Hi, I'm just bob

"Hi, my name is just bob and I'm volunteering for the Barack Obama Campaign for Change."

You know how your credit card company will call if it sees some unusual activity on one of your cards? I'm shocked Verizon Wireless didn't dial up just bob today to see if it was really me. For a telephone that sees virtually no calling in any month, it had to have looked like someone had found or stolen my phone and was going insane.

I spent four hours today at the local Obama Campaign Office phone calling likely voters in swing states. If you look at the photo, there were four rooms just like this in the office. All the sign-up sheets indicated there was space for 100 callers total, and every room was full. The rooms were alive with activity. Young and old, men and women, gay and straight, and a host of nationalites that would rival the United Nations. Every chair had a caller in it, people sat on the floor, and some went outside to bask in the sun, smoke their cigarettes and make their calls. There were also children of the volunteers doing their part by handing out water, refilling candy bowls, and generally being an inspiration for the adults. There was a mix of new volunteers and seasoned veterans, with the newbies learning from those who knew the gameplan. Everyone wears a name tag, so you can make new acquaintences easier. My tag said "Bob the Caller."

The day started for me at 11:00am (2pm Eastern), talking with voters in North Carolina. There was still early voting today in that state, so the push was to get people to vote today. If they already voted, we asked them to encourage their friends and family to vote. If they were undecided, most of us went off script and spoke from the heart on why we're voting for Obama. If they were voting Election Day, we made sure they knew their polling place, its hours, what ID they needed to bring, and even gave them a number to call if they needed a ride to the polls. After a few awkward first calls, I eventually settled into a rhythm and the whole thing became as natural as cold-calling a stranger can be. I got through my one call sheet for North Carolina and then was off to Florida. As the day wore on, I found myself chatting with voters in Missouri, Colorado, and finally in Nevada as my four hour shift ended a little late at 3:30pm. I wanted to finish out my last call sheet before leaving.

I must have made what seemed like 200 calls over that four hours. I left countless voice mails, spoke with enthusiastic Obama voters, offered my opinion to undecided voters, got hung up on many times, thanked McCain voters for their time and wished them a nice day, and got bitched out plenty by frustrated voters. I felt badly the most for those folks. Many of the them are simply tired of being called by both sides. "Will all of you people please quit calling me?" I heard that a lot. They shared their stories of getting three or four calls a day sometimes between the two candidates. I often needed a minute to recover from some of the uglier responses I got. Working in a service industry, I fell back on my "it's not personal" mantra and rationalized they weren't angry with me, but with the process. Sometimes I would take a break after a call, shake my head and say out loud, "How can you still be undecided after 18 months of this?" It was cathartic for me and a sentiment shared by everyone else at the table.

I sat with some wonderful people while making the calls. The room was extremely loud all of the time. There was the mother and her son who sat to my left for the first hour. She called while he sat dutifully finishing his homework for Monday. He took the time away from his schoolwork to go to the kitchen and bring back bottled water for all of us and refill the candy dish. I suspect he was motivated by the leftover Halloween goodies in the back, but the water was much appreciated. You do get thirsty talking nonstop for hours. I got to meet another lady who had just finished early voting and was so excited to cast her ballot. She was replacing her husband, who then was going off to vote early himself. They had matching Obama/Biden t-shirts, which was kind of cute. There was the African-American girl, probably in her early 20's, who had never volunteered before. She was afraid to use her personal cellphone because her employer paid the bill and she didn't want to get into trouble. She got a campaign office cell phone to use. She was very nervous to start, but like everyone else settled down after a few calls. People came and went throughout the afternoon, giving as much or as little time as they could. As the room would thin out, another wave of newly trained callers would fill the empty chairs. Wisely, there were enough power strips for people to plug in and charge their cellphones while continuing to call. I was lucky to get the primo-cool room. Other rooms were downright hot with all of the people in them, but mine was wonderfully comfortable.

I don't know how much I helped or hurt the cause today. It was great to hear all of those people who had already voted for Obama or were eagerly waiting for their opportunity on Tuesday. I hope my heartfelt words swayed the undecided voters in the correct direction. I worry about the angry people, exasperated by all of the phone calls who may either vote for McCain or not at all. I tried to sympathize with them and apologize for being the latest in a long line of callers. Some appreciated it, while others just stayed bitter and angry. But there was never time to fret over it, another voter in another city awaited on the call list.

I do know I'll be back Monday night after work. To borrow a horse racing analogy, Monday will be like rounding the final turn with Tuesday being the stretch to the wire. I'm taking a vacation day at work Tuesday so I can volunteer wherever the campaign needs me. Now is not the time to leave anything behind. It's time give everything I've got and work for the change we can all believe in.