It’s hot out there today.

John Brunner (r) campaign literature. Interestingly, there’s no union bug.

This afternoon our doorbell rang. I opened the door and there stood a pleasant young man wearing a John Brunner (r) campaign t-shirt. He introduced himself and then asked if he could ask me a few questions, consulting the tablet he held in his hand. I told him, “Sure.” He asked me if I would be voting in the republican primary. I answered, “No.” My response seemed to take him aback. He went on, “Okay, could I ask you what is the most important issue we’re facing in Missouri?” “Yeah, Medicaid expansion.” He smiled. We engaged in conversation for a minute or so, me asking him about the process of canvassing and also asking him if he had enough water. I mentioned that I had been seeing a lot of campaign television ads and that the clutter made them ineffective. At one point he told me they were encountering a lot of Democrats. I remarked that this is the first time I’d encountered an organized canvass in my neighborhood from a statewide republican candidate. I reminded him to keep drink watering. He handed me a campaign brochure, shook my hand, and then went on his way.

Previously:

PAC people are being mean to John Brunner (r) (June 4, 2016)

PAC people are being mean to John Brunner (r) – part 2 (June 5, 2016)

>Campaign Finance: not being mean (June 6, 2016)

Canvassing door to door in Holden, Missouri.

We canvassed in Holden, Missouri for about three hours. My partner was wearing an Obama t-shirt and, more often than not, was greeted warmly when people answered the door. I had done door to door in Holden in 2004 and 2006. The reception was definitely better this time around..

A Warrensburg canvasser was confronted by an irate individual. The older women who answered the door on learning that the canvasser was volunteering for Obama stuttered, “You, you better run.” The canvasser politely ended the conversation and returned to her car. The women followed her down the drive way and, shaking her finger, stated, “He’s a Muslim and he’s going to turn this into a Muslim country…” I told the canvasser that she obviously ruined that woman’s day. The canvasser smiled and said, “I hadn’t thought of it that way.” I gave her a high five.

The phone bank has been running at capacity since 9:00 a.m.

Hang on for the ride of your life.

You all know what to do. So do it.

Warm Fall weather (temperatures in the 70s) and turning leaves are conducive to canvassing.

A large sedan plastered with republican and anti-choice bumper stickers pulled to a stop as we walked down the street on our canvass. A little old lady (very spry) jumped out and asked us who we were. We told her we were canvassing for Obama. She told us, “Wait a minute, I’ve got something for you.” She pulled forward out of traffic, then jumped out of her car to open the trunk. We stopped our walk in the opposite direction and turned to walk toward the car. As she opened the trunk she turned to look for us and started, saying, “You scared me!”

“You know I’m pro-life.” I replied, “I take it that means you’re against the death penalty and war?” “Oh no, it’s about murdering babies. Do you believe in God? Are you saved, is Jesus your savior? What church do you belong to?” I replied, “I don’t. I’m Jewish.” Without missing a beat she asked, “What about Israel?” I replied, “What about it?” She handed us each a flier and asked us to read it, saying, “Pray on this. I know you’re doing what you believe in.” She turned to go back to her car and we each said, “Have a nice day.”

The phone bank humming along at capacity.

Johnson County Democratic headquarters on the corner of Holden and Culton – Sunday morning, before 10:00 a.m.. The first group of canvassers from this office is about to go out.

I had a conversation with a clerk at a local convenience store this morning. Someone else was mumbling, “McCain, McCain…” Then the mumbler saw my hat and started in with, “Obama, Obama…” The clerk looked up at me and said, “Hey, you’re for Obama!” I looked at the mumbler and said, “If you vote for McCain, you’ve liked the last eight years and you’re gonna love the next one hundred.” The clerk chimed in, “You got that right. Thank you brother. Have a good day.”

The Obama field office around the corner on Culton. It’s open and their first group of canvassers will got out at noon.

You all know what to do. So do it.

An Obama campaign door hanger. The reverse has information on voting in Missouri (poll open times – 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.), and the voter’s polling location and precinct. The information includes the following: “All voters can ask to vote on a paper ballot; you do not have to wait for a machine or booth.”

A canvasser returned a short while back and related this story:

He knocked on the door of an apartment. A retired African American woman answered the door. The volunteer related that he was canvassing for Democratic candidates. The woman told him that she was seventy four years old. She first tried to register to vote at the county courthouse over fifty years ago and was turned away because of her race. She just registered to vote four months ago. This will be the first presidential election she has ever voted in.

Change is coming.

Update:

I received the following via e-mail from the canvasser:

…I was knocking on doors in Warrensburg, MO to encourage first time voters to go to the polls, and give them the information they needed to have their vote count.  I was searching for a house I could not find, and asked a women cleaning out her car to direct me.  She pointed the way, and because her car had an Obama sticker on it, I asked her if she knew where she was voting.  She did not, and I got out of my car to tell her.

She told me that her name was XXXXX and she was 74.  She is African-American and a retired worker from the university.  She told me that this was the first election she was going to vote in.  The first time she tried to vote, over fifty years ago, she was told at the courthouse not ten blocks away from where we were standing, that blacks were not allowed to vote in this country.  After seventy-four years without voting, she is so dismayed by our country’s direction over the last eight years and so inspired by Barack’s vision for the future, that she was going to cast her first vote.

This woman’s hope is the reason we spend so many hours working to elect Barack and change America…

The phone bank waits for the 7:30 p.m. conclusion of Barack Obama’s half hour television presentation. The phones started up immediately afterward.

Tools of the canvassing trade – artificial sunshine.

You all know what to do. So do it.

A conversation between a volunteer and a field person, about to go out on a canvass: “Are we going to walk there?” “Oh God no, we’ll drive, I’m from LA.”

You all know what to do. Do it.