This weekend is GOTV weekend here in Texas. It’s been a busy day, but I wanted to share with all of you the highlights from here on the ground. I’ll also answer a few questions about the caucus process in preparation for Tuesday.
This morning started with a big training session for how to volunteer at a caucus. Obama supporters from across Austin met at the Victory Grill, a great restaurant and music venue that has hosted many Obama volunteer gatherings. Turnout was great – folks from across Austin came down to get their questions answered on our crazy primacaucus system. (I’ll be posting a diary tomorrow that focuses exclusively on the rules of the Texas Caucus, so stay tuned.) We had a few election judges there too to make sure we all understand the rules. We shared tips and advice on how to organize in our communities, then folks from each precinct gathered to organize on a micro level.
Next, I headed on over to the field office in East Austin to pick up some turf and go block-walking in my precinct. The office was bustling, with volunteers pouring in to be assigned something to do. I grabbed all of the maps for my precinct, recruited a few volunteers, and headed back over to my ‘hood. My precinct has a lot of convention-level delegates, so as precinct captain I am working really hard to make sure we’ve got everything organized. We knocked on doors and made contacts with voters, and I invited them to our precinct organization meeting tomorrow night.
People were really happy to see us, and I gave out a lot of stickers. My precinct had incredibly high turnout in 2004, so we’re expecting a LOT of folks at the caucus. Our voters seem to be pretty well aware of the need to do the Texas Two-Step and are excited to vote and caucus for Barack.
Speaking of which... Here are some answers to some questions about the caucus process.
- You have to VOTE in the Democratic primary in order to CAUCUS. Make sure to get your Voter Reg card stamped, or get a receipt when you vote.
- Be there at 6:45 p.m. on Election Night. We won't start the caucus until the last person who is in line to vote has voted.
- The caucus starts by the temporary precinct chair (the person who has the packet) calling the caucus to order. THEN, everyone signs in and indicates their candidate of choice, or "undecided." After everyone who is present has signed in, the caucus is closed, and the proceedings start.
- Once the proceedings start, the caucus will elect the permanent chair and secretary to oversee things.
- If you are in a time crunch, just sign in and go, but before you leave, make sure that your precinct captain says it is OK. Make sure there are enough people present to serve as delegates for your candidate. It is great if you can stay and participate in the whole thing, but if it's really crowded or you have situations elsewhere, just be sure to sign in and then go.
I'll go into more depth about this tomorrow, but for now, that's all the information anyone really needs. Just show up by 7:00, and when it's time, sign in.
So I get home from meeting the neighbors, and what do I see on my own knob? A doorhanger! Fantastic. This is a good sign for our targeting. I’m guessing between the Obama sign I have displayed that they knew I was on board, but hey – if I hadn’t known to caucus, I would now. It's also great to know that there are other volunteers working in the area as well. I hope they all come out to our precinct meeting tomorrow night.
Now I’m down at the HQ here in Austin getting some stuff together for the rest of the weekend. I’ve been joined by three ace GOTV experts... Whom you might recognize! Here we are...
Yup, that's mindoca, casperr, self, and hekebolos! They're in town to help with our GOTX efforts, and I'm sure their combined experience will be a big help.
But wait! There's More!
For all of you not in Texas this weekend, please join in our efforts! We're a big state, and we need people to make calls. The campaign has a goal of making 1,000,000 calls by the close of polls on Tuesday. So get over to the National Calling Tool and Call Texas.
I can't be making calls and knocking on doors at the same time, so please help me out and make some calls. And if any of you manage to phone-bank me personally, I'll buy you a margarita at Netroots Nation this summer, I promise!
So I'm going to go take these out-of-state volunteers out for barbecue. If you haven't heard, I have quite the reputation as a rib-eater. We shall see... Thanks for reading, and please, go make those calls!