Report from the Front Lines of the Obama Campaign

My aunt Barb, who lives in San Francisco, has been working full-time for the last month in Ohio as an Obama volunteer.  On this day before the election, I thought it might be interesting to invite her to be our guest-blogger about what it's been like there, on the ground, on the front lines.

If Obama and Biden win, it will be because of the volunteer efforts of people like Barb, people who've devoted time and enthusiasm all across the United States.  Even if you're just driving a friend to the polling place tomorrow, even if you've just written a single letter to the editor of your local paper, you've helped the effort to make the United States a better, fairer place.

I'm so proud of my aunt--proud of her passion, her activism, her guts--and I'm grateful to everyone like her who's worked so hard.  So here she is, in her own voice:

First, as background, I took four weeks' vacation to come here to work the campaign for the AFL-CIO. I am a union thug…and damn proud of it. I believe in collective bargaining and that the worker of America has an inalienable right to share in the fruits of her labor with the employer. I don’t think the boss deserves to make 450 times what the average employee makes…and I’m a socialist at heart. However, I want everyone brought up to my level, or better yet, to the level or two above me…not for me and mine to lose one dime. So I’m not a very good socialist, I guess…
 
I have worked the last several elections, and every single one has been ‘the most important one of our lives.’ I’m not a cat…so I know I don’t have 9 lives. It’s exhausting and tiresome to hear that over and over. Almost as bad as seeing those horrible ads that the McCain campaign is putting on the air here in Ohio. But it’s really true this time. We must reclaim America.
 
I worked the Kerry campaign in Denver. It was a magnificent experience until the last day…when we realized we were fucked. I cried for about 24 hours. But talking to people there was different because it was never about race.
 
What saddens me for America this time is that it IS about race. There is no fooling me. I’ve been to this rodeo before and if Barack Obama was a white man named Barry O’Hara, McCain wouldn’t even be a glimmer. There wouldn’t be a thinking man or woman in America who wouldn’t see that he is absolutely the right person for the job.  Certainly there would be no WORKING man or woman in America who wouldn’t see it… and when I say ‘working’ I mean all of us who draw a paycheck, not a dividend check or some kind of trust check…but a pay check, regardless of how much it is. If you draw a paycheck, you should by definition be a Democrat.
 
One woman told me that she couldn’t vote for him because they can’t even verify his birth certificate, so how do we know that he was born here. Apparently the fact that his mother’s citizenship transferred to him didn’t occur to her. And apparently the fact that McCain was born in Panama matters not. 

Another, at the door of her modest home, said to me, "I'm not prejudiced but...well, YOU know what I mean... we can't just elect him, can we?"  Who did she think "we" were?  Did she not see the big letters across my shirt that said OBAMA BIDEN??  Did she not see the buttons all over me?
 
And there was the time I knocked on a door and a very nice African American man answered the door and told me he hadn't made up his mind yet.  WHAT?????   But I came to understand.  He needed to know more.   It was just as insulting for me to expect him to vote for Obama because they were both black men as it is to expect me to vote for Palin because we both have a set of tits.  Although I think mine are better.
 
And religious freedom is good for everyone but Muslims here. Did you know that? I was shocked to find out that religious freedom only applies to Christians.
 
There is a part of Ohio (maybe more than one) that is so backward, so hateful, I could hear them thinking, I’m not voting for that n--.  After about 2 weeks here, I was given ‘permission’ by my national union president to call them on the racism. To ask them point blank, "So you’re not voting for him because he’s black, isn’t that right?"  Note: good way to end a conversation. They hang up when you say that to them.
 
So would I recommend coming to Ohio? No. Unless you are a glutton for punishment or you want really, really bad pizza. (Another blog…but trust me).
 
So having said that…let me tell you the other stuff….
 
There is such hope, such passion here at the thought of this historic election (another phrase that is wearing thin). There are people of every race, every economic status, every age bracket… both genders… coming together. I am working side by side with soccer moms and hockey moms (with or without lipstick) and steel workers, letter carriers and  plumbers (by the way...'Joe the Plumber' isn't.  He doesn't have a state license to practice the trade...nice, eh?  and someone said he's not even registered to vote) who are working side by side with poor black women from the poorest neighborhoods, Latinos from Texas who know they can 't change Texas but might have an impact here…and we’re working for one cause.

And it’s exhilarating. It’s fascinating to drive through neighborhoods where homes are WAY out of our price ranges, and see Obama signs all over their yards. It’s hopeful…it’s full of hope.
 
There are lines to vote.  Hours... they are waiting for hours to vote in this election.  While driving to neighborhoods to knock on doors, we drove past a polling place were there were people with huge cookers and coolers full of food and drink for those waiting to vote.  I am in awe of how important and how brave these people are. 
 
While I sat in the Canton Civic Center auditorium waiting for Senator Obama (2 hours in line...2 hours in the auditorium...but so worth it), we started talking to those around us.  There was a lovely woman in front of me who I guessed to be a few years older than me.  We had nice, light conversation, and then for some reason she turned to me and said, "On my next birthday, I will be 70.  I marched with King.  I was hosed by the police with King.  The dogs were set loose on me with King.  And he told us to hope.  That when the hate went away, anyone could be elected president, regardless of race.  He gave us hope."  It was more moving than anything I've ever heard.  When Senator Obama came out, she stood and shook... cried for happiness....bowed her head and prayed. 
 
It gave me hope.
 
It makes me proud to be here…proud to be working for this historic campaign. Proud to be an American who believes that all religions are free here…and in fact we’re free to not have any at all. It makes me feel safe to know that a man who is smart enough to know what he doesn’t know will be the next President.
 
What am I most afraid of? That he won’t win and what that means for us. What it means for the war and all those young people who are there, or who will go there, or will go BACK there…and for this nation.
 
I believe that if they steal this election like they have the last 2, that the hope and the passion will turn to anger and hatred, and it will be the downfall of our nation. We cannot survive that. I believe we will erupt into riots.
 
And if that happens…I will be in the streets. I will fight this. Or I will leave.