered during the day. Now the campaign is focusing on getting registered Democrats to the polls and our city is deep blue so there was a lot of sheets.
It heartened me to see there was people who stayed all day to canvass and some that had worked in campaigns since the 1980s. There was the woman from the West Coast who had VIP tickets to the Obama rally and had actually shaken his hand-she was the celebrity of the night-until Ashley Judd came and gave her pep rally. Very intelligent woman and feisty too and as pissed off about Mitt's attitude toward women as all of us. I know it's prejudice but the Dems always attract the brainy and beautiful actors. She didn't want any photos taken and I felt weird asking her for her autograph when no one else did....but I did see her.
However, the most exciting part was listening to the phone bankers themselves and their pitch to get people to the polls. The Obama handshaker(who jokingly said she hasn't washed her hand since and that the POTUS is a "fine-looking man" used her experience to energize and engage people on the other end. Another woman used her Spanish skills to call and get the Latinos to vote. Of course, some heard stories that the poll workers will check papers, etc and she had to debunk those.
But the sweetest story was the answering machine of an older African -American woman who sang "A Change is Going To Come" and said how blessed America was to have Obama as president. The phone banker called a second time just to let the rest of us hear and at the end we all clapped and wished her well from Obama HQ. It really puts in perspective how important Obama's presidency is to some people. Brought a tear to my eye.
This is longer than I intended but if you're in a swing state and have a little time......please, please volunteer anyway you can, Obama needs you and it will allay you fears for a while-or until the next debate.
Thank you.