Volunteering for Obama
The Obama campaign asked me to do some volunteer work yesterday, and I agreed and it was my first experience doing canvassing for any candidate. I really almost bailed on it, and then said "Hey, you're better than that", and even made it there on time. They had us canvassing in pairs, and my partner was a big, black ex-marine, and since I'm not a small guy myself, I think we made a potentially intimidating pair (after the first couple of streets, we stopped double-teaming houses). So, by luck of the draw, we got my neighborhood. We were looking at the packet, and I was like "These street names look familiar." We weren't going to every house, they gave us a list of people to talk to, I guess people the campaign hadn't been able to reach. We had 117 houses on our list, however I think we only reached about 70 before it got dark. I think I met more of my neighbors today than I have in the 9 years I lived there. So, it was fun, and also frustrating. The weather was amazing, which was good. However, we had probably 70% or more "not home" responses, and a bunch of those were at houses where 2 or 3 cars were parked out front. A depressing thing was how many of the houses we went to were for sale and several of those were deserted.
A few interesting people. One was where the person we wanted wasn't home, however her mother was very careful to tell us that she was at Harvard and would be voting for Obama. Another woman told us she wasn't voting for Obama, she wasn't voting for McCain, she wasn't voting for Biden, she was voting for Palin. This woman, who was late 40s and Republican, has been swayed by the "folksy" side of Palin. One guy said he hadn't decided yet because neither candidate has really discussed immigration, and it is amazing to me how much of a non-issue this has become after being such a big deal in the last couple of elections.
So, when all was said and done, I think I've volunteered to be a precinct captain, although I told them I really wouldn't be available until after the 15th because of the tax deadline. Other tasks today are to see if I can get them a suite in this building rent-free for a couple of weeks before the election. I don't know the politics of the people who lease out the building, and they have a lot of empty suites now, so maybe they will go for it in any case. Good PR, and maybe they get a tenant or two out of it.
This is pretty cool. I'm almost 47 and this is the campaign in which I've most involved. And its fun! Go Blue, Nevada!
A few interesting people. One was where the person we wanted wasn't home, however her mother was very careful to tell us that she was at Harvard and would be voting for Obama. Another woman told us she wasn't voting for Obama, she wasn't voting for McCain, she wasn't voting for Biden, she was voting for Palin. This woman, who was late 40s and Republican, has been swayed by the "folksy" side of Palin. One guy said he hadn't decided yet because neither candidate has really discussed immigration, and it is amazing to me how much of a non-issue this has become after being such a big deal in the last couple of elections.
So, when all was said and done, I think I've volunteered to be a precinct captain, although I told them I really wouldn't be available until after the 15th because of the tax deadline. Other tasks today are to see if I can get them a suite in this building rent-free for a couple of weeks before the election. I don't know the politics of the people who lease out the building, and they have a lot of empty suites now, so maybe they will go for it in any case. Good PR, and maybe they get a tenant or two out of it.
This is pretty cool. I'm almost 47 and this is the campaign in which I've most involved. And its fun! Go Blue, Nevada!