Afternoon T with the old folks

For our second and final day of canvassing in Columbus many of us decided to double our efforts. Since we had so little time to make a difference it felt okay to push ourselves in this way. We worked through lunch and canvassed until the 6pm cutoff time. It amazed me how I could keep going even though my body was so exhausted.

I had an enlightening conversation with an older woman from Russia. I asked her if she had thought about the upcoming election and she said of course, who wasn't thinking about it! And then she told me that she was confused. She didn't speak English well and she wasn't "political" and so she didn't feel that she understood the candidate's differences. We talked about our fears about the economy and health care. She told me about her kids. She told me how she and her four y/o granddaughter had an arrangement; when they spoke on the phone, she only spoke English and her granddaughter only spoke Russian, and they would laugh and make fun of each other. She told me how when she was in Russia, it was a terrible place, but everyone could see a doctor. People had little money but could buy food. I was there much longer than my "60 second" allotment but it was very worthwhile. When we were done I thanked her for listening to me and she said no-thank you for listening to me. Even though we have little in common I know we had an honest connection and I know she will remember our conversation when she votes.

The last neighborhood we canvassed had many Obama supporters. It was a working class, predominantly African American neighborhood of small houses. There were more Obama signs than in Cambridge! It was thrilling. Our main goal is convincing swing voters which was not so necessary in this part of town but we did find people willing to volunteer and also those willing to vote early-another way to aid in success for democrats in Ohio and limit the polling issues on election day. It was great to feel this energy even if I didn't do much convincing.

I was actually called the T word! You know the one that people use to describe those who bring weapons on planes or plot evil, destructive missions. I don't want to type out the word as I do not want this to show up in a search engine. Cathy and I were stopped by the police after a call in about our "terrorizing the old folks". When the cop pulled up he laughed at the sight of us. Resting on the curb eating oranges we really didn't look very scary. We confirmed with him the legal differences between soliciting and canvassing and he asked to see our map so he would know if he had another call that he could ignore it. I had been chiding myself for not being aggressive enough, I guess some disagreed!

We knocked on over 6000 doors this weekend. I am eager to see the numbers come in from Franklin County Ohio. I know we made a difference. I don't know if it will be enough but we did try.

Now I am happy to be home. It was an amazing trip. I have new friends and a new sense of confidence in my ability to take political action. I am eagerly planning the next step. Phone calls to CA for "No on 8"? New Hampshire this weekend? And what will I do on the 4th?

As Ohio Goes, So Goes The Nation

Wow! This is such a fantastic trip! I am so thankful I had the opportunity to come here, and so glad that I took it.

Our bus trip was a lovely 14 hour trek through MA, NY, PA and then OH. We watched some great movies including "But I'm a Cheerleader", "Rent" and "Saved". It probably won't surprise you to know that I slept about 75% of the trip.

We also watched two documentaries on Ohio and the '04 election. I did not realize how INCREDIBLY close things were in Ohio and how crucial it is for a candidate to win. No republican has ever won the presidential election without Ohio and no democrat has since Kennedy! In '04 the democrats lost Ohio by approximately 9 votes per district.

So much is being done here to get people registered and voting. One of the biggest mistakes in '04 was lack of organization. This is absolutely not a problem now.

Today our group was the largest LGBT caucus in Ohio campaign history. We knocked on almost 4000 doors today in a very crucial area in Whitehall. We campaigned for Obama and a local representative candidate Nancy Garland as the democrats are hoping to win four seats and take the house majority. We also met some of the Obama's personal friends who came to join us this weekend from Chicago!

For me it has been a facinating experience so far. The people I met heading over from Boston are great. We have been welcomed by some extremely warm, generous people in Columbus. I am staying with a woman named Mary Jo, her partner Lynn and their three dogs. They have been so gracious to my roomate Cathy and myself. They seemed like regular people to us until we found out that Mary Jo is the "most famous lesbian in Ohio"! She is the first open member of the cabinet (and she got us VIP tickets to the drag show tonight!).

The canvassing was a little scary at first. Cathy and I went together but we split the houses and travel across the street from one another. Most people are not even home and they told us to expect to make contact with only about 10%. We ran into a few snags with apartment buildings and but apartment numbers on our lists; buildings that were locked with no tresspassing signs, people who did not speak English and an Ohio State Football game that kept many residents from taking the time to speak with us. Some people are thrilled to talk to us, others not so much-some of them kinder about it than others. :) We mostly went to low-income housing developments and lower middle class neighborhoods of single family homes. We found many more Obama supporters in the first of those groups and many McCain in the second.

We have had a range of people from a woman who was proud to announce that at 44 she had never voted, to a young woman who snuck out of the house to say she had voted for Obama but please don't tell her parents. I had a man offer to volunteer for the campaign and then proceed to tell me he would NEVER vote for a democrat. Sadly, I had a woman tell me that she would not vote because she does not have hope in humankind. But I had several people that had already voted for Obama in the early voting option Ohio is using.

I had a few conversations with undecided voters. I was worried about not having all the answers. What I realized is that if I just listened to what these people had to say and aknowledge their concerns, most were willing to listen to me as well. Hopefully some of them will remember our chat on election day and remember that someone took their opions seriously.

So today I knocked on about 70 doors and spoke with 11 people. It doesn't seem like many but if we each spoke to 11 people today and we each convinced one person to vote for Obama, we will have the numbers we would have needed to win in '04.

Our goal for tomorrow is to try and knock on about 100-115. We had a very late night at the International Drag King Community Extravaganza so I need to get some sleep! My feet are sore and my back is tired but I feel very envigorated.

I am truly lucky to live in MA where my rights are relatively well protected and secure. I am so grateful to be healthy enough and able to be here this weekend to make a real difference for our entire country.

I have a blog?-Getting Psyched Up

I never thought I would blog.  But I guess it's a good way to pass along info to those interested.

So here it goes.  I'm beginning this blog as I am preparing for a four day trip to Ohio with the Not So Straight Talk Express to campaign for Obama.  I've never campaigned before and I am not usually one to travel with a group of people I do not know.  I like having some control over my plans, I think this change will be good for me...

I guess I don't know how much access I will have to post but I am sure it will be an option at least a few times over the course of the trip.

Thanks for reading!  Check back...