Several of us from Chicago and Evanston made the trek across the border to northwest Indiana. I was part of a small group from our Northside DFA group and we met up at the Democratic Party of Evanston to jointly car pool down to Schererville. I was one of the first to arrive in Evanston, as I biked there from neighboring Skokie. I wasn't expecting anything special, just twenty or thirty volunteers. Boy, was I wrong!
Let me just say that the Democratic Party of Evanston office is just a little storefront off the beaten path. It could probably comfortably hold 30-40 people. Well, let's just say that shortly after arrived more and more people came in. There were people of all ages, colors and by the end, the little storefront held about 75 or more people in there. This included about a dozen Northwestern University students, a mother who said she had never volunteered for a presidential candidate until now, an older husband and wife who felt they needed to get involved now. It was truly inspirational seeing all these committed people and this is coming from someone who has volunteered and canvassed on many campaigns previously.
It was very organized as everyone was asked to sign in and no one left until every driver had a full carload. Heck, we even had several buttons to choose from to wear when canvassing. We made it down to Schererville in about a hour and were greeted by a well organized and pleasant staff. There was a smaller group of volunteers that had come from a union hall in Hammond, IN and since they had already been trained, they went out first with their walk sheets and literature. Once all of us had arrived from Evanston, including an appearance from our representative, Jan Schakowsky (IL-9), we were quickly trained and sent on our way.
My canvass area was part of a recent sub-division development and many of the residents seemed to be transplants from either Chicago or its suburbs. I seemed to run into a lot of people that were home, more than I usually do when canvassing. Most of the people were truly friendly and surprising to me a lot were truly undecided on how they were going to vote. I was really surprised that at this late stage that there were that many people who haven't made up their mind. It also wasn't just that they wouldn't tell me because they were supporting Clinton and didn't want to disappoint me. Most of the undecideds I talked to I pushed and asked if they truly hadn't made a decision and what is making them hesitate. Each had their different reasons, but I think it still boiled down to most voters like both Obama and Clinton as candidates and they so want a Democrat to win in November that they want to make the right choice.
This brings me to my story about a couple people I canvassed today. Interestingly enough, neither of these voters were on my walk sheet. One was the mother of the person on my sheet and the other was the father of two of the people on my sheet. The mother was the first person I had an extended conversation with and when we started our conversation, she told me up front that she probably was going to vote for Clinton but she was somewhat undecided. We talked about many subjects and it was definitely a conversation as we both listened to each other. I told her why I was supporting Obama and that I initially backed Edwards and what made me turn to Obama after Edwards dropped out was that he didn't take lobbyist or PAC money. This seemed to really hit a cord with her and by the end of our conversation, she said that after talking to me that she was going to vote for Obama on Tuesday. She also said that her daughter would vote for whoever she supports. So, by talking with one voter, I believe I got two votes for Obama.
The second long conversation came on the very last house on my list. While he was a Clinton supporter, he said that both his sons were backing Obama and that he was proud of his sons for being involved in the political process. It didn't matter that they supported the same person as he did, it's that they were voting democratic. He also brought up a point that I think needs to be said. He said that while he will probably vote for Clinton, he has no problem with Obama as the nominee and the most important thing is that the Democrats win the White House this November. I don't think it could be said any better.
About the only thing bad that happened today is when I returned back to Evanston, I found that my bike was stolen. Even with that, it couldn't dampen my spirits after a wonderful day in Indiana.