[Oe List ...] A day of canvassing

[clingojr at aol.com]

 Dear Pat and Marsha,
Such a wonderful report!.
I got my buttons, bumber sticker, and the very last Obama Yard Sign in Atlanta last Friday.  
Charles


 


 

-----Original Message-----
From: Marsha Hahn <mhahn013 at sbcglobal.net>
To: 'Order Ecumenical Community' <oe at wedgeblade.net>
Sent: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 6:31 am
Subject: [Oe List ...] A day of canvassing





























A preface to all of you
non-Americans: Thank you for your forbearance as we gnash our teeth over the
mess we have made.



 



Pat and I took a three
hour drive to Davenport, Iowa yesterday to volunteer with the Obama
campaign.  We were responding to a request for Illinois residents to help in the “battleground”
states that surround us.



We arrived to join about
40-50 others, some from Illinois
and some who were local.  Pat and I were given a packet with a map and
list of 80 addresses, along with literature.  It was very organized. 
Each address had the names of the resident with whom we were to speak, the person’s
age, gender, and whether or not they identified as a Democrat, Republican, or
claimed no party affiliation.  We had very specific instructions about
whether to try to “persuade” or to give information about “early
voting.”  As a rule, we were talking only with Democrats or
unaffiliated people.



What a day:



·        
One
woman greeted us20with “I’m for Obama.  How can I get a yard
sign?”  Then she told us she had voted for Bush the last two
elections as she pounded her forehead with the palm of her hand (as in, “how
could I have been so stupid!”)  She said, “If I put out an
Obama yard sign my neighbors will KNOW it’s okay for them to vote for
him.”  She told us she had been trying to persuade her brother, who
had staunchly held out for McCain until Sarah Palin was chosen.  “Then
he called me and said, ‘That’s it.  I’m on your side
now!’”



·        
One
elderly Korean-American woman came to her door and smiled broadly.  “Forty-two
years I’ve voted Democrat!  Just like my husband did!”



·        
One man,
retired, told us he was “on the fence.”  But he stepped
outside and started talking.  He didn’t have a lot of education –
spoke like a good blue-collar guy.  He told us how appalled he was at the
Palin pick, how she clearly wasn’t up to the task – this while
continually looking back at me to emphasize that it wasn’t that he was
against a woman being VP, just not this woman.



·        
One guy
saw our Obama buttons and yelled at us, saying he didn’t want any
Communists or Socialists.  So I smiled and
 said, “So I guess you’re
voting McCain?”  “No, I can’t stand him either!” 
He was the only person who was belligerent.



Lots of people weren’t
home, but we figure we helped a few who were undecided move a little closer to
Obama.  And we cheered on those who were already there.  We wished
the few McCain supporters well.



Doris and I were talking
and she was saying how silly our election process is here.  It’s
kind of true.  Think of all the time and treasure that is spent on
this.  But it’s what we have right now, and there’s no
changing it this year.



Our testimony is: there
are a hundred ways you can do something to make a real difference right
now.  Volunteer locally, phone battleground states from home, contribute
what you can.



We were hot and tired
when we finished and started our 3-hour trek home.  But we felt great.



Marsha Hahn






 





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