Phone-banking in suburban Charlotte for State Sen. Kay Hagan led to quite a few surprising conversations about how the state may be turning against Elizabeth Dole.
This is my first-ever diary, though I read as many as I can on here.
On Saturday afternoon, I participated in a GOTV phone-banking for Kay Hagan. This isn't my favorite thing to do for several reasons - one, I just don't much like talking on the phone; two, I like canvassing better; and three, even calling only Democrats in a phone bank in North Carolina, you're liable to get yelled and cursed at by a lot of octogenarians who are Democrats in the way that Strom Thurmond used to be a Democrat.
After seeing the ad that Liddy Dole ran against Hagan suggesting that Hagan didn't believe in God, I expected to have several people tell me they weren't voting for that Muslim, God-hating, etc., etc. woman. I'm happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised.
One of the very first numbers I called was for an older lady in my area. I introduced myself, told her that Saturday was the last day for early voting, and we hoped she'd consider voting for Kay Hagan for U.S. Senate. What she said next was music to my ears. "Well, I was gonna vote for Dole," she said, "but that ad she ran about religion made me so mad that I'm gonna vote for Kay on Tuesday."
I was so excited that we actually ended up having a five-minute conversation about how the religious and cultural attacks aren't working as effectively as they used to, and how we hoped that things changed for the better after this election. She said she's voting for McCain, so I guess we can't win 'em all, but I'm glad that progressives that have positive messages are starting to make inroads, even in areas that haven't been as receptive in the past.
Several other people in the room with me had similar exchanges with people they called. I know we can put Kay and other Democrats over the top if we continue to get the vote out and show people how we have the right plans for this country.