Canvassing in Wisconsin

Yesterday I went to southern Wisconsin with 3 other volunteers to canvass for the Obama-Biden campaign. I had originally signed up to go to Michigan but was redeployed to Wisconsin.

I arrived at Obama Headquarters in Chicago at 7:35 am. The coordinators asked who can drive and who needs passengers. I was paired with a driver and two other women. We received directions to the headquarters in Menomonee Falls, WI and off we went.

Now, I walk fairly fast. But these ladies were doing double time to the car. You would have thought we were an hour behind schedule. Fortunately, the driver (a litigator raised in Mississippi) was agressive and fast but not unsafe.

The Menomonee Falls headquarters is based at the IBEW union office there. Nice place. Much nicer than the union office (I forget which union) in Chicago where I attended Camp Obama last month. We arrived at 9:20am. A few volunteers had already arrived, but the organizer wasn't there yet. Apparently, because of the redeployment, there was miscommunication regarding start time. The WI organizer wasn't expecting us to get started until 10:00am. Since I was hungry, I was very happy for the delay. [You know me; my campaign slogan is Food First.] We went to the McDonald's up the street for take-out breakfast. Trust me, we needed it.

Back at the office, we were briefed. The organizer, Clay, grew up in the area: Republican, 71% vote, not very diverse. (Other than volunteers, I saw exactly 3 black people, all men, the entire day; I'm not exaggerating.) The campaign is at the point of micro-targeting, so our lists were compiled of specific addresses as opposed to general neighborhoods. We got our packets (2 for the 4 of us) and off we went. The goal here was to 1) find out if voters had made a decision or were still undecided, 2) listen to them and get a sense of their issues, and 3) provide them with any information that would be helpful to them. We were not attempting to convince people or change their minds if they had decided to vote for McCain-Palin.

Overall, it was a good day. When we started, very few people were home. After lunch, we caught more people at home, and then early evening there were more not at home.

My longest conversation was with a woman who normally votes Republican but hadn't made a decision yet. She said she was open to Obama, but surprised me by saying that she had some "ethical" concerns about Joe Biden regarding statements he's made about the driver of the tractor-trailer that killed his wife and daughter in 1972, shortly after he was first elected to the Senate. She felt that Senator Biden was wrong to accuse the driver of being drunk when alcohol was not a factor in the accident. (See story here and here) Since I had never heard this blame game story, I didn't know how to respond other than to say that grief makes us say and do things that we might not otherwise. I hope that this side story is not a deciding factor for her. We directed her to the Obama website and to the Obama tax calculator for more information on the issues. The birth certicate and Muslim rumors came up with her. I pointed out that as a senator, Barack Obama has had a background check by the FBI, CIA, NSA, Jet magazine, and all of the other spy organizations out there. I don't know if she was satisfied, but. . .what can you do?

The scariest thing that happened was that one house was down a very long lane that started as a steep incline. We didn't want to chance the car getting stuck down the hill, so I walked to the house with one of the other women - a good block away. No one was home, but as we were waiting on the porch we heard gunshots from a hunting rifle. Time to go! Don't want anybody getting confused.

Overall, it was a very productive day. We finished the first packet and got half-way through the second packet. The most difficult part of the day was that it took anywhere from 5-10 minutes to find the addresses. These were not neighborhoods where you could park the car on one block and then walk the next 3-4 blocks. This was a very rural area. Dairy farm country. We had to drive to each house, unless there were 2 within a rock's throw of each other, then we were able to park and two would go to one house and two to the other. Needless to say, we were very tired at the end of the day. But it was a good tired, the kind you get from feeling that your day was spent doing something worthwhile.

Some observations:

1. We first started out in noveau riche neighborhoods. The people we spoke to here were polite, even if they were voting for McCain. The responses where somewhat rougher in less affluent neighborhoods. I think the rudest comment one volunteer experienced was "I'm voting for McCain. You can leave now."
2. Very few voting for McCain actually said his name. They would say something generic like "I'm going the other way" or "the other guy". I found this amusing. Either they were avoiding confrontation or didn't want to hurt our feelings, which made those who said "not with you" seem mean.
3. Households are definitely divided. One volunteer walked up to a woman, her husband and a male friend who was visiting them. The woman pointed to her husband and said "Here, you need to talk to him" and walked away. Apparently, she and the friend are Obama supporters and are trying to convince the husband. More than one person told us that they were for McCain, but their children were for Obama. They seem to be good natured about it. One grandmother said her daughter was for Obama, and the 8-year old granddaughter piped up "And me!"
4. The pundits are full of it. I keep hearing "Will Obama get the white male vote?", "Will Obama get the white woman vote? Duh. He wouldn't be leading in the polls without white men and women. As for older white voters, let me tell you something. There was a couple who came in at the end of the day - I'd say they were in their late 50s, early 60s. They had been out for Obama, doing what I don't know because the man was wearing a full leg brace. Full. Leg. Brace. That's how serious this election is.
5. Obama volunteers are energetic and happy. I wear an Obama-Biden button on my jacket, and people just start talking to me. People call out "Like that button!" [the IL State Treasurer said this to me in Corner Bakery] The couple I met at Camp Obama in September sent me an Obama t-shirt. I have never been a part of such a widespread, common purpose. Frankly, it has me a little giddy.
6. I'm going to go through withdrawal after November 5th. This election has been like a drug.

16 days. Let's do this.

ps. Next time I'm in Wisconsin, I may pick the 'fro all the way out.