Monday, September 29, 2008

Canvassing with Kids

8 chaperones, 155 kids, lots of disorganization, several hours driving, but plenty of canvassing done for Obama in Republican country in Virginia Beach. If Virginia Beach goes blue, then Virginia almost certainly goes blue, and it's almost mathematically impossible for Obama to lose if he gets Virginia.

The weather was mostly beautiful and the canvassing was fun. I paired myself with a 9th grade boy both days. As we walked around beautiful subdivisions on lake drives through Virginia, we were quite the odd couple. But we kept track of undecided folks we felt like we made a difference with. Most people were cordial, even if they were Republicans and didn't want to take our survey. A few slammed doors and all, but that's to be expected. I think we swayed some folks. We registered others to vote.

We did good work. I'm so proud of our students, who put up with several particularly rude campaign staffers and who were so much more respectful than the kids who came from the richest county in the state. All came down and lived through pretty harsh conditions (slept on a crowded dirty hard church floor) for this cause they believed in. They worked hard. I left feeling inspired about America. But no weekend and little sleep will make for a tough week, that's for sure.

2 comments:

jackie said...

Glad to hear the canvassing went better than the field trip! Those canvassing students will probably remember that experience for the rest of their lives-- how amazing to be a part of it.

Lauren M said...

That's pretty cool. I live fairly close to VA beach in NC. We actually have a headquarters for the campaign in town. We've had people from the north to help canvas here. I think it makes a difference.