Yeah, that’s what the guy called us at the very first house my co-canvasser and I called on.
But other than that one schmuck, I had an exhilarating weekend going door-to-door for Obama in Nevada’s Douglas County. This area, along the eastern shores of Lake Tahoe, may be one of the most beautiful spots in North America, which made certainly made the experience enjoyable.
But even more importantly, about 30 other dedicated Bay Area Democrats and I got a chance to do something useful for the Obama campaign. As we got underway this past Saturday morning, walk lists and law signs in hand, I realized something amazing: I was the ground game.
Tahoe being a wealthy enclave, we were warned we’d probably encounter a preponderance of McCain voters out there, but based on the advance work by the local Obama team, we also knew there were plenty of Obama supporters and leaners in the precincts.
We found all of the above. And other than that one kook, all of the McCain people were very polite, even grateful to us for doing our civic duty. The undecided voters we met were odd: they ran through a litany of complaints about the state of the country -- the same litany you or I would cite -- and somehow came out of it leaning more McCain. Even though they uniformly disliked Sarah Palin, these Nevada voters seemed not to fully grasp that she would have a good chance of becoming president should McCain win.
But the Obama voters there were refreshing. To generalize, they seemed to understand they lived in a fairly red district of a fairly red state; that they did not want to be too overt in their support (few would take bumper stickers or lawn signs); but to paraphrase this one Democrat/construction worker we met, Obama has Nevada in the bag. Man, he was confident.
We canvassed an elderly woman who lived in a palace by the lake. She went on a bit about Obama and Powell and their "negro blood," but even she seemed to like Obama. Ordinarily, she was probably a solid Republican vote. But this time, with her distress about the country, and with her favorable impressions of Obama -- AND perhaps because we took the time to meet with her, talk with her, offer a smile and some hope, maybe she will pull the lever for Barack.
Canvassing in Nevada sometimes seemed like a waste. More than 90% of the houses we called on were vacant. But my friend and I were just one tiny part of a much much larger army of workers fanned out across the country, spreading good cheer and good will, enthusiasm and hope. That is several nucelar megatons worth of positive energy for our candidate and I have to believe we are making a difference.
Get out there and work. It's fun and well worth it.... even if you don't get to hang out by Lake Tahoe!