My wife made me canvas for Obama; here's what I learned

Charlotte, N.C. - There has been a lot of speculation that Barack Obama might win the election due to his better "ground game" and superior campaign organization.

I had the chance to view that organization up close this month when I canvassed for him. I'm not sure I learned much about his chances, but I learned a lot about myself and about this election.

Let me make it clear: I'm pretty conservative. I grew up in the suburbs. I voted for George H.W. Bush twice, and his son once. I was disappointed when Bill Clinton won, and disappointed he couldn't run again.

I encouraged my son to join the military. I was proud of him in Afghanistan, and happy when he came home, and angry when he was recalled because of the invasion of Iraq. I'm white, 55, I live in the South and I'm definitely going to get a bigger tax bill if Obama wins.

I am the dreaded swing voter.

So you can imagine my surprise when my wife suggested we spend a Saturday morning canvassing for Obama. I have never canvassed for any candidate. But I did, of course, what most middle-aged married men do: what I was told.

At the Obama headquarters, we stood in a group to receive our instructions. I wasn't the oldest, but close, and the youngest was maybe in high school. I watched a campaign organizer match up a young black man who looked to be college age with a white guy about my age to canvas together. It should not have been a big thing, but the beauty of the image did not escape me.

Instead of walking the tree-lined streets near our home, my wife and I were instructed to canvass a housing project. A middle-aged white couple with clipboards could not look more out of place in this predominantly black neighborhood.

We knocked on doors and voices from behind carefully locked doors shouted, "Who is it?"

"We're from the Obama campaign," we'd answer. And just like that doors opened and folks with wide smiles came out on the porch to talk.

Grandmothers kept one hand on their grandchildren and made sure they had all the information they needed for their son or daughter to vote for the first time.

Young people came to the door rubbing sleep from their eyes to find out where they could vote early, to make sure their vote got counted.

We knocked on every door we could find and checked off every name on our list. We did our job, but Obama may not have been the one who got the most out of the day's work.

I learned in just those three hours that this election is not about what we think of as the "big things."

It's not about taxes. I'm pretty sure mine are going to go up no matter who is elected.

It's not about foreign policy. I think we'll figure out a way to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan no matter which party controls the White House, mostly because the people who live there don't want us there anymore.

I don't see either of the candidates as having all the answers.

I've learned that this election is about the heart of America. It's about the young people who are losing hope and the old people who have been forgotten. It's about those who have worked all their lives and never fully realized the promise of America, but see that promise for their grandchildren in Barack Obama. The poor see a chance, when they often have few. I saw hope in the eyes and faces in those doorways.

My wife and I went out last weekend to knock on more doors. But this time, not because it was her idea. I don't know what it's going to do for the Obama campaign, but it's doing a lot for me.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1103/p09s02-coop.html

Jonathan Curley is a banker. He voted for George H.W. Bush twice and George W. Bush once.

rog wrote:

I saw hope

"Hope" won't stop terrorists. "Hope" won't balance the nation's budget. "Hope" won't help a single person better their life. "Hope," in and of itself, is a meaningless abstact concept.

These people have been sold a bill of goods by a fast-talking scam artist.

Who's your wife voting for, EP?

The Other One wrote:

rog wrote:

I saw hope

"Hope" won't stop terrorists. "Hope" won't balance the nation's budget. "Hope" won't help a single person better their life. "Hope," in and of itself, is a meaningless abstact concept.

These people have been sold a bill of goods by a fast-talking scam artist.

Kinda like a preacher talking about faith and hope. And a good moral Republican eats it up when preachers talk about it.

I too did some canvassing for the first time in my life this year.
I came away with a different set of observations. I did see parents holding on to their children. I did not presume it was so they would soak up the message. Children that need to be held onto are less likely to be absorbing the the truth and more likely wanting to play with the puppy on their porch.
I saw young and old. I saw those who were comfortable in their retirement and those who were yet struggling. There were well maintained properties and run down rat traps. I spoke with the well versed and met those who could only repeatedly say "no speak english". Most were respectable citizens, but there were also admitted felons with no right to vote.

Rog wrote:

I've learned that this election is about the heart of America. It's about the young people who are losing hope and the old people who have been forgotten. It's about those who have worked all their lives and never fully realized the promise of America, but see that promise for their grandchildren in Barack Obama. The poor see a chance, when they often have few. I saw hope in the eyes and faces in those doorways.

Jonathan Curley is a banker. He voted for George H.W. Bush twice and George W. Bush once.

And what I saw was not what the above mentioned ad for Obama saw, but a truly mixed view of thoughts, opinions, hopes, desires, cures and concerns.
There was no one direction. There was not a lot of people all pulling for the same candidate as your editorial suggests.

But then I canvassed in the real world and I am not a banker.

Bighead wrote:

Who's your wife voting for, EP?

She's 1-2 since she became eligible. She voted for Dole in '96 and Gore in '00. That was before I knew her.

She can't stand the messiah or the disciples she works with at Berkley Midwest.