I've been making Obama neighbor to neighbor calls for a half hour or so each night, and to be honest it's been pretty grim.
I had to put my phone on permanent caller ID block after I called a guy who said that they don't vote for any [censored] "G.D. f'ing N words" in his house. So now about a third of the calls won't go through because I don't want to unblock.
Of the ones that do go through, most hang up, or refuse to tell me who they're voting for.
But it's all worth it, because I finally reached a persuadable voter.
He was very mad with the way the country is going and told me to pass on his concerns. Here they are.
Tom lives in rural MN and is a Vietnam Veteran. When he first answered, he told me that he didn't like either party and didn't know who he was going to vote for.
He was particularly mad about wasteful spending on stuff like $800 toilet seats. And didn't like how both parties spend too much money. I was about to write him off as a McCain guy at this point.
Then he started on the war, and how Iraq had a $90 billion surplus and should run their own government. I pointed out that Obama would get us out or Iraq, but he didn't think a year was fast enough.
Then he talked about how he didn't like how veterans were being treated. I told him that McCain had a lousy track record on voting for veterans issues. He really didn't like McCain for that.
He mentioned that things cost more. I told him that when adjusted for inflation, middle class wages have stagnated. "That's me, I'm middle class" he said. I told him that under Obama the middle class would get a tax cut, and that McCain wants to give a tax cut to oil companies.
He also didn't like how hard it is to get affordable health care. I said I was mad that when the Republicans passed Medicare part D, we didn't get a bulk discount on drugs like Veterans get. Then I told him about how when I was an independent and had to get my own health care, the premium would have gone up 100% in 3 years if I didn't keep raising the deductible.
The one interesting exchange was when he said he was mad about illegal aliens in this country getting free benefits without working. I told him I was pretty sure most of the Mexicans who come here work pretty hard. "Not the Mexicans, I know they work hard. The foreigners with the long robes." I said "Well I don't think there's a whole lot of them here, and besides we did invade their country." "I'd like to see what kind of free benefits we'd get if we went over there." He said.
I told him that based on the concerns he shared with me, he would probably do best under Obama. He more or less agreed, and said he was now leaning toward Obama.
So to summarize: Tom is an angry white guy in the rural heartland, anti-immigration, a Vietnam Veteran, and against Government spending. If McCain can't even get this guy, he's toast in Minnesota.