I’ve been an Obama volunteer—mostly doing data entry stuff prior to the closure of voter registration. That was the easy part.

The hard part—for me—is canvassing. That kind of activity might come naturally to extroverts, but it was difficult for introverted little ole me. But so rewarding; I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I met many amazing people. I met a lot of assholes. I met nice doggies. I met pitbulls without lipstick.

I stole a page from the Jehovah’s Witness handbook and brought my 10-year-old daughter along much of the time. People are less likely to call you a n*gger-lover and slam the door in your face if you have a child in tow. Sometimes they actually listen. I believe I changed a mind or two. Some people are desperate to know another human being gives a shit what they think. It appears to be a widespread predicament.

Some friends and family members have criticized me for dragging the kiddo into the political scene. But she wanted to come along—she begged me to let her skip school and attend an Obama rally right after he clinched the nomination. And she made me buy her an Obama t-shirt afterward.

I had to grow up with right-wing assholes ruling the country, so it’s important to do everything I can to make sure she doesn’t. Also, my mom used to take me to all kinds of hippie protests when I was a kid, and some of my fondest memories were forged there. I hope someday my daughter looks back on our current politicking with the same fondness. I think it’s taught her valuable lessons about the power of ordinary people, stuff she would never learn in a classroom.

Bottom line? I don’t know if I’ve ever done anything more important. I’m still predicting this will be an extremely close race. It’s gonna drive me nuts right down to the wire. But I feel better having done my share.

You go, Kevin and Betty! Real people (and the fakes ones too) scare me, so I’ve been throwing lots of money (aka my dwindling savings) at the Obama campaign and trying to convince folks to vote for Obama through my blog and thoughtfully crafted email messages. Some of it has been working, I am happy to report.

That all said, I am going to be in Virginia this weekend and will do my bit for the cause.

J., good going. Taking Virginia would be so sweet. I’m not at all worried about PA, so I think we’d probably do more good in Ohio. My dad was born and raised in Scranton, though, so I’d have that on my side.

Did your dad know the Bidens? ; )

Actually, the friends we are visiting in No VA said they moved there to help increase the number of Dems in the state—and have been doing their part to convince their Independent and Republican friends to see reason. So far, their strategy appears to be paying off.

Btw, I will be at the White House measuring the drapes Tuesday morning.

I’ve been working every Tuesday night since August at a ward office in Chicago that’s part of the “Illinois-to-Iowa” Obama campaign. We’ve been calling people (mostly registered Dems or people who contacted the main Obama website about volunteering) in the Chicago area to go to Iowa on weekends (esp. for the upcoming four days—Saturday to Tuesday) to canvas, encourage early voting, etc. I work a lot on weekends so haven’t done the canvassing myself, but the phoning has been encouraging. The occasional jerk—“Hillary or nobody!” was heard a time or two, but nowhere near as often as the PUMAs would have you think (gee, the PUMAs wrong about their influence? Say it ain’t so!)

But the best moments have been seeing how diverse the support is. I’ve had a mother come in with her twelve-year-old daughter to help with making phone calls, old people, people of all ethnicities, college kids, etc. And even people who can’t make the trips are always so great about telling us how important this election is to them. Just last night I talked to a woman who wants to bring her elderly mother out to canvas in Iowa City for a couple of days. Mom tires easily and may need to use her wheelchair, but her daughter said she doesn’t want to miss the chance to be involved in this election.

Iowa numbers are still looking good, but McCain opened five offices there in recent days and Kerry lost it by a heartbreakingly slim margin in 2004, so the usual caveats apply: GET OUT THE VOTE! Especially in those swing states!

And . . . I will be in Grant Park next Tuesday, and I’ll scream and shout for all of you who can’t be there!

God bless us, everyone.

I will be in Grant Park next Tuesday, and I’ll scream and shout for all of you who can’t be there!

Wow, that is SO awesome. I wish I could be there. Except I’d probably freeze to death. But if Obama wins, you may hear my screaming and shouting all the way from Florida.

My nineteen-year-old daughter is going to join me on some GOTV shifts and she will work a couple on her own. She is thrilled to be part of the process. So am I. The GOTV effort can absolutely make a difference here in Indiana.

I’m usually crowd-averse, but I decided I didn’t want to kick myself for missing this later in my life. I plan to have some nice adult beverages on hand for later on—either for celebrating or to wash down the Xanax, we’ll have to see!