One of the prized suburban areas for presidential candidates is the Main Line, in Montgomery County, outside of Philadelphia. Nonetheless, in past presidential elections, my neighborhood was often ignored or taken for granted by the Democrats, and even registered voters rarely heard from the party. While my Precinct voted for Kerry in 2004, the split with Bush voters was far too close.
What a difference in 2008. The bugles of the Obama Cavalry. are blowing loud and often. Today alone, I have received 4 separate phone calls on behalf of Obama, my wife received three, my daughter who attends George Washington University (and already voted absentee) received a few calls, and my 30 year old son who had been registered at this address a few years ago even got a call or two.
Then there are the other wonderful activities I am witnessing that I will detail below.
I am so overjoyed, I cannot sit still. Writing this diary, and sharing the glow from watching a community rise from political lethargy, is my way of celebrating.
The phone calls from the Obama volunteers were inspiring (to me, at least). They were initiated by people who were polite, knowledgeable, and armed with a cogent message. For example, a few minutes ago, the caller was part of a team warning me that I might get a McCain robo-call that would misinform me about where I should vote, or the date. Without a defensive call like that, how many unsuspecting voters would heed the false advice from the McCain fraudsters?
Earlier today, I received a call from an Obama volunteer, and when I started to say I had already given the maximum amount of money my family could contribute legally, the caller laughed and said it was not about money, but rather, she wanted to tell me where to vote, and to determine if I needed a ride or a baby sitter.
YEAH for our team!
It is not just the calls. An hour ago, someone drove into my driveway, and put a gorgeously printed, full color brochure on the door handle of my front door. It was about 6" wide and 18" long. On one side was a picture of Obama, telling me to vote, and giving me information on when the polls in Pennsylvania are open. The back was a veritable voters guide. It instructed me to not leave the voting line when the polls close because if I am in line, I will have the legal right to vote. It told me what identification to bring if I am a first-time voter (in great detail with a host of examples of alternative types of acceptable identification if I did not have photo-id driver’s license). It told me I have the right to vote, "even if you have debts, unpaid bills, parking tickets or overdue taxes," all tastefully printed in bold font. I was given the law on wearing Obama t-shirts and pins, as well as information about how to contact the Obama campaign if I run into a problem. Finally, it gave me precise and accurate information of the address where to vote, including the identification of my precinct (showing that this was custom printed for the few streets in my precinct).
The amazing effort that went into this brochure cannot be overstated. Where I live, houses are on half acre up to three acre lots, most with difficult to navigate, winding entrance-driveways. Yet as easy as it would have been to merely stuff this in my mailbox, some really smart people figured out that taking the trouble to put this on my front door would be far more effective. As noted, the brochure was also custom printed for just my tiny precinct, which means that there must be many similar, but different brochures printed for other precincts.
YEAH (again) for our team!
In prior elections, I was like a boring loudmouth who seemed to be out of step with the sedate, non chelant attitude of those in my community with whom I attempted to engage in political discussions. This year, it seems so many of my neighbors and family have joined the Obama Cavalry that my efforts to get a liberal elected are being dwarfed. On Saturday, when I was coaching my 8 year old son’s soccer game, I noticed that some of the parents of the kids on my team were not there because they had taken a bus to canvass in portions of Pennsylvania where there are not many Democrats. Today, my wife told me she and a group of her friends would not be around until dinner time because they were working with a group who were collecting vans stored at an Avis garage near the Philadelphia airport to be used on Tuesday to transport voters who do not drive to their polling places.
Even my usually apolitical son and daughter-in-law will not be available for our customary Sunday dinner because one is busy working on a phone bank, and the other is going to a training session for Obama poll watchers.
YEAH (once more) for our team!