Canvassing, Conventions and Bumps

I spent most of my weekend being more politically involved than usual. I'm always somewhat involved, but the weekend seemed to have an endless array of political activity and opportunities. On Saturday morning, my wife and I embarked with other volunteers from the coordinated campaign, in our seemingly endless quest to keep Virginia blue. We went canvassing around neighborhoods in Fairfax, Virginia. We knocked on countless doors in teams of two. We were met with several  unanswered knocks,but we did meet a few people. They all were very cordial and friendly, and were either strongly for President Obama, or strongly against him, or they were Republican. That is the phenomenom that is beginning to take shape for me in this campaign. Perhaps more seasoned politicians have noticed it, but there is very little gray area out there. Very few undecided voters. Either you are a "Barackomaniac" or you hate him. I have probably followed this presidency closer than any other, besides President Clinton, and I fail to understand what and why the "haters" are hating.... maybe I do know.....but I digress. I was asked a couple of weeks ago, "does this canvassing and phone-banking really do any good ?". My honest answer is, I am not sure, but it does give us a platform to get the President's message out there. If we can change just a few minds, we can keep hope alive, and keepVirginia blue. ( as well as Pennsylvania, Ohio, Colorado, Florida, etc., etc., etc.) On last Monday, we officially opened the Coordinated Campaign Headquarters at Sterrett Place. The hallways were lined with enthusiastic phonebankers. We also had dignitaries to stop by, to include Senator Ben Cardin, Congressman John Sarbanes, and County Executive Ken Ulman.  We did pause for a few minutes to listen to speeches, but most volunteers went right back to the phones. Inudating battleground states with calls from HoCo. In the meantime, down in Tampa, the Republican Convention gets back up to full steam this week. I am sure that the Romney /Ryan ticket will get a sizable bump in the polls after the acceptance speeches, and all the attention that will be paid to them in the media. They will lay out their plan ,or lack thereof, to "take America back", which will elicit cheers from  most Republicans and jeers from most Democrats. Next week the Democrats get a turn, and we will see the whole process again. The Obama campaign should get a bump in the polls after the acceptance speech on September 6 from Charlotte. I expect ( or rather theorize) that he will continue to lead in the polls through the debates on to election day. So I don't have anything to worry about right......nothing could be further from the truth. With the re-introduction of Jim Crow like voter suppression laws in key battleground states, with billions of dollars flowing into the Romney campaign from unlimited resources, and with the economy staggering like a drunkard....there are numerous chances that anything could go wrong between now and November 6.An administration that has clearly made progress despite the odds and opposition against it, could be stopped in it's tracks. But..."yes we can" has not been turned into "yes we tried" yet. President Obama still leads in most polls , although by very narrow and uncomfortable margins. He leads in most demographic groups and most key battleground states. Most electoral college prediction still have him ahead. Despite this, the chickens have not been counted, the "fat lady" has not sung, and the football has not been spiked...not yet. Democrats still have a lot of work ahead, and some of it uphill. So the door knocking, phonebanking and sign waving will continue. Although I do keep asking my wife ".....is it November 7th yet?" It will be soon.