Canvassing for Barack Obama in Cincinnati

I spent this morning canvassing for Barack Obama.  Ohio is such an important battleground state and we have an opportunity to make a real difference in this election.

Canvassing is a pretty simple thing, lots of legwork and knocking on doors, but something that’s really useful in these last days before the election. 

My morning started with a trip over to the Barack Obama campaign office in East Walnut Hills.  At 9am, the office was already buzzing with activity.  There was a table near the door where I was greeted by a coordinator who asked me where I would like to canvas.  I told her I was from Mt. Auburn but I could canvas anywhere they needed help.  She said that they needed people nearby so she gave me an address and told me to go there for training and to pick up my packet and materials.

The address was to a beautiful house of a Barack Obama supporter.  A sign on the front door directed volunteers around the house to the back where there was an entrance to a basement Obama office.  As I entered the house, I saw that there was a woman training a group of people and six others waiting to be trained.  I took a seat on the couch and waited for my session to begin.
The Obama campaign has the art of canvassing down to a science.  Our assignment was to cover an area nearby that had already been canvassed recently.  Ours was a “second pass” through to talk to people who weren’t home or were still undecided.  We were supposed to make sure that they knew that they could vote early and where their voting location was on Tuesday should they choose to wait until then to vote.  We had a checklist for each address to fill out to indicate whether the person was at home, who they were going to vote for, etc.  Because this was a second pass, we didn’t have to go to every house, just the ones that were highlighted for us.

I had come alone to the office, so I was paired up with a partner and we were each given packets for one side of a street.  The packets were divided into even and odd house numbers so we didn’t have to go zig-zagging up the street.  The Obama campaign is good about sending people into areas they can handle and we were told to do what we feel is comfortable

The area that we covered was a poorer, primarily African-American community, and the support for Barack Obama very high.  Obama signs dotted the lawns, so I knew I was in pretty friendly territory.  I was wearing a t-shirt with the Obama “O” logo on it and everyone was very friendly.  I lost my pen early on, but I was able to trade an Obama “Yes We Can” button with a young girl for another pen.  She asked me, “Are you really voting for Obama”?  I said “yes” and she smiled and ran off.  She and her friends followed me up the street on their bikes for a little while.

Most of the people on the list weren’t at home so we left literature, but I ended up spending time talking to people who were not on my list but just outside enjoying the beautiful fall day.  People were very excited about Obama and appreciative that we were out campaigning for him.

Most of the elderly people that I encountered had voted already. It was the younger ones that hadn’t done so yet.  I encouraged them not to wait, but if they did to make sure that you go early on Tuesday if they could.  Everyone I met was an Obama supporter, well, except for this one.  He was a younger guy who said that he voted for John McCain.  I asked “seriously?” and he said “yes”, so I checked him off on my list, said “thank you”, and moved on.  I think he was messing with me since I noticed he was wearing an Obama button, but I can only go with what he said to me.

Canvassing the area took about three hours and I think it was time well spent.  I knew that this was something important to do, but I didn’t realize how rewarding it would feel.  Hearing people yell “yes we can” across the street and waving at you is a nice feeling.  It makes you feel like you’ve done something good.

I’m going out again tomorrow morning.  Hopefully, it’ll be as nice of a day as it was today.