Excuse the brevity, but I wanted to share a story with you all that I'm sure will brighten your day. Last weekend, in Greensboro, NC, I had the pleasure of participating in a dry run for the Obama's GOTV campaign. I'm a Staging Location Director, and I'm proud to say that there were over 1,100 knocks down by my team of volunteers. That may not sound like a lot, but given that we canvass in a hilly neighborhood, where the homes can be spread out, I think that was a pretty good haul.
The local field organizer was pleased that we were working out the kinks at our location, as we need to be ready for 3-4 times as many volunteers the weekend before the election.
During our late evening meeting to go over the day's events, he told me something that blew me away.
Last Saturday, in Greensboro, NC, a 73 year old woman took to the streets by herself to canvass for Barack Obama. She knocked on 93 doors. We averaged around 30, and are very pleased with 50, but she knocked on nearly 100 doors. Unbelievable. She actually made me feel lazy.
If you can walk and talk, you can knock. And if this woman is out there all day on a chilly Saturday, by herself reaching all the voters, then so should you.
Now on to another tale. On Saturday, between canvassing shifts I started to phone canvass, hoping to get some more volunteers (our flake rate was nearly 33%). I left a voice mail for an undecided voter, giving him information on how to access the web site and directing him on early voting. After I left the message, I didn't think anything about him, until today.
I was sitting at my day job eating lunch when I got a call on my cell phone. I wasn't familiar with the number, but I answered it. The man on the phone answered and said his name was Joe. He told me that he was returning my message from Saturday. He told me that his voice mail box and regular mailbox had been filled with nasty voice mails and mailings from the McCain campaign.
He sounded disgusted as he mentioned this, but his mood changed dramatically as he started talking about his experience with the Obama volunteers. He said that every Obama volunteer and supporter he had spoken with had only positive things to say. We offered him a positive message on where Obama stands, and we were helpful in directing him on how to early vote.
Needless to say, Joe is now an Obama supporter.
These last few weeks, I encourage those of you who haven't volunteered to give at least a little bit of your time. I will tell you what I tell every new volunteer I talk to during their training. Most of these undecided voters need a nudge. The McCain campaign has little to offer people on why the should vote for John McCain. All they have to offer is why they shouldn't vote for Barack Obama.
When we give a positive message and make that personal connection, that may be all that an undecided voter needs to make their decision. And your work, my friends, may mean the difference between winning and losing.