AMDG

POLITICAL

Campaigning for Obama

This weekend I travelled out to Pike County, PA to work on the Obama campaign in a "Battleground State". Connecticut and New York are pretty much confirmed for Obama. The headquarters to which I was assigned was in the middle of a very pretty town named Milford. The actual headquarters was a basement office clearly marked with large posters and pictures.

The line of volunteers waiting to sign in was out of the door---about 30 in number. Almost all of the volunteers were men and women ranging from ages 40 to 70. I would say that most of them were seniors. They were from adjacent towns in Pennsylvania and New York. There were a few from Connecticut. A full time worker, a fiftyish woman from Eastchester, NY was my contact. Ironically, almost all of the workers that managed the operation were all in their twenties or in their teens. There was coffee and plenty of cake and bagels for all and everyone was very pleasant and congenial but dedicated in their support of the Obama-Biden Ticket.

We all had to go through a training session which was conducted by 2 high school students! One of them was even too young to vote. They briefed us on how to canvas especially in the rural areas and advised us of some of the problems we might encounter in the process. When one of them warned us about signs like "beware of dogs" and "trespassers" will be shot, that twas the cue for this city boy to volunteer to work on the phone banks.

Perhaps the most interesting volunteer I talked to was a Vietnam vet who rode up to the office in his motorcycle. He was a very distinguished man in his late forties or fifties who fought in the Vietnam war. He readily admitted that he was a Republican but became soured on the party during George Bush's administration. I asked why he wasn't supporting John McCain, a fellow veteran. He said that he was convinced that Obama was the only man who could bring this country together to get us out of the mess that we were in. He worked with me on the phones for the entire day.

In general, what impressed me most was the smooth, efficient management of the operation. It occured to me that there were hundreds of Obama campaign offices like this one scattered throughout the battleground states of the country. I was surprised to hear that there were 70 offices in Pennsylvania alone. Now I know why the Republicans were so upset about Obama's experience as a community organizer.

JVP