Drive for Change

I took my first full weekend off in over a month and donated it to the Barack Obama "Drive for Change" Campaign. The national campaign is encouraging people who live in "solid Obama" states who want to volunteer to "Drive for Change" to swing states. Nevada is very close, well within the polling margin of error and a valuable 5 electoral votes. Since Nevada is the nearest swing state to California, I headed to Reno on Friday night.


I eventually got to my home away from home. If you're ever traveling to Reno and don't want to stay downtown, I recommend this Homewood Suites just south of the airport. The property is clean, comfortable, and all of the staff are very nice.

Saturday

Saturday started with the greatest surprise. As Barack Obama was flying back after visiting his grandmother in Hawaii, his first stop on the mainland was Reno for a morning rally at the University of Nevada-Reno baseball stadium. About 11,000 attended this rally. When I volunteered early in the week, I had no idea I'd be able to attend a rally and see Obama in person. All I got were really crappy photos with my camera phone. This is a photo from the Reno Gazette Journal. That is really me inside the red circle... no joke.


After the rally, I made my way to headquarters to check in, get an orientation, and then got paired up with someone to canvass a neighborhood. It was amazing. The line was out the door and almost around the block with volunteers to canvass. Most were from California. If nothing else, we all helped the Reno economy with our hotel rooms, gas, and restaurant visits!


The process is absolutely fascinating. During this canvass, we didn't just visit random homes or everyone on the block. We got a list of people to visit, with their addresses. As we visited each home, we recorded the answers given to each question or whether no one was home. Our list was relatively short, only about 25 names within a relatively tight neighborhood footprint. It took us about 90 minutes to visit all of the houses when we returned to headquarters. Because I brought along my laptop, I helped input the data from all of the canvass report sheets that were turned in. Others were given another canvass visit list and hit the streets again. What will happen is that overnight that information will get uploaded and new canvassing lists will be generated for next day. The data will prune out those who have early voted, or are strongly supporting Obama. That way, they don't get visited again and the campaign's energy and volunteers can target those not visited or still undecided.


After the data was entered, the volunteers were sent home. I dropped off a volunteer at her host's house before making my way to my hotel. Yes, this was a volunteer who had carpooled with a group in California to Reno and was staying at a local host house for the weekend. I was inspired by the willingness of strangers to get together, share their cars, and open their doors for the common cause. I eventually landed at my hotel around 9:00pm... a 12 hour day. It also ended with this... the best sub in the west.


A foot-long Port of Subs #5... smoked turkey, smoked ham and smoked cheddar on a wheat roll. I go to Port of Subs everytime I'm in Nevada or just passing through.

Sunday

It was a bright, crisp morning to start the day. There was even frost on the car! The volunteers call back was 10:00am. One of the organizers on Saturday encouraged all the coffee drinkers to stop by the Human Bean instead of one of the more recognized national chains. It was very good and I would frequent them if they were local. Anyway, I got to canvass on my own. The goal was to re-walk the lists from Saturday and make contact with the "not home" people. I didn't do too badly, contacting 10 of my 26 people. At one stop, the contact name was a man but his wife answered the door. She let me know her husband was in the hospital and very ill. I felt so sorry for her. That was definitely the lowest part of the weekend. I made sure to mark this down so they wouldn't be contacted again during their difficult times.

After returning to headquarters, I helped organize all of the early incoming walk lists and began data entry. Other groups went back out with afternoon lists. Since I did data entry the night before, I became the "trainer in training" helping new volunteers. One of the local volunteers bought lunch for all of the office staff, about 20 people. (Yeah, Port of Subs... another #5 for just bob!) He was one of the first employees of Oracle many years ago, had cashed out quite nicely and moved to Nevada. He admitted that he would be one of those 5% who would see their taxes increase under an Obama Administration, but still is voting for him. His philosophy is that if the economy does better, his business will improve and he'll do better and doesn't mind paying his fair share.

Around 3:00pm, there were plenty of local volunteers to finish out the afternoon lists so I packed up and started my way back to California. All of the people I met, from the local organizers to the national campaign staff, were incredibly dedicated. Despite a lack of sleep they were all still so nice, upbeat, and encouraging. I'm not sure how much my effort or help will pay off next week in Nevada, but I'll be watching those 5 electoral votes very closely.

So long Reno and all my new Vote for Change friends in Nevada. Turn the state blue!