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- Campaigning for Barack Obama
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| Campaigning for Barack Obama; An "Essay" | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jan 1 2009, 03:46 PM (735 Views) | |
| Sam | Jan 1 2009, 03:46 PM Post #1 |
It takes a mere second for treasure to turn to trash.
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I wrote this in between 7:45 AM and 8:30 AM. I'd be honored if you read all of it. It reflects my experiences with the Obama campaign... it's a good long read... I'd be honored, again, if you read all of it. I thought I should share, since I really think this was a historic election. I really felt motivated to write it... a lot of people wanted me to at my school. I guess it's a bit funny too. Thanks! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was the afternoon here in Wisconsin, about a year ago, as I walked through my living room and peered at the TV, which was running information on the upcoming 2008 election. As a child, I was always a bit uninformed about politics, as we all often were as children, unenthused and unaware. In the historic 2000 election between Al Gore and George W. Bush, I was a mere six year old child in first grade. I remember it clearly: about a month before the election, my Elementary school decided to pass out a sheet of paper with a picture of Al Gore and George W. Bush on it. Next to each picture was a check box to the candidate that we wanted to win. Having no idea who either of them was, I decided the one that looked better would be the one I voted for. I voted for George W. Bush. As I handed my sheet of paper to my teacher, I commented to her in a cute tone, “The other guy looks like a fish.” She laughed. Indeed, at the end of the day, all those votes were counted, and George W. Bush won our cute Elementary school vote. On the bus ride home, I remember there was a High School Student, probably sixteen or so, who was well informed about politics. Since he was a ten years my senior, I was quite startled by him, and he was trying to explain the issues to me and several other 2nd and 3rd graders, and my only defense for me voting for Bush was, “well, the other guy looked funny.” I look back on this moment and laugh. I came home from school and asked my mother who she was going to vote for. She steadfastly announced her support for Al Gore. I was a bit puzzled, but, mom told me she was a Democrat. I then asked her after a long pause, “Am I a Democrat?” I’m not sure if I understood what it was, or what it meant. But, nonetheless, on Election Day, George W. Bush became the 43rd President of the United States. Life went on for me. I really didn’t remember much that happened, and, as a young boy who just enjoyed running through the forests of Wisconsin, playing fantasy games and using sticks as play swords with my friends --- I really didn’t think that it was all that important. Sometimes, I would see my mother being somewhat annoyed at our new President when he appeared on the TV, I didn’t understand why. But, I do remember saying to her, “the other guy looked funny… but this guy talks funny.” In the year 2004, my mother was a huge supporter of John Edwards. I was completely oblivious to the primary process, and my mom was always telling me he would win. I thought that he was racing against John Kerry, and the winner would be the President. You should’ve seen my confusion when my mom told me they were both Democrats. John Kerry defeated John Edwards. John Kerry selected Edwards as Vice President. My mom said she didn’t like Kerry, but, he’s better than Bush. I remember on election night, watching the TV, Bush winning Ohio and other states, I was a bit confused but I asked mom, “Um… did Edwards lose?” My mom, depressed, said yes. These memories were just funny moments of the past. Obviously, I thought I knew a lot more about politics. But, I continued on with my life. The primary season of 2008 started, and I got really interested in Clinton vs. Obama vs. Edwards. I remember seeing Obama starting as the underdog, unable to decide who was better. This time, it was less on how they looked, (but, I was a little interested that Barack Obama was black, and, to my recollection, I had never seen a woman run before) but more on their ideas. I was able to, at least, formulate a few basic ideas, such as “we need to pull out of Iraq,” “we need to lower gas prices,” “we need to fix our economy,”. John Edwards intrigued me, since he ran in 2004, but, he seemed to pale in comparison to both of them. A short time before Barack Obama won Wisconsin, I decided that he was the better candidate, and supported him. I told my mom I supported him, and she said she did too. For awhile, I simply just followed the election, watched closely at the primaries, and I started researching the issues, spending hours upon hours on end just looking at what was going on. Although, even though my mother is a Hardcore Democrat, and my father is a Democrat too [although, he’s not into politics], I started to look at the Republican primaries. Only one candidate really made sense to me: Ron Paul. For awhile, I thought it would be neat to see Ron Paul and Barack Obama run against each other, and I would often throw my support behind both of them. However, as Obama was trampling Hillary Clinton in the primaries, and Ron Paul was a lost cause, I full heartedly threw my support behind Obama. One late September evening, I remember as I was driving through my hometown, I saw a Barack Obama yard sign. I decided that I should buy one from their website, and went on later that day. While I was on, I discovered that I didn’t have money to buy one right then, but, I would revisit later. Before I left the website, I quickly decided to register and I put in my cell phone, as well as my other contact information. I left the site and proceeded to go about with my day. A few days later, I turned my phone on after it was dead for two days [lost the charger, long story], and checked my voicemail. I had three messages, the first two were from my mother, and I was about to shut my phone off, considering I thought the third one would also be from my mom, but, suddenly, an unfamiliar voice started speaking. I was a bit confused, but, heard: “Hi, my name is Phillip Otterness from the Barack Obama Campaign for Change; I noticed you signed up on Barack Obama’s website! I am the campaign organizer for the Polk and Barron County Area. I was wondering if you would be willing to help volunteer for Barack Obama. We are having a few meetings here in Saint Croix Falls Saturday morning at the lookout, if you can come, that’d be great, bye!” I was a little surprised, and wondered for a moment how they got my number, but, I remembered that I had put my number in two or three weeks earlier. I looked at the date and it was Sunday, I had missed the meeting. I deleted the message and briefly considered what could have happened if I went. I continued simply analyzing the election occasionally as usual. I had maintained a blog, which followed the election process closely. As the end of September rolled into October, I had lost my ID for my original Barack Obama account, and made a new one. This prompted another message from Phillip. I remember I was on the phone with my friend Nolan, when an unknown number showed up on my caller ID. I wasn’t sure if I should answer it, but, something told me that it had to do with the guy who called a week earlier. I put my friend on hold and picked up. An enthusiastic young guy was on the phone, I was a little surprised and he told me a lot of the events going on. I had agreed to go to one of the GOTV Events that was going on in Hudson, Wisconsin. I was very nervous, since I’m not the most talkative person if I’m not in a situation I’m familiar with. When my brother dropped me off, I walked quietly into a small, square sized room. I looked around the room. The room had a blue, hard carpet, with a small cubicle of seats to my right when I walked in. Several of the people there were wearing Obama/Biden shirts, pins, and hats. A life-size Obama cardboard cut-out was in the corner, next to a few large Obama/Biden signs for sale. Unfortunately, I didn’t see anybody my age, and this made me even more uncomfortable. I looked around, trying to see anybody who could potentially be Phillip. I sat down in one of the metal-fold out chairs, took a pen from nearby and read the packet. After reading the packet shortly, I re-analyzed my surroundings. I had originally thought that this meeting was part of campaigning efforts for both Obama AND McCain supporters, so, in an attempt to be non-partisan, I wore my Obama shirt under my leather coat. I was, apparently, uninformed a bit. After a few more people came in, there was mild chatter, and a quite tall, mid-20’s looking white male walked in and looked around. I immediately thought, “That must be him.” I was right. He saw me and greeted me promptly and welcomed me. Although, it was nice to hear a familiar voice, I kind of wanted to leave. A woman and a few other organizers began their GOTV Training, I listened intently, confused and not wanting to stick out. However, things started to become clear as things went on. I began to understand what the purpose was. Any questions I had were usually answered by other people in the group. Soon, the groups dissembled, and I got together with Phillip and several other supporters. Apparently, a few of them were new too, and we all introduced ourselves. I was pretty nervous, but, quickly adjusted. Phillip left the group temporarily and came back with news that U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) was going to make a surprise appearance. I was enthralled by the fact that I could meet a U.S. Senator. After a short while, he did arrive. He gave a short motivational speech to all of us, about how he’s worked with both Obama and McCain and knows who the better candidate is, and that we can’t let up. It was motivational. Over the course of the month, I contacted Phillip. Phillip gave me, initially, a stack of numbers to call. I was initially extremely nervous, I made one phone call and was hung up on, and I was devastated. My mom made a few phone calls, but, refused to get completely involved. So, for a little while, I was just trying to get other people to do my job. I was handing out sheets of paper to teachers, classmates, strangers, friends and family. Finally, Phillip called on me to actually do some field work. We had a month left to work, and no time to lose. I was supposed to go door-to-door and try and convince possible undecided voters. Phillip originally went with me for a few houses, and we made some progress, but, eventually he departed from me, and I was supposed to do the main street of town. I hung outside one house, worried I would get screamed at, just like on the phone. I called Phillip, nervous, telling him I don’t think I could do it. He was encouraging, but, unfortunately, busy. I knocked on the door. Much to my relief, nobody answered the door. I began to go door to door; many people simply were not home. As I walked down the block, I approached a house that looked a little beaten down, I remember vaguely it had a wooden porch, and there wasn’t a car in the small driveway. There was a child’s inflatable toy next to the stairs, and I figured it must be just a small family. I knocked on the door, not expecting anybody. I peered inside slightly and saw kids playing. Suddenly, a young woman came to the door and greeted me warmly. Over my shoulder was a large bag full of campaign tools, and I dug through it nervously, explaining what I was doing, who I was representing, and such. The woman stated she was undecided and that she didn’t have a TV so the stuff I gave her was useful. I was there for maybe 20 minutes, and my nervousness peeled away. She had some pretty decent questions, and, thankfully, due to my lengthy political analysis during the primaries, I was able to answer them. Her husband was also there and he listened as well, he was a bit more pessimistic though. I remember after she said, “I think I will vote for Obama.” He pointed to the sheet I had and said, “See, this guy, McCain, he’s going to die of old age, he looks simply unhealthy, and the other guy is going to get shot.” Although the last comment bothered me a bit, the wife defended me and I left the house, feeling a bit refreshed and relieved that it went well. As I went down the block, I went with more confidence, and instead of only taking a few small knocks and running away like I had been doing, I made sure thoroughly that there was nobody home before I left. I ran into a McCain supporter, who was gracious enough not to slam the door in my face, and an old woman, who’s front porch looked like a fire had been started and then an avalanche occurred, which scared me a bit. However, she said she usually voted Democratic, but, she still wasn’t sure, and was going to vote but would let God decide for her at the voting booth. That made me smile. Overall, that experience was positive. I told Phillip it was enjoyable, and I got all of the houses except 3 houses, which were all on different blocks and they were quite far away from each other. That night, I stopped by our phone bank that was being hosted that night to drop off the folders and information. I wanted to leave quickly, since I knew I might be expected to make phone calls, I was still scared of being screamed at via telephone. However, right as I was going down the stairs Phillip called out, “Hey Sam, how about you help us make a few phone calls? We have a lot to make!” I froze. I reluctantly went back up and explained how nervous I was, since I’m not one to beat around the bush, and he understood. However, since I knew it had to be done, I sat down and tried to make a few calls. Again, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. A few people hung up, but, like the door knocking, many people simply were not home; the ones that were just hung up and rarely yelled. Only thrice did I get yelled at, by a voter who couldn’t vote due to the fact he was a criminal, a woman I accidentally called “Martin” (she sounded like the man of the house…) and somebody who simply questioned, “Do you think anybody would actually answer that?” I said, “About half or two thirds, yes.” I came back two more times. On the third time, I managed to rally up a few of my friends and their parents; so, we had about ten people making phone calls. We made almost a thousand calls, with an average of about 80 calls per person over a few hours, and add onto that I had a few phone banking sheets I had to turn in from the last phone bank. My friends were about as nervous as I was, their faces pitch red as they made their first call, however; they quickly adjusted. My last experience in the phone banking was actually my own hosted event. It went terrible, though, but, one of my friends managed to come, and we made about fifty calls or so [though, ironically, the sheets never got turned into Phillip.] My last task was on Election Night. In between watching the election, I was running up and down the stairs, entering numerous codes into Barack Obama’s website. As I entered the last number, I felt a sense of pride in what I had done in the last month, and when I went back down the stairs, I sat down just in time to see Barack Obama win Ohio, which basically made it impossible for McCain to win the election. I stared at the TV in quiet awe as the polls closed in California, and Obama was announced as the President-elect. It was a quiet moment for me. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to cry, cheer, shout, jump, and fall on my knees. I wasn’t even sure what to do. I stared quietly as my mom was nearly in tears as McCain gave his concession speech, and Obama his acceptance speech. Perhaps the best reward of my efforts was not only me reaching my hand out to people to make history, by electing the first African American man. Not only will I be able to tell my Nephews and Nieces, and perhaps even my own children, that I saw it happen, I helped make it happen. Just because I didn’t have a vote didn’t mean I was powerless. A month after he won, as I was walking through my school with my mother for Parent Teacher Conferences, one of the parents of one of my friends I got to come [my friend came too] said as we walked by. “You really have a dynamic son, he inspired so many adults and his friends to come together to help support Barack Obama. It was really incredible at how much work we got done that night.” It was pretty touching. I guess, I finally understand the following quote: "The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” – Steve Jobs Though, the biggest thing that I learned, was, even if I was debating my friends, my family, or people on phone calls, I learned that even though we all are different, we also share the same aspirations, the same hopes, the same dreams. I realized this as I talked to even the most hardened Republican, or a fellow Independent, or a liberal Democrat. We all want what’s good for our children, for our families, for ourselves. We all want a good country for each other. |
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WoW Legion Ending - Thank you Darker for making this into one, big incredible gif! <3 | |
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| Rockman | Jan 1 2009, 05:03 PM Post #2 |
hoighty-toighty
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You made your mother proud. Infact, I'm proud of you, and I don't even know you that well. Just imagine what all of those adults were thinking when they saw you sitting in on the conference in your home town. Maybe they thought, oh he's just inexperienced, but to be honest, you were pretty much on their same level. And you can't even vote yet! Am I right? You're pretty inspirational Neci. |
 JAke is a copyright of Spazo and Pickle Flavored Fudge Pops inc. | |
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| * Light | Jan 1 2009, 06:26 PM Post #3 |
Yo
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I'm glad I read this, it shows that as long as you are willing to put effort and time into something it doesn't matter what opposes you, reading this, I imagine it must have been hard to get your opinion across and taken seriously, though, evidently you did  .Great job, |
 
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| Sam | Jan 2 2009, 01:34 AM Post #4 |
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It takes a mere second for treasure to turn to trash.
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Thanks, I really appreciate it. My friend tells me sometimes I should be a motivational speaker, haha. |
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WoW Legion Ending - Thank you Darker for making this into one, big incredible gif! <3 | |
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Jan 2 2009, 02:16 AM Post #5 |
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Wow, Neci! Your story is very inspiring. It's amazing that how just answering a phone call can change your outlook on things along with influencing your life. Thank you for sharing this story! |
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| Strawberry | Jan 2 2009, 09:25 PM Post #6 |
Chiaroscuro ♥
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You know, I'm glad you made this topic, I'm glad you decided to take time to write your experience, because it completely renewed my vision of you. Everybody who makes the decision to do something, to make something, to change something, to step forward, is definitely worth of admiration. Just like you, I soon realized we cannot just stay still and watch history happening, we must develop a conscious mind and do our part in history, we must help making the right decisions in order to perfect this crazy world we live in, and to harmonize the contact between the mixture of cultures and nations we have. You're absolutely right when you say just because you weren't allowed to vote, you still weren't powerless. What you did inspired me, and has definitely had an impact on everybody you contacted with. And if you don't mind my request, I'd like to ask you to spread your experience to the world. Try to speak about what you did with as many people as possible, specially to young people, try to reach all of your friends in school, help them understanding what you already understood, that we can always do something and it will always be worth it, as long as we're conscious we're doing it for a better future. Kudos to you, Neci. 
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| Sam | Jan 3 2009, 04:48 AM Post #7 |
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It takes a mere second for treasure to turn to trash.
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It really means a lot to hear you say that. I think my friends realized what I realized as well. Here's a comment from one of them on Facebook, where I posted it, he volunteered for only one night but was able to get hundreds of calls in with his Mom [his mom is the one who made the comment about me during Parent Teacher Conferences]: "I want to start by thanking you for helping me to get involved with politics. Though I will never fully understand how much I helped, it is always a good feeling to know I helped. This story brings back memories of long nights ( well night ) in a stuffy room, drinking obscenely old coffee with an inspiration to do what I could to make where I live a better place. That single experience made me realize I have the opportunity to be a part of something so much bigger. And for that I am grateful." Edited by Sam, Jan 3 2009, 04:48 AM.
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WoW Legion Ending - Thank you Darker for making this into one, big incredible gif! <3 | |
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| * Psyam | Jan 3 2009, 06:38 PM Post #8 |
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Well, I can't really think of any fancy words to say what I'm thinking, so I'll just say this: You proved that anyone can make a difference in this world. Your story is inspiring. Well done.
Edited by Psyam, Jan 3 2009, 06:39 PM.
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| * Mitas | Jan 3 2009, 07:25 PM Post #9 |
It truly was a Shawshank redemption
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I'm glad I took the time to read this because it was truly inspirational. You put a lot of itme and effort into everything you did and it payed off. You showed how anybody can make a difference if they just put their mind to it and like you said, even though you couldn't vote yourself, you still had an active role in the American election. Another great thing about this is that it sounds like you thoroughly enjoyed it and were interested in what you were doing which is always a good thing. As well as opening your eyes to American politics, it has probably helped you learn more about yourself which will also make it worth while. Basically, all I want to say is well done. Keep up the good work in the future and you'll be an inspiration to anybody looking to make a difference in their town, country or the world. |
 "Then you've got the chance to do better next time." "Next time?" "Course. Doing better next time. That's what life is." | |
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| Sam | Jan 4 2009, 12:52 AM Post #10 |
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It takes a mere second for treasure to turn to trash.
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Thank you for your kind comments. I've been getting a lot of warm reception on Facebook too. It's nice to know my campaign experiences are inspirational in some way. |
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WoW Legion Ending - Thank you Darker for making this into one, big incredible gif! <3 | |
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| * Itagaki Manabu | Jan 4 2009, 01:45 AM Post #11 |
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This was really inspiring, I am glad you made a difference in history and how you feel so honoured, you make me feel like I should better myself and doing something amazing lol. Well done. |
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| Sam | Jan 11 2009, 06:21 PM Post #12 |
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It takes a mere second for treasure to turn to trash.
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My campaign organizer (Phillip, in the story) recently commented on it: "Sam, this is awesome. I hope you don't mind if I share it people. Didn't realize it made such an impact on Dylan... say hi to him for me." |
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WoW Legion Ending - Thank you Darker for making this into one, big incredible gif! <3 | |
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| Imortalservant | Aug 11 2009, 08:38 PM Post #13 |
 
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That was really interesting. Im impressed. I don't like Obama, but then again I don't like Macain either. LOL. Well done man! Your gonna be the kind of adult we need in this country.
Edited by Imortalservant, Aug 11 2009, 08:38 PM.
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| * Sousen Ichimonji | Aug 11 2009, 09:17 PM Post #14 |
You are calm and reposed, let your beauty unfold
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I'm really, really glad I read this. Thanks a lot for posting it. Showing how you progressed politically throughout your life, resulting in your campaign for Obama, is simply insperational. |
 Call me a safe bet, I'm betting I'm not I'm glad that you can forgive, only hoping as time goes, you can forget | |
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| Sam | Aug 18 2009, 07:16 AM Post #15 |
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It takes a mere second for treasure to turn to trash.
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Thank you! I'm surprised this topic is still going, haha. |
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WoW Legion Ending - Thank you Darker for making this into one, big incredible gif! <3 | |
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