I meant to post this diary earlier, but I needed some time to really reflect on my experience canvassing this week. It was a pretty Obama-centric week for me. I spent Sunday and Monday phonebanking and volunteered at the town hall in Berea, OH on Tuesday. It was a fantastic week full of wonderful discussions with lots of interesting people. After 3 days away, I was eager to canvass on Saturday. I've been debating how much of my experience I should share in this diary. I'm afraid that some of this may discourage people from canvassing and that is not my intent. But I learned alot about myself and I am more committed to getting Barack Obama elected as our next President than I have ever been.
One thing that struck me was the number of undecided voters who really didn't have any strong feelings about either candidate. I always have to remind myself that a lot of people are not interested in politics and feel that they just don't think it matters. Another thing that really struck me was the number of houses that were empty - many bank owned. Driving down the street you'd never notice it. But when you start knocking on doors and realize that many of these homes are empty, it reinforces the importance of what you are doing. I made a lot of contacts today and many were undecided (but leaning Obama) so I'll only focus on a few.
Neighbor 1 - This was an easy one. They were three people in the house on the list and they were all outside. I started my introduction and quickly was interrupted with the response "Believe me, everyone in this house is voting for Obama." They were in a hurry and couldn't talk, but that response is a canvassers dream.
Neighbor 2 - This was a woman, about my age (40). She answered the door and was very polite, but when I asked who she was voting for she sighed. She told me she had really wanted Hillary Clinton to get the nomination and that she has nothing against Obama, but she just felt sad. Hillary Clinton is someone she knows and trusts and in tough times that's who you turn to. I told her that I understood how she felt and that the primaries were so intense that I think a lot of us are still recovering from the emotional part of it. We had a long talk about the issues that were important to both of us and she told me she was most likely going to vote for Obama. I really respected and liked this person and I think she represents the Clinton supporters well. It's not fair to write them off as vindictive or angry - they are just dealing with a loss during a difficult time.
Contact 3 - This is the interaction that I've debated writing about. I refuse to refer to this man as a neighbor and I find the fact that he lives in my town disturbing. We approached the house and he and his son were outside working on a motorcycle. We introduced ourselves and as we started to talk, he began one of the most racist, hateful tirades I have ever heard. I won't allow his words to take up space in this diary, but I can tell you that I could feel his hate. He ordered us off his property and we left. Life experience has taught me that when someone is that angry, they are capable of inflicting physical harm so it's best to just walk away. As we approached the next house, he followed us and stood in the street yelling at us to get out of the neighborhood. He continued to follow us and finally said he was going to call the police. At that point I took out my phone and said that I was going to call them myself. He went inside. I was shaking from something, although I'm not sure if it was fear or rage. I didn't call the police but I did call the canvass office and they told us to call the police if we felt unsafe but encouraged us to get in the car and come back to the office.
I've gone over this incident again and again in my mind and I've come to a few conclusions. As for him, I will not allow his ignorance to extinguish my intellect. He is a hateful individual and it's unfortunate that people with these views still exist in our world. I will never understand how any person could feel so much rage against another simply because they do not share a physical resemblance. But I also know that he is only one of about 250 people that I spoke to this week and is the only one that expressed a racist view. His world is small, and although my world is large, there is just no room for someone like him in it.
What I learned about myself is that I am tougher than I thought. I am not afraid to go out and canvass again and I feel a strong sense of purpose about this. This will be the incident that I draw from for strength when I go out and canvass. This will be my reference point when I think about how important it is to elect Barack Obama as our next President. It will fuel me and encourage me not to accept hate in my community. I am imperfect - I can be sarcastic and neurotic, high stress at times, inattentive to my family, and argumentative. I don't always work as hard as I should and I am a terrible housekeeper. But when it comes to basic, human values and a genuine respect for all people, I think I'm doing alright.