Monday, November 3, 2008

Election Day Eve

It is the day before Election Day. Hopefully, by the next time I post, Barack Obama will be the president-elect. I have to admit that it gives me butterflies thinking of the results. I am trying to envision Wednesday's NY Times cover with a picture of Obama and the words "Victory!" underneath it. At the same time, I'm trying to prepare myself for a potential recount and (gasp!) upset.

Yesterday, I went to NE Philadelphia again to canvass for the Obama campaign. This time I drove a rental van with six other people, all of us strangers, to one of the offices. The place was buzzing; people were signing up by droves. Volunteers, some who had been there all week and will most likely be seeing it through to the end, were training others and handing out packets with names and addresses of people who lived in Mayfair, the blue-collar community in which we were located. All the people on the list had been identified as Obama supporters or likely supporters. The goal was to visit them at their homes and speak with them about getting out to vote on Tuesday. There was no more convincing people at this point. Many are still undecided and that's their prerogative. We were there simply to make sure they would vote, regardless of who they supported. Of course, the idea is that our presence would lead them to support Obama.

Altogether, I knocked on 77 doors and spoke with 37 people. Some were Obama supporters and some wouldn't say who they were supporting. For the most part, my presence was not met with much enthusiasm. Some of these people had been contacted as many as five times since the campaign started and were frustrated by it. Others were middle-aged mothers who seemed too tired and busy to talk to me. I didn't get many elderly folks, but others from my team had and were thoroughly delighted with them. Most of them were charming and sweet, offering volunteers tea and a bathroom, or amusingly grumpy, slamming doors in faces or shouting absurd things at them. Either way, they made funny stories. A couple of people encountered smear leaflets from pro-life groups and one had a leaflet shoved in her face after being lured over by a couple of innocuous-looking old ladies.

The whole day was so inspiring. It showed how committed and passionate our side is. I just hope all that hard work pays off.

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