Election, campaigning, and Obama

I went campaigning for Obama on Wednesday night, for about 3 hours. The night before, I canvassed for an hour with my stepmother, but she had done most of the talking. This time I was paired with a dour but amiable guy named Ryan. He was a mostly stay-at-home dad who worked part-time at Trader Joe's. He had gone to Northeastern, and worked as a campaigner for all those "Do you have a minute for..." places during college. We split up the houses on our list, so we could get as many done as possible.

We canvassed a primarily White, working class neighborhood neighborhood in Ohio (a good depiction of these voters was written here in the New Yorker). Our instructions were to first ask if they knew who they were voting for. If they were leaning toward a candidate or undecided, we next asked what the most important issue to them was, and talked to them about that topic. If they said they were definite Obama supporters, we asked how likely they were to vote, and gave them information about early voting. And to McCain supporters, we said "Okay, thanks. Have a good night." Everything was recorded on an information sheet, so the campaign could keep track of voter leanings, issues, and voting-likelihood.

The names and addresses we were given included registered independents and democrats, so there were only a few McCain supporters. Several people were still undecided. The main issue for everyone we talked to was the economy. Some of the undecided voters were wavering between the two candidates. Others knew they would not vote for McCain, but did not know whether they would vote for Obama. I usually talked to them about jobs and taxes. Several people were very passionate about their worries with the economy and their anger at McCain and Bush. Overall, it was a really good experience, and I was surprised by the effectiveness of going door to door. I wasn't sure people would listen, but they did. And a couple of Obama supporters were unclear on voting procedures which would have left them without a vote if someone had not talked to them. I hope to do more canvassing next week. And I would encourage you all to do some, if you have time! In North Carolina, the senate vote is particularly important--Kay Hagan is running very, very close to Dole, so every vote counts.

After canvassing, I received a "VIP" pass to the Obama event, which meant I had access to the field directly around the stage where he spoke. I went with an employee of my stepmom, and we were very close to the stage. At one point before the speech, an elderly woman near us blacked out from the heat. Many of us gave her food, water, and shade before the paramedics arrived. Otherwise, the wait was largely uneventful. In the lead-up to Obama, several people spoke, including Ted Strickland, the governer of Ohio. Obama's speech was good, if difficult to hear (I think we were actually a little too close). Afterwards, I managed to get near the front and shake his hand, which was very cool. I have pictures for you all, but posting them may need to wait until I am in Philly.