Community organizers, unite!
Let’s hear it for community organizers! They rock. And they are going to roll out the vote for Barack Obama on Nov 4. After two days at Camp Obama over the weekend, I have a new appreciation for community organizers and their ability to make a difference. The two-day intensive training for volunteer field organizers showed me how passionate people are about Obama’s candidacy and the burning desire of so many to see the end of the Bush/Cheney years.
We’re fired up and ready to elect Obama.
I’m not going to spill all the details of what went on at Camp, but I feel confident in saying that the McCain camp can’t come close to inspiring and exciting voters as much as Obama does. First of all, McCain’s campaign is too homogeneous. He’s done a terrible job of reaching out beyond his core older, white, conservative base. Evidence? You ever see McCain pictured with someone who’s Latino, Asian, black, young, female (except for Palin and Cindy)? He doesn’t represent what this country looks like today–and he’s not even trying. McCain is stuck in the past and Obama sees the future.
The people organizing and working to get out the vote for Obama believe that the power to change America’s course is in their hands. But Palin has the audacity to mock community organizing when the right has used that method to get out their vote for years. This year Democrats are going to show just how effective community organizing can be. We’re going to bring it home. Remember, this election is not just about electing Obama. It’s about the electorate taking back government so it’s responsible to the people.
It was a privilege to attend Camp Obama with people who thought it was worth devoting 10 hours of their weekend learning how to get out the vote. Rather than caving to fear, we were expressing hope in our ability to tell fellow voters why Obama is the best choice for president. One thought sticks with me from the weekend. It came from Melissa, camp training director. She said, “Watching CNN does not help Barack Obama win.” She’s so right. Sitting on the couch watching overpaid pundits sit in a studio and handicap the presidential race is not going to make a difference on Election Day. Getting out there and calling voters, knocking on doors, engaging the undecideds on the critical issues of this campaign–that is what’s going to help Obama win. Ignore the polls. Keep our eyes on Election Day. Americans are better than what the McCain-Palin ticket represents.
I believe in the power to make a difference. I believe in the power of us all to reclaim our democracy. At Camp Obama, I saw that power in action. Here’s an interview I did with a fellow camp attendee on why she supports Obama.
I have more interviews to come. In the meantime, organize wherever you are. Turn off CNN. Talk to your neighbors, family and friends. Democracy needs you.
I recently went to Iowa to canvass for Barack Obama and I wanted to encourage others to do so. I traveled in a car with three other people to Burlington, Iowa. We arrived about noon and headed to the local Democratic Party headquarters. The volunteers were incredibly well organized! They had set up maps of neighborhoods where we were to canvass. We headed off in teams. We were to talk to what are known as sporadically voting Democrats — in other words, Democrats who don’t vote in every election. It was not our job to try to convince Republicans to vote for Obama, since that would have been a waste of time. We talked to a lot of Democrats whose greatest concern was health care. Others wanted to discuss the economy. The war in Iraq didn’t come up much, except to briefly dismiss it as a disaster for our country. Our main job was to identify wavering Democrats, who will be visited and possibly revisited by the local Democrats. As we were told by the volunteers there, eastern Iowa often goes blue, but the western part of the state is much more red. If we can get a big turnout at the polls for Obama, we can tip the balance toward blue on election day. As you’ve heard so many times before, every vote counts. Canvassing is one thing you can do that will really help Obama. It’s fun and very gratifying. We enountered only two people who were solidly for McCain. They were not rude and did not slam their doors in our faces. Iowans are very nice people who are accustomed to talking politics because of their traditionally high-profile role in the presidential elections. They just made it clear they would vote for McCain and then we moved on. We returned to the local Democratic Party headquarters by about 3 p.m. Someone’s mother had cooked us a hot, homemade meal in her crock pot. After we ate, we got back in the car and drove home, getting back to Evanston at about 8 p.m. It was a good way to spend a day, rather than worrying about who is going to win. I felt I had a hand in shaping the outcome of the 2008 election. If you would like to volunteer as a canvasser, call Toni Gilpin at 847.494.7302 or email tonigilpin.dpoe@gmail.com. If you are not from Evanston, she will give you a phone number to call. Go Obama!