Encouraged!

I was very encouraged last Saturday as I worked the phones at the recently opened Howard County for Obama headquarters at Sterrett Place (actually the Coordinated Campaign Headquarters) in downtown Columbia. I was encouraged by the diversity of people that I saw working toward the same goal, which is the reelection of our President. I was also encouraged by the folks on the other end of the calls that I was making. Anyone who has ever staffed a phone-bank, knows that you can go through hundreds of calls without making any contacts.  When you get that one person who actually answers the phone, you try hard not to stumble through the script that OFA provides. You try to make it personable, and you try hard to persuade the person that your guy is the right guy for the job. We have been calling down to Virginia, almost exclusively for a few months now. Earlier this year when I called the Commonwealth, which is also plays a dual role as my home state, I was met with vitriol and anger. "Anybody but Obama" was the usual answer I got from the few people that I made contact with. On last Saturday, most of my contacts in the Old Dominion were "pro Obama". I called  one gentleman who was 94 years old. When I asked who was he going to vote for he replied"What choice do we have?" I just knew that he was about to give me the "pro-Romney" lecture (since I had just gotten one from a caller right before him) Instead he surprised me and said "I'm voting for Obama!" After which I thought, "this is what phone- banking is all about". Our theme for last Saturday was the celebration of the President's 51st Birthday. We were challenged to either make 51 phone calls or knock on 51 doors. Some folks, I believe, did both. Afterwards we celebrated with refreshments, food and cake, along with a speech from Delegate Guy Guzzone, who always seems to know the right things to say. After I finished my calls, I left the headquarters with my wife, seeing this election in a different light. Despite all the emails saying that my $3 donation will out raise Romney's PAC funding (yeah, right). Despite the news reports that say there is no Democratic enthusiasm for the election this year.   (I saw no lack of enthusiasm on last Saturday) Despite the recent spate of name-calling (Romneyhood and Obamaloney......come on guys) Despite the President being criticized and stonewalled at every turn by the GOP....I left Sterrett Place very encouraged.