In the wake of Obama's Berlin speech today and a number of new Quinnipiac battleground polls out today, it's easy to get caught up in the horse race. At times I have to restrain myself from stressing out at every zig and zag that takes place.
Fortunately, I have an amazing outlet for this stress. I just head down to the local Obama office and volunteer to register voters, make phone calls or enter data from the day's events. On Tuesday night, we in the Triangle area celebrated the official opening of the Raleigh and Durham offices. Over 350 people came out to join the party, fighting poor weather and traffic to show their support for Barack Obama. Think about that for a second. 350 people. On a Tuesday pm at 6:00. In the middle of thunderstorms.
That's the untold story of this campaign. Sure, polls show there's an enthusiasm gap between the candidates. And the talking heads on the tee-vee blather on about how Obama has a more fired up base. But what they don't talk about is what this excitement translates into:
- Voter Registration Drives (thanks to kath25 for the
excellent diary on how to run a voter reg drive)
- Visibility Events (like the office opening, which was covered on all the local television stations and was a front page article in the Raleigh News & Observer)
- Phone-Banks
- Fundraisers
This is the America I want to live in. This is the untold story. Young people and old people. Black people and white people and brown people. Democrats, Independents, and Republicans. People are ENGAGED. That's the untold story that's flying under the radar right now. It's an exciting time to be alive and an exciting time to be involved in politics.
Check out this video that one of our local supporters put together for evidence of what I'm talking about: