In 2008, I lived in Orlando Florida and volunteered for the Obama campaign in that state. I knew Florida was pivotal for Barack, and I made sure I did my part to put it in his win column.
During the summer, I registered voters and canvassed on weekends. A month before the election, I took off from work and volunteered full-time for the campaign right up to election night.
I'll never forget that experience. I felt so proud being a part of something great.
This year, I knew that Ohio was the President's firewall. I knew he had to win the state, and polls were just look uncomfortably tight, so I was going to find a way to help.
I've been volunteering at the local community center where I live, and someone there put me in touch with an OFA field director who was organizing bus trips from Buffalo NY to Cleveland Ohio.
My first couple day trips were to the Slavic Village area in Cleveland. Our staging location was a Union Hall on Independence Road. That part of Cleveland reminds me a lot of the neighborhood I live in now here in Rochester - JOSANA. African-american, high unemployment and poverty rate, high crime. There's one condemned, abandoned, boarded up house after another, and the ones that are still inhabited are in complete disrepair. A community just hanging on by a thread.
The contact rate in Slavic Village was low. The weather wasn't cooperative (cold and rainy), but I did my best and canvassed and tried to engage the people I did come in contact with on the issues and encouraged them to vote. I was a little nervous about the responses I was getting on Sherrod Brown. People either didn't know who he was, hadn't voted for him (if they'd already early voted) or said they didn't trust or like him. I assumed the latter was due to the barrage of negative ads his opponent and outside groups were running.
Here are some photos from my first trip:
On the bus to Ohio! We had great turnout that Saturday - about 25 fired up and ready to go people.
Obama foot soldiers reporting for duty in Cleveland.
The indispensable clipboard! When people see you coming with that clipboard in Cuyahoga County they know it's "the Obama people!" LOL.
First door knocked.
A community in need of revitalization.
This was my canvassing partner, Ashley. Turns out she lives just two blocks over from me!
On Sunday, my final trip, I got on the bus with 90 cents in my wallet, and some snack foods for the trip. I decided being broke wasn't going to stop me from doing everything I could to make sure President Obama was re-elected.
Buffalo sent us to Ward 1 this time. Our staging location was the First Missionary Baptist Church off Lee Road. There was only 17 of us this time. When we got there, the folks were so glad to see us. They were having trouble raising volunteers from the community and really needed people to go out and canvass, so we were a godsend. It was another day of bad weather (looked like it would snow) and the time had just changed so it got dark early, but we knocked doors and talked to residents until 6:00 Sunday evening.
By the time we got back to the church, it was just enough time to thaw out, eat something, tally our sheets, and get on the bus at 7:00. Everyone left. I felt I needed to stay so I said I would. A great big round of applause went up. I said, "well hold on now, I have nowhere to stay. Can someone put me up?" The staging location director immediately offered me a room in her home. Woot!! It was on now. I was gonna leave it all on the road for POTUS - and for me, when I thought about it.
I spent the rest of Sunday evening with the other 3 local volunteers and the OFA field coordinator cleaning up and preparing canvassing packets for the next day. Monday (another day of lousy weather. I had not seen the sun once in Ohio. Not once. It was always cloudy and gloomy) started around 7:00 getting the staging location ready. Next I made phone calls to volunteers to confirm shifts then spent the day knocking doors. At some point I lost track of how many doors I knocked. Back to the SL to tally up, clean up, and prepare for D-day. By this time, I was exhausted. I could hardly keep my eyes open or stand on my poor aching feet. We were all worn out. But we knew it would be over soon, and we knew we were doing important work. After all, Ohio! Ohio! Ohio!
Tuesday, Election Day. They let me sleep in a little, but I was at my polling place by 7:30. My job was to be line manager and report the numbers for the three precincts at that location at 11:00, 4:00, and 7:30. Before I left the church that morning, a miracle happened. The sun came up over the horizon. What a blessing! I knew we were going to have a good day!
It was freezing outside! There were a bunch of other folks out there passing out lit for local candidates or ballot issues and we quickly became friends and did what we could to stay warm. The sun hadn't quite reached the spot where we were standing. :-)
I stayed at the polling place (John F. Kennedy HS) until just after I got the 4:00 numbers, then went back to the church for a break. My poor feet had grown two sizes and I could barely feel them any more. At 6:40, our OFA field organizer sent us back out for a final push. Polls were going to close at 7:30 and we wanted to make sure everyone who could vote got to vote. By this time, most people had been visited by an OFA volunteer at least 3 times and they were kind of over it. Most people just didn't answer the door (we could see or hear them inside) and one woman even slammed the door in our faces. Oh well.
There was nothing left to do but go back to the church and wait. We'd done all we could. But it was enough. Ohio went for POTUS (despite Romney's desperate death rattle. God what an arrogant man!) and Sherrod Brown was re-elected. The African-American turnout in Cuyahoga County increased from 11% in 2008 to 15% in 2012.
I had a great time. I met some wonderful people who treated me with such love and care. President Obama brings out our better angels and our commitment to him bonds us. It's always good to be around Obama people.
I thank Ohio for rewarding POTUS with a second term, and I thank all the amazing people who worked and sacrificed to make it happen. Hey, I enjoyed Cleveland so much, I'm even thinking of moving there - if I can find a job. :-)
Now for some photos from this week:
This is what Sunday looked like as we left NY
Getting briefed in Buffalo before getting on the bus to Ohio
The big purple bus
Welcome to First Missionary Baptist, Cleveland Ohio
Reporting for duty!
Inside the war room
This is Obama country. There was an Obama sign on every other lawn.
This is the great team of NYers who drove up on Sunday. I'm in the middle in the mustard colored vest, sitting
Election Day. Here comes the sun!
A group of first voters
I was freezing! A kind lady loaned me an extra coat she had in her car.
This is Ashley. We called her the "Poll-ice". She stopped everyone coming out of the polling place to make sure they encountered no problems voting. If they did, she recorded their info on a form. At the end of the day, she turned over the forms to a lawyer for the Dem party who would follow up and ensure those folks weren't disenfranchised. Ashley was fierce! No one got by her. :-)
I met one of my heroes, Nina Turner, Ohio State Senator. Made it all worth while.