A Preface: Obama has 67 "Campaign for Change" offices operating in Virginia, an astounding number. This is 3X the "Victory" offices McCain has in the Old Dominion state.
We spent Saturday in the heart of Virginia, near the Chancellorsville and Spotsylvania Civil War battlefields, canvassing for Obama. We had been asked to come help and were pleasantly surprised when about 10 volunteers showed up for the morning shift. If 10 were showing up here... x 67... that meant Obama had 670 volunteers hitting the bricks today.
Or more... we have been canvassing in NoVA weeks previous... and 20-30 were showing up at one of the substations of the official "Campaign for Change" office... i.e. this office has a number of sites in the neighborhoods where volunteers were gathering at. Maybe the southern office had more than one meeting place as well?
So... why does Obama need more help in "Ole Virginny?" Follow me past the fold to find out more.
With just a month to go, the neighborhood my wife and I were given had not been approached prior. We were surprised at this news because in NoVA we had encountered a number of voters who had already been contacted by the Obama campaign.
I want to be straight up front. Nobody was home today at about half the 50-60 houses we visited. The campaign will follow up with the not at homes ASAP. And although some our experiences were not all that great... others were. We will be going down there again... and we hope to have company.
The following is an account of some of our experiences... not in chronological order but from bad to good... with the thought that the bad news should always precede the good news.
(1) At the bottom of the barrel - a homeowner mowing his lawn who turned out to be a very cranky 40 something retired marine, with 20 years of service. First, understand that this is a sprawling wooded neighborhood near where the Battle of the Wilderness took place in May of 1864, where wounded soldiers perished in wildfires, making for a rather ominous historical cloud hovering over this encounter.
Of another illustration on page 357 Mr. WAUD, who furnishes these sketches, says: "The fires in the woods, caused by the explosion of shells, and the fires made for cooking, spreading around, caused some terrible suffering. It is not supposed that many lives were lost in this horrible manner ; but there were some poor fellows, whose wounds had disabled them, who perished in that dreadful flame. Some were carried off by the ambulance corps, others in blankets suspended to four muskets, and more by the aid of sticks, muskets, or even by crawling. The fire advanced on all sides through the tall grass, and, taking the dry pines, raged up to their tops."
So... this isn't your normal suburban neighborhood. It started pleasant enough... "Hi how are you... Fine... yada, yada" Then... after confirming we were talking to the correct person on the voter registration list... "We are canvassing for the Democratic party in VA, do you have a preferance for President?"
"Neither... both are assholes." "Will you vote?" "Yes... haven't decided... you could take anyone off the street and have better representation that what we have now in Washington" "Do you have a party preference?" "I haven't heard any opinions from you two. We just had those bloodsuckers pass a trillion $ bailout that my kids are going to have to pay for... they all suck" "Do you plan on voting?" "Yes, what's it to you... are you from this community, doesn't look like it... you should leave this community now... this is a private communtiy" "We have a legal right to canvass in this community..." "You better get out of here now."
Wife is saying "let's go..." the retired jar-head's teenage daughter who had come up to listen to this conversation looks quite embarrased... and we retreat to our car to go on to the next address on our list... as our cranky marine glowers from afar. Wow. Talk about someone who is in dire need of some anger management.
(2) Vietnam Vet / MIA Bumper sticker on the car. Oh good. This should be fun. Knock knock. Door opens. Sixty something guy asks what we want. "Yada, yada... VA Ds.. canvassing... yada" "Wait here" and he closes the door. We look at each other and think... "shall we make a run for it...!?"
As we turn to leave, the door abruptly opens and the better half to the sixty-something guy asks us, "What do you want?" "We were canvassing the neighborhood... do you consider yourself an Indy, D, or R..." "Are you asking who we are going to vote for" "Yes... do..." "McCain" And the door slams shut.
The contempt for us literally drips from her words. "Yes... thanks for your time and have a nice day." we said to their smiling halloween pumkin cutout on the door. Sheesh.
(3)"Hi, yada, yada" "We've made up our minds" Slam. Actually... an improvement... not much time expended! Mark them down on the sheet as McCainiacs...
Now... for the better stories:
(4)"I'm glad to see you, I've been meaning to register... do you have an application?" As he sat and filled it out... my wife bantered back and forth with the young man (just turned 18)... "McCain is 72... that old... wow... not good" Other family members came out. Very pleasant. The rest were regestered. Can't say which way they will vote. But they did express surprise Obama people were out in "their" neighborhood... had never seen Ds around before.
(5)"Who are you working for? Obama, Great!! My son and I are both voting for him... and Warner... I wished we could have gone to see Obama at his rally in Fredericksburg last Saturday... I had to work. Yes, I'd be willing to help... is there a local number I can call? I'd like a yard sign to put out by the road... Geez it's great to see the campaign out here in the sticks. Thanks so much for volunteering!"
(6)"Are you from the neighborhood?" Uh-oh. "yada, yada" "Democrats!? Great. I'm a 20 yr retired marine... both my wife and I are voting for Obama and Warner. Thanks so much for volunteering your time to come out here... that's hard... No... I can't... too much work at my job. But thanks again. We've not seen Democrats out here before. It's just great."
(7)Thirty something guy out working in his yard "I'm undecided... well... I don't want to sound racist... but I worry about minorities getting preference if Obama gets in."
"Obama does not have a record of that. And what would a white middle-aged couple be doing this door to door thing if we thought that was the case?"
"I've been laid off for months now. I know the Republicans have run this country down... hell I had to refuse work all the time during the Clinton years. But I worry about Obama raising my taxes..."
"If you and your wife aren't making over a $1/4 million... you won't have you're taxes raised..." (and I go in-depth into the tax cuts of the last eight years... those making millions got $100,000 tax cuts and he probably got a hundred bucks... what the hell was that? 'No kidding'...he replies)
"I'm voting... I'm undecided... but that Palin... yeah she's likable... but I don't think she's qualified at all... much less than Obama... who maybe is a little light on experience. But McCain... he's 72 and his health is shit. Vote for him and you're likely to end up with President Palin."
"It's a real concern for many people...."
We talked about more things. Our background... why we were out knocking doors on a beautiful Saturday in October instead of wandering around some fall festival... In the end...
"Thanks for coming by. It's good to talk to other people about these things. I consider myself a conservative Democrat... I'll probably vote for Obama. It's just good to talk to people. Thanks again for stopping by."
Conversations like this is why we need as many people possible going out to canvass the neighborhoods across this country.
Oh... and the tally for the day... about 14-15 Obama supporters... and the same number for McCain. And a half dozen undecideds... including the last fellow who was very pleasant to visit with. A guy and his family just trying to make ends meet... All this... in the heart of Virginia.
So, if you are close to Virginia, take a drive. (North Carolinians - stay put!!!)
If you live in Virginia,get involved!
Yes... you'll catch a little grief from Republicans who are freaking out over the polls. But let's put the throttle down on this election. Now.