Liberal women, Barack Obama, and Starbucks Coffee (Adventures in CANVASSING)

My first day of canvassing was spent in Lorton, Virginia. Lorton is a small, isolated suburb in the northwest part of the state, and liberal-minded voters were quite common. I canvassed with Planned Parenthood, a non-profit organization dedicated towards electing a pro-choice president. Consequently I found myself in the company of politically involved liberal women, all in their early to mid twenties. Had I a glass of cranberry juice with a lime, I could not have been happier.

 

Our assignment was not intended towards converting independents or conservatives. Rather, our job was to focus on the democratic base, presenting them with the means of voting on the following day. We knocked on doors, distributed campaign literature, and informed the residents on the location of their polling place. We also checked to see if any residents needed transportation to their polling locations.

 

By the middle of the day I had it down to a rhythm: Excuse me, do you know the hours when we can vote? Residents of Lorton can vote between 6 am to 7 pm, one hour before the polls close in DC. Where is my polling place? South County Secondary School, at 8501 Silverbrook Road. How do I get there? Well, coming from the south you head north on 5^th Pl. 5^th Pl turns into Windsmere Hill Drive. From there, you turn right and head east on Lorton Road until you get to Silverbrook Road. Turn left on Silverbrook, and you will come to it after about a mile.

 

It seemed to me that people were either completely clueless or prepared when we visited them. One couple was mistaken on the location of their polls. Another was planning on voting after dinner, well after the polls would close. But others had already coordinated elaborate plans to rendezvous with relatives and reach their location by 5 am, an hour before the polls were even open.  

 

Most of the people we visited were polite and receptive. I was even invited into a woman’s apartment, leaving only after she showed off her Obama T-shirt and her husband’s Obama hat. Throughout the course of the day, few people were less than polite; none were hostile. The only minor incident that I experienced was an error in the information given to me by Planned Parenthood: one of the houses I visited belonged to supporters of McCain.

 

After four hours of canvassing we returned to the home base, a home of one of the Planned Parenthood organizers. Hungry and exhausted, my main concern was what we would do for dinner. We ended up going out, courtesy of Planned Parenthood. Then it was time for the rally.

 

Senator Obama was scheduled for a final rally at the Prince William Fairgrounds in Manassas. The doors opened at 5, but the rally was not scheduled to start until 9. As a show of gratitude, Planned Parenthood had hooked us up with VIP status, giving us access to the press box. Unfortunately, due to an error at the will call check in, we were unable to access the box. We did, however, circumvent the wait in line, which would have taken a substantial amount of time.

 

Inside the rally grounds we continued to distribute our literature. We were not the only campaign: groups representing environmental conservation interests and GOTV were also there. I was given a clipboard and told to get as many people to sign on with Planned Parenthood’s campaign as possible. I ended with 21 people signing on, eight less than my seasoned counterpart, Travis.

 

When Senator Obama walked onstage, everyone went insane. Initially expecting forty thousand people, the Obama campaign was surprised by seeing the number of attendees rise to double their initial projection. C-Span later stated that there were one hundred thousand people in attendance that night. The majority of those people waited over five hours to hear Obama speak.

 

This was the first time in my life that I have seen a prominent political figure in person. On TV, Obama is a composed, confident, and professional individual. In person, he is all of those, but also charismatic. His tone yesterday was commanding, powerful, inspiring. Seeing him in person reminded me of why America needs a president of his caliber. Obama spoke of his campaign, of what he had seen along the ride, and how his experience has humbled him.

 

Jordan, one of the organizers, volunteered to take Travis and me back to AU. We got to her car at 11:40 pm. I was very tired at that point, so I took a one hour nap. When I woke up we had not moved. The parking lot was gridlocked, as there were only two exits to the main roads to accommodate 100,000 people. It would be another forty minutes before we finally reached the exit. Prince William Fairgrounds, though capable of supporting a large capacity, was severely limited in accessibility, having only two roads leading out.

 

I arrived back on campus at 2:12 am. Travis intended to volunteer at the polls on Election Day, and I had already told him that I wanted to go back out. Before I went back into Leonard, he jokingly said that he wanted to get an early start to volunteering.

 

Four hours later, I realized that he hadn’t been joking. After receiving a text at 6 am, I performed an ultra fast mobilization that would have shamed one of Washington’s minutemen. We headed out to Ballston on the orange line. Right off the metro we were greeted by enthusiastic Obama supporters. They pointed us in the direction of the campaign office, only two blocks away. The office directed us to a home base a mile away, where we were to obtain literature and addresses for distribution.

 

On our arrival, Travis and I received another teammate named Pat. Pat was a local boy, so he was an expert in finding our locations. It was my second time canvassing in less than twenty-four hours, but it was already much easier. The only problem that I encountered occurred when my location was in an apartment. The desk receptionist was not permitted to allow me to enter unless one of the residents was expecting us. I gave him the literature, just in case. Before I left he told me: “Don’t worry, we’re all Obama supporters.”

 

The day continued to rock. Travis, Pat, and I wandered into a Starbucks for the free coffee, but then discovered that none of us particularly liked coffee. Thankfully, with some cinnamon, milk, and an outrageously high quantity of sugar it was bearable.

 

In the early afternoon I left my cohorts and returned to campus. Reflecting on the last twenty-four hours, my only regret was that I had not acted sooner.