Things are hectic here in Pueblo! I spent the day today setting up a "staging location" out in a(n even more) rural (and also very conservative) area about 40 miles west of here, which we will use to coordinate our get out the vote effort in the next week. We are renting a space that used to be a malt shop, complete with white and black checked floors, a soda fountain and diner-style counters, and I think it's really starting to come together over there. We only had one man come in and call us socialists. So I think that counts as a good day.
For the rest of the evening I'm back at our Pueblo headquarters helping our out of state volunteer coordinator find housing for all of the volunteers that are coming in in the next week. Someone has promised us dozens! It will be a lot to handle, but it will also help a lot during the massive mobilization we are planning for this weekend. Democrats outnumber republicans 2 to 1 here in Pueblo, but unfortunately they don't turn out in the numbers they need to, so our efforts will really be concentrated on pushing, prodding, nagging, and generally harassing them into voting on or before the 4th. They might hate it when we call 4 times a day, but we'll keep doing it until they vote.
We are actually relying quite a bit on our out of state volunteers, since they don't have anything better to do than work for 12-16 hours a day. On the other hand, this campaign is very much about grassroots community organzing, at least on the level I'm at, so a big part of what we are doing is trying to encourage the locals to form their own networks. The idea is to provide them with the tools necessary to organize themselves so that they can have a voice as a community even after we leave. This leads to an interesting dichotomy and, honestly, as we get down to the wire our emphasis is definitely shifting (and quickly!) away from those more grassroots aspects to more of a straight numbers game in the last few days of the election. It's a nice idea though.
As for me, I've been busy from morning til... well, morning again. Last night we didn't get out of the office until after 3 a.m. and I had to be back up this morning at 7:30 to drive out to the boonies. (Speaking of driving, I never knew they sold 85 octane gas before. But apparently they do here. I have really no idea what that means though.) I'm not sure what it is I do, but the time somehow goes by. When I was on my way here I was a little wary of direct voter involvement, which is really the central part of the campaign, but that has definitely gotten easier. Although I still wouldn't say I'm very into persuading strangers to think/believe/vote a particular way, Ive been spending my days making at least 100 phone calls or "knocks" a day.
It's kind of strange when your biggest expense is coffee. And as far as I’m concerned the major food groups are caffeine and cookies. But I’m having a fantastic time. This is truly a special experience and I am SO incredibly grateful to have had this opportunity. I can’t wait to tell you more about it when I have time.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
Baracking the Vote
Hey everyone! I have been meaning to post here for the past few days about my newest adventure but I just haven't had the time at all because I've been so busy out here in Pueblo, Colorado, working for the Obama campaign.
I arrived in Pueblo tuesday morning after a looong drive across California, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado and was put right to work. In my first day "on the job" I canvassed door to door, phoned voters, painted signs for a rally and entered tons of data into the computer. My second day Joe Biden came to town, conveniently on a nearly freezing and windy day, for a rally so I spent all day on my feet running around organizing that and then all night recruiting volunteers from the data we collected on the attendees. The last few days I have become something of a "floater", helping out the staffers that need it around the office, mostly. Yesterday I helped out the out of state volunteer coordinator and today I've been with one of the field organizers (these are people who organize and are responsible for a specific area of "turf").
It's only been a few days but it feels like much longer, probably because all of my days start at 9 and go well past midnight and really couldn't be much fuller. I'm not sure what it is I do all day, but the time somehow goes by. I havent had a proper meal since my first day - mainly I just eat whatever donated food I can find in our back room. And (un)fortunately there is a bakery owned by huge Obama supporters right around the corner from our office so we have a lot of cookies around.
I can't even believe I found the time to write this. Thankfully my field organizer is extremely busy at the moment calling people (which is what I should have been doing), so I better go now... More soon, hopefully.
I arrived in Pueblo tuesday morning after a looong drive across California, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado and was put right to work. In my first day "on the job" I canvassed door to door, phoned voters, painted signs for a rally and entered tons of data into the computer. My second day Joe Biden came to town, conveniently on a nearly freezing and windy day, for a rally so I spent all day on my feet running around organizing that and then all night recruiting volunteers from the data we collected on the attendees. The last few days I have become something of a "floater", helping out the staffers that need it around the office, mostly. Yesterday I helped out the out of state volunteer coordinator and today I've been with one of the field organizers (these are people who organize and are responsible for a specific area of "turf").
It's only been a few days but it feels like much longer, probably because all of my days start at 9 and go well past midnight and really couldn't be much fuller. I'm not sure what it is I do all day, but the time somehow goes by. I havent had a proper meal since my first day - mainly I just eat whatever donated food I can find in our back room. And (un)fortunately there is a bakery owned by huge Obama supporters right around the corner from our office so we have a lot of cookies around.
I can't even believe I found the time to write this. Thankfully my field organizer is extremely busy at the moment calling people (which is what I should have been doing), so I better go now... More soon, hopefully.
Monday, October 20, 2008
A New Adventure
Hello all! It's been a while since my last post, but if any of you were interested I wanted to keep you updated on my new adventure.
Monday morning (5:30, behind schedule, of course) I left the comforts of my warm bed and set off for Pueblo, a small town about 40 miles south of Colorado Springs - and a 17 hour drive, approximately. I followed I-15 until Barstow, where I turned east on I-40. By 9:30 I was crossing into Arizona. After a quick stop for coffee (which turned out to be almost undrinkable - who knew truckers liked their coffee so sickly sweet?) I was on my way again, up through the beautiful, and unexpected, forest around Flagstaff and right on through to Holbrook, a dusty highway town which just happened to be the halfway point of my journey. I was already tired, and more than a little numb, but prepared to press on after a Taco Bell lunch. I crossed into New Mexico at about 3 (well, 4 with the time change). This part of the drive took me through the painted desert, which was just a gorgeous sight. I tried to take some pictures, but I had to concentrate on not driving off the road.
I hit Albuquerque around sunset - and just in time for rush hour - at about 6, and then pushed on through towards Santa Fe as it was getting dark - just in time for the thunderstorm. I was getting low on gas by this point, but couldnt seem to find a gas station open (gas stations CLOSE at 7?! What do you mean?) and I was loathe to drive 4 miles off the freeway to try to find one. After the gas light went on I started to get a little worried, especially coupled with the imposing absolute black of nighttime in the middle of nowhere. I finally found gas, but by then I had had enough of driving, so I decided to stay the night in Las Vegas (woohoo). Las Vegas, New Mexico, that is!
After a refreshing night at the Super 8 Las Vegas I continued my drive towards Pueblo. I was grateful after just a few hours on the road that I hadn't wasted all that beautiful scenery by driving through at night. Out there in that country, it's easy to see where that romantic notion of "the west" comes from - morning mist rising from wide open valleys; the occasional spattering of farm houses surrounded by horses and cattle.
Anyway, I finally arrived in Pueblo close to 11 a.m. and came straight into the Obama Headquarters in downtown Pueblo. I was a little apprehensive when I saw all of the smokestacks as I was driving in on the freeway, and as I drove past the steel mill on the way in. I know that this is the reality in much of America, especially the politically important parts, but it's been so built up in my mind that I thought it was more myth than reality. But no, there is a steel mill. Once I got past the outskirts though, it turns out that Pueblo is really a very cute town with what looks like a lot of history and plenty of old-west buildings around. I'll try to take a few pictures once I get my camera battery charged.
My first assignment was to head over to the “staging location” in south Pueblo. This is a fancy name for their offices in south Pueblo, which is also kind of silly since it’s such a small town. So I drove the five blocks to the “staging location” and met up with Simon, who took me out to teach me how to canvas.
Canvassing. This is something I was NOT at all looking forward to. I’m not a particularly good or forceful salesman and I do not like disturbing people, especially if they might get upset with me disturbing their peace and quiet. Thankfully I missed the part of the campaign that was spent trying to convert McCain supporters or undecideds. Since early voting has already started here In Pueblo, our emphasis now is on encouraging the Obama supporters to actually vote. This means that most of the people I talked to are already “on my side” so more likely to be nice to me.
Or that’s the idea. The reality is that the vast majority of people either aren’t home or don’t answer the door when I knock. And of those who do, a good proportion just tell me that the person I am looking for doesn’t live there anymore. And occasionally the new occupant is a McCain supporter/anarchist/crazy person. But this is actually kind of rare. Mostly the canvassing was uneventful, but good exercise.
Monday morning (5:30, behind schedule, of course) I left the comforts of my warm bed and set off for Pueblo, a small town about 40 miles south of Colorado Springs - and a 17 hour drive, approximately. I followed I-15 until Barstow, where I turned east on I-40. By 9:30 I was crossing into Arizona. After a quick stop for coffee (which turned out to be almost undrinkable - who knew truckers liked their coffee so sickly sweet?) I was on my way again, up through the beautiful, and unexpected, forest around Flagstaff and right on through to Holbrook, a dusty highway town which just happened to be the halfway point of my journey. I was already tired, and more than a little numb, but prepared to press on after a Taco Bell lunch. I crossed into New Mexico at about 3 (well, 4 with the time change). This part of the drive took me through the painted desert, which was just a gorgeous sight. I tried to take some pictures, but I had to concentrate on not driving off the road.
I hit Albuquerque around sunset - and just in time for rush hour - at about 6, and then pushed on through towards Santa Fe as it was getting dark - just in time for the thunderstorm. I was getting low on gas by this point, but couldnt seem to find a gas station open (gas stations CLOSE at 7?! What do you mean?) and I was loathe to drive 4 miles off the freeway to try to find one. After the gas light went on I started to get a little worried, especially coupled with the imposing absolute black of nighttime in the middle of nowhere. I finally found gas, but by then I had had enough of driving, so I decided to stay the night in Las Vegas (woohoo). Las Vegas, New Mexico, that is!
After a refreshing night at the Super 8 Las Vegas I continued my drive towards Pueblo. I was grateful after just a few hours on the road that I hadn't wasted all that beautiful scenery by driving through at night. Out there in that country, it's easy to see where that romantic notion of "the west" comes from - morning mist rising from wide open valleys; the occasional spattering of farm houses surrounded by horses and cattle.
Anyway, I finally arrived in Pueblo close to 11 a.m. and came straight into the Obama Headquarters in downtown Pueblo. I was a little apprehensive when I saw all of the smokestacks as I was driving in on the freeway, and as I drove past the steel mill on the way in. I know that this is the reality in much of America, especially the politically important parts, but it's been so built up in my mind that I thought it was more myth than reality. But no, there is a steel mill. Once I got past the outskirts though, it turns out that Pueblo is really a very cute town with what looks like a lot of history and plenty of old-west buildings around. I'll try to take a few pictures once I get my camera battery charged.
My first assignment was to head over to the “staging location” in south Pueblo. This is a fancy name for their offices in south Pueblo, which is also kind of silly since it’s such a small town. So I drove the five blocks to the “staging location” and met up with Simon, who took me out to teach me how to canvas.
Canvassing. This is something I was NOT at all looking forward to. I’m not a particularly good or forceful salesman and I do not like disturbing people, especially if they might get upset with me disturbing their peace and quiet. Thankfully I missed the part of the campaign that was spent trying to convert McCain supporters or undecideds. Since early voting has already started here In Pueblo, our emphasis now is on encouraging the Obama supporters to actually vote. This means that most of the people I talked to are already “on my side” so more likely to be nice to me.
Or that’s the idea. The reality is that the vast majority of people either aren’t home or don’t answer the door when I knock. And of those who do, a good proportion just tell me that the person I am looking for doesn’t live there anymore. And occasionally the new occupant is a McCain supporter/anarchist/crazy person. But this is actually kind of rare. Mostly the canvassing was uneventful, but good exercise.
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