Even as polls have the President slipping ahead by 1-2 % points in FL, where I live in somewhat rural area of FL., the race seems more neck and neck. Every person's vote counts!
Elect Obama Now!
Follow the link above to my original song...be happy, get energized, GOTV!
Today, after making around 50 calls, I came upon a woman who was planning to vote for Obama, but was tired of the phone calls, and, ultimately, when I asked her if she had voted, had no way to get to the polls--either today for early voting, or on election day. A fellow volunteer and I were preparing to canvass, so we told her we'd pick her up and take her to the polling place.
......more after the omnipresent flourish...
It took us twenty minutes to get to Sally's house, where she was waiting with her sixth grade daughter, who came along for the 'experience.' Sally told us she had each and every one of her kids watch the debates, and was very determined that they should know how our democracy works. We got to the polling place (another twenty minutes). My partner and I checked in with the Dems who were hosting an area that overflowed with a diversity of people of varying demographics, compared to the monochromatic ethos of the opposition. Sally and her daughter emerged from the polling place over an hour later, happily boasting "I voted" stickers, and came over to the booth, where they got sandwiches and drinks provided by the Dems. Another twenty minutes, we left Sally back at her home, with a bright blue Obama yard sign, and lots of smiles and laughter.
My partner and I then proceeded to knock on nearly 100 doors for the day. It was a beautiful day (82 degrees, sunny, slight breeze) and many were not home, but we spoke to over half of the people we canvassed. Of those, 24 were voting Obama, 19 were strong GOP, 2 were voting 3rd party, 3 were undecided, 2 couldn't vote due to past felonies, and at least 2 were not voting at all. In this rural area, the numbers are very close.
The bottom line is that, in Sarasota County, we're working really hard to get as many people out to the polls as possible. In 2008, we had only one OFA team supporting the local Dems, and we missed turning North Port blue by a few hundred votes, but Florida went for Obama. This time around, there are at least 4 OFA staging areas in South County, along with many more in neighboring cities. All hands are on deck, and we are working long hours every day to GOTV! Tomorrow, Sunday, will start early with new walk and call packs; Monday, we'll have new 'numbers' with the vote tallies from the end of Early Voting from Saturday, then the big push will come to GOTV any identified non-voters on Tuesday.
TWO days to go! All hands on deck! GOTV! Elect Obama Now!