Deltadog - Political Activist
I have been mulling over what I can do in support of my candidate of choice - Barack Obama - for some time. I have been donating semi-regularly but as the campaign wore on and my stake in it grew I've increasingly thought that if Obama loses I'll feel a lot better if I can say I did everything I could. So I took the plunge...
Mostly on a spur of the moment thing I signed up to canvas in York, PA. The experience was very enlightening on many levels - many not even slightly political.
I was introduced to a world of very politically passionate people. I drove to the huge and busy Obama headquarters in Columbi, MD and asked where the carpools to PA were. I was prepared to drive myself as I was late. I was late becase I voted in the morning and even though the experience was smooth I couldn't get turned around quick enough for the 10:00 rollout. I got there almost 30 minutes late but still got a ride with a lawyer from Columbia and his three sons maybe aged 2 years younger than R, A, and B respectively.
So we get there at the York headquarters and are sent out to a precinct headquarters in an old Church in a part of town with mostly Black and Latino people. We were given a very quick training / pep talk. Then we were paired off. I was paired off with an acupuncturist from Ellicott City, Rebecca. Then we got an assignment that consisted, for me and Rebecca, of tenement apartments and some row houses.
1. I have it pretty good. Even when I exercise my god-given right to bitch and moan
2. My daily life does not involve significant human contact during the weekday
3. York, PA is a beautiful town with really cool 19th century architecture all over the place. There is elegant ironwork, and stonework, and houses with elegantly carved doors, bay windows and pillars. Even in places where the aforementioned things needed repair and paint you could see all the care and individuality that went into such Baroque decorations.
I didn't actually contact many people. The early afternoon is bad for working stiffs. I did talk to a lot of retirees that seemed really jazzed about this election. Most I had talked to had voted already (Obama). One said he would vote later (yeah right). One old lady said she had voted in every election since 1948. Mostly there were a lot of places I couldn't get into because there were locked up tight and no one was around to buzz me in. I talked to a couple of rather young moms who had voted and actually helped distribute literature and stickers.
The mood was pretty jazzed - people greeted us on the street. I have to admit that for a white dude being pasted with Obama stickers helped ;-).
Canvassing for a political figure of your choice is something I would heartily recommend to every American regardless of political stripe. It's a step into a different world. You *will* see new things and meet new people.
Anyway, I've vowed not to look at any results until maybe 10 p.m. or so. I did this whole thing at least partly so I wouldn't sit at work sneaking peeks at CNN and going crazy.
Mostly on a spur of the moment thing I signed up to canvas in York, PA. The experience was very enlightening on many levels - many not even slightly political.
I was introduced to a world of very politically passionate people. I drove to the huge and busy Obama headquarters in Columbi, MD and asked where the carpools to PA were. I was prepared to drive myself as I was late. I was late becase I voted in the morning and even though the experience was smooth I couldn't get turned around quick enough for the 10:00 rollout. I got there almost 30 minutes late but still got a ride with a lawyer from Columbia and his three sons maybe aged 2 years younger than R, A, and B respectively.
So we get there at the York headquarters and are sent out to a precinct headquarters in an old Church in a part of town with mostly Black and Latino people. We were given a very quick training / pep talk. Then we were paired off. I was paired off with an acupuncturist from Ellicott City, Rebecca. Then we got an assignment that consisted, for me and Rebecca, of tenement apartments and some row houses.
1. I have it pretty good. Even when I exercise my god-given right to bitch and moan
2. My daily life does not involve significant human contact during the weekday
3. York, PA is a beautiful town with really cool 19th century architecture all over the place. There is elegant ironwork, and stonework, and houses with elegantly carved doors, bay windows and pillars. Even in places where the aforementioned things needed repair and paint you could see all the care and individuality that went into such Baroque decorations.
I didn't actually contact many people. The early afternoon is bad for working stiffs. I did talk to a lot of retirees that seemed really jazzed about this election. Most I had talked to had voted already (Obama). One said he would vote later (yeah right). One old lady said she had voted in every election since 1948. Mostly there were a lot of places I couldn't get into because there were locked up tight and no one was around to buzz me in. I talked to a couple of rather young moms who had voted and actually helped distribute literature and stickers.
The mood was pretty jazzed - people greeted us on the street. I have to admit that for a white dude being pasted with Obama stickers helped ;-).
Canvassing for a political figure of your choice is something I would heartily recommend to every American regardless of political stripe. It's a step into a different world. You *will* see new things and meet new people.
Anyway, I've vowed not to look at any results until maybe 10 p.m. or so. I did this whole thing at least partly so I wouldn't sit at work sneaking peeks at CNN and going crazy.