A Day in the Life of an Obama Campaign Volunteer, 11-4-08

Like the countless thousands of Obama for America and Campaign for Change staff and volunteers, I am excited that our efforts helped get out the vote in which fellow Americans elected Barack Obama 44th President of the U.S. by a landslide. Tuesday morning when I woke up, I had a feeling of expectation, knowing that today was the day. I had already requested a half-day off from work, and two different Lakeland captains, Ravi and Jane as well as Max, the local Field Organizer had contacted me about canvassing and phone banking for Election Tuesday.

I've only been living in Lakeland for 6 months, so I'm only familiar with my immediate North Lakeland community. Jan took my address and sent me to the nearest Lakeland Obama office, the UFCW Union Hall off I-4 East, Exit 38. Most volunteers were already out that morning as of 10:00am canvassing Lakeland neighborhoods encouraging voters identified as Democratic or Obama-leaning voters to get out and vote. For those voters who hadn't already early voted and needed a ride, volunteers were to check off the names of those persons and inform the Obama staff which voters would need transportation to the polls. So while there were more McCain sign wavers--at least at the 3 precincts closest to my house--the Obama volunteers were doing something more practical, which was making sure our voters actually arrived at the polls. This was something that was being done, not just in Tampa Bay, but all over the country, and was certainly effective in geting out the vote. I'm happy to report that though we did not win Polk County, we made Polk County very competitive and beat the 2000 and 2004 election totals (Gore 45%, Kerry 41%, Obama 46%). The campaign however, won neighboring Hillsborough County (Tampa), Pinellas (St. Petersburg), as well Osceola and Orange Counties (Orlando) to the north east, Alachua (Gainesville), Gadsden, Leon (Tallahassee) & Jefferson counties in the north, Flagler & Volusia counties (Daytona Beach), Palm Beach (W. Palm Beach), Broward (Ft. Lauderdale) & Miami-Dade (Miami), Monroe (Key West) & St. Lucie counties in South Florida by 51% to 67%. Max had already told 200 of us in our October 2 Polk County organizing meeting that if we won along I-4, we would win the state of Florida.

To facilitate getting out the vote, neighborhood captains had access to voter registration databases which had already identified where all Polk County registered Democrats and Democrat-leaning Independents and Republicans lived. Each voter contact page had fields for address, voter first & last name, party affiliation, Vote by Mail status, and check boxes for whether or not the voter had already voted, and if so whether they voted for Obama or needed a ride to the polls. This was all the result of Howard Dean and the DNC creating the first truly unified voter file which allowed the Obama Campaign and each state organization to pinpoint accurately every Democratic or Democratic-leaning voter by neighborhood, city, county and state. Finally the top of each page identified the voting precinct for the particular neighborhood in question. Canvassers were also given door hangers to distribute if no one was home with the voter's precinct information and voter protection phone numbers to call if they had trouble voting. The Obama for America Campaign certainly was not going to allow a repeat of 2000, when there were innumerable election "irregularities" in Florida, but no one to address those problems in a timely manner.

Upon arriving athe UFCW, I was given a folder of voter addresses in a middle-class subdivision very close to my own in North Lakeland as well as door hangers for those that I couldn't contact. Once I arrived at my destination courtesy of Google Maps directions, I was amazed to see how open voters were. I certainly expected to have a few doors closed in my face, but almost everyone who was at home, Black, White, or Latino acted like they were glad to see me, and let me know that they or their relatives had already voted for Obama earlier in the day or had early voted in the previous two weeks. A couple folks were not sure of their voter status so I gave them relevant phone numbers so they could check. Overall, it was a good canvass, and I was glad to see that very close to my neighborhood there was nearly an entire subdivision where the majority of home owners are Obama supporters. Because I had to go return to work at 1:30pm, I couldn't quite finish my voter sheet. However, I met my captain, Jane who took the list off my hands at my precinct, and said everything was fine because the plan was to canvass each neighborhood at least twice on Tuesday if time and events allowed.

About 4:30pm, I had to return home due to a family emergency. Once that was taken care of, I called Jane and Max to find out what was going on. The polls closed at 7pm, so everyone was moving from neighborhood to neighborhood. By 5:30pm, word came that residents of one particular area of town were not voting at their precinct as expected, so we all went to the St. Mark's Church, the Obama office in that area to canvass and phonebank. Inside the church we were provided with complimentary cubanettes, donuts, fruit, and drink. There was a rumor that due to the record voting, Governor Charlie Crist would extend the voting past 7pm, which would have slightly changed our phone scripts, but about 6:30pm, we confirmed that this was not accurate, and then wrapped up a few minutes later. Our phone script was simply, "Hello, this is ___ calling from the Obama campaign. I'm checking to see if you had the opportunity to vote early or to vote today. If not, do you need a ride to the polls? If you voted, may I ask if you voted for Obama? If you are in line when the polls close at 7pm, you have the right to vote. Please call this number if you have any questions. Thank you." Following our wrap-up for the evening, Obama staff headed to the Lakeland Center on Lime Street for an Election night celebration for Polk County. I figured I had done enough and wanted to get back to my family in time for dinner, since I rarely miss that time with them, so I went home happy that I had contributed in some small way to what I was sure was going to be an Obama win in Florida.

To sum it all up, I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to get in a national grass roots campaign for the first time in my adult life. I've been a registered Democrat and voter since 1999, and have previously campaigned for local races including judgeships since my college days, but never have I seen a campaign as well organized and professional as that run by our next President, Barack Obama. This campaign was successful in several ways. The Obama Campaign for Change proved that not only does bottom-up political organizing work when provided leadership, motivation, and sufficient money and resources from the top, but also that America identified with Change. Not just any kind of Change (as ANY new President would represent change), but Change which truly allowed the individual voter to have a voice in electing his/her leaders. The campaign also proved that utilizing social networking, a relatively new Web 2.0 phenomenon, and the Internet, a campaign could rewrite the political game in terms of providing organizing tools, ad hoc communication with supporters, and tapping unlimited small donors like myself who gave $5, $25, $100 at a time for an average of $86 for September, Obama's $150 million month, and proved more powerful than any big special interest lobbyists. This is the ultimate form of campaign finance reform. Many have talked about it and have attempted to pass legilslation to limit big money contributions, but until Obama, no one was able to successfully use it to affect the outcome of an election, not even Howard Dean whose online campaigning and 50-state strategy were both perfected by Obama's team.