So I finally did it! Prompted by an e-mail from MoveOn.org, I made my way to the local Miami Gardens Campaign for Change office yesterday afternoon to volunteer my time to help Barack Obama get elected. I wasn't sure what to expect, being really new to this actual activism stuff, but I was excited to get started.
I'm not sure what I expected- I thought that since I had never done anything like this before, they might have me stuffing envelopes or something. Boy, was I in for a surprise!
Here's my story.
When I first arrived, there was one woman working behind a counter and another woman working a phone list. Pretty quiet otherwise. I arrived at about the same time as another woman, who had received the same e-mail I did from MoveOn. The woman behind the counter had no idea MoveOn had sent this e-mail, so she was kept running around for quite a bit as more people started trickling in.
I took a seat and started talking to the people around me. Everyone who had come from MoveOn was in the same boat I was- volunteer virgins. But as we talked about what had brought us there, it became clear that we were all really fired up and eager to do whatever we could to help Barack Obama defeat McCain in Florida.
I talked about what had brought me there- how, while watching the debate the night before, I had become infuriated by John McCain's callous disregard for the health of the mother while discussing abortion rights. Now, I'll slap anyone who uses "air quotes" just on sheer principle, but I don't expect that kind of behavior from a presidential candidate... not even a Republican one. It was beyond the pale, and at that moment something in me snapped- and I was no longer content to just sit back and hope that Obama would win.
Another woman talked about her worst moment during the debate- when McCain brought up the whole Troops Teaching idea. She was studying for her Masters in Education, and had very clear ideas about where the American educational system currently is and where it's going. We both loved Obama's line on increased funding for early education- that it is an investment for the future. She was outraged that McCain would suggest placing unqualified people in charge of instructing our nations' youth, and we equated it thusly: If you wouldn't let someone who's never been to medical school perform a surgical operation on you, why on earth would you let someone who's never learned how to be an educator teach your children how to think?
Along with the newbies from MoveOn, there were three people who had travelled to Florida for the sole purpose of volunteering for Obama. One woman from Massachusetts and a couple from New York were staying here until the election, just to help us out. I was absolutely floored. But as we got to talking, I understood. One of the volunteers got to talking about fivethirtyeight.com and how while Obama currently had 95% chance of winning the election, the number dropped to 50% if he lost Florida. I began to see how important my volunteering was.
The Obama campaign crew organized people into phonebankers and door-to-door canvassers, and asked me which one I wanted to do. I asked them which was more effective/productive and was told that canvassing, without question, was the most needed. Once they made it clear that they were cool with sending me, who had NEVER canvassed before, out on their behalf, I paired up with another newbie and we set out.
Since we spent so much time getting organized (and then got rather lost on our way to the neighborhood they sent us to), we were only able to stay out for half an hour, which equated to thirteen doors knocked on. Most either weren't home, or refused to talk to us, but we spoke with six people.
To be more accurate, four of those people saw our shirts and buttons, and immediately started shaking their heads. "We're all McCain voters here" they said, just before shutting their doors in our faces. Sigh.
We had one interesting moment when one woman opened her door, and her two dogs ran out. One ran up the street, and one ran down the street. She ignored us and started down after one of the dogs, looking rather unconcerned, so we kept on going. Her other dog kept following us... we would shoo him away and say "Go home, puppy dog! Go home!" and he would look up at us as if to say, "No! Puppies for Obama!" And so we had some cute canine companionship for the next five houses or so. Then we decided to turn back and walk our new four legged friend back home.
His owner was unwilling to talk to us, but further down the road we hit one house where the people inside were actually willing to talk to us. Yay! An actual conversation. The wife turned out to be pro-Obama, and I was so excited to be able to check off an Obama supporter on my clipboard that I totally forgot to follow up on if she was willing to volunteer. We did pass on information on early voting sites and times, which she had been previously unaware of.
Her husband, however, was pro-McCain. When asked why, he said that he liked McCain's small business tax policies better. I told him that for businesses making under $250,000 Obama's plan was actually better. He then said that he was for giving big businesses tax cuts too, as they created more jobs. At that point I thanked him for his time and then left.
My partner and I headed back to the campaign office soon after, but despite our unhappy numbers, we were both excited about what we had just done. We both agreed to come back again the next day and finish the list we had been given (it had about three dozen addresses). On my way home I started beating myself up about the last McCain supporter I had talked to. Why hadn't I talked about Obama's plan to give a tax credit to all businesses that created new jobs? Why hadn't I mentioned that McCain would give a tax credit to big businesses regardless of whether they would make new jobs or send jobs overseas? Grr!
This canvassing stuff is harder than it looks. Writing e-mails, I've got the whole freaking internet just a mouse click away, ready to back me up. Out there on the street, I've got to be able to pull the relevant facts out of my head on the fly. And I'm the girl whose mom always called the Absentminded Professor... I've been told (and I don't disagree) that my own head would fall off if it weren't attached. How am I going to do this?
Well, I guess I'll figure it out this afternoon. After all, practice makes perfect.