My Loveland team was one of thousands of neighborhood teams from across the nation to be in on a call from Senator Obama so he could express his thanks (live) and give us all a pep talk for the final stretch.
We are in full Get Out The Vote (GOTV) mode for the campaign nationwide and we've been putting in long hours. Today was an especially tough day for me because I was scheduled for the whole day and happen to be sick. The shifts are busy, but between-shift time can lull. We all did our jobs and talked as usual about the things that inspire us to give of our time.
We had a successful day from our staging location and we surpassed our goals. Our volunteers are always energetic, but I think we were all feeling the strains of the final push. Then, toward the end of the final shift, I got the call from our field organizers that we could call in to hear live from Senator Obama himself.
Our whole operation stopped when I was overheard saying into my phone, "You mean, WE get to talk to Barack Obama?!?!?" She gave us the call-in number and our office re-energized.
We set up a speakerphone and called in promptly 15 minutes early. Campaign manager David Plouffe came on and dazzled us with statistics. He said our organization was unprecedented in American political history and that what we are doing has surpassed theory and become an enormous reality. Then, he proved it with numbers.
- 13.3 million direct contacts with registered voters (contacts... not calls made or doors knocked, but actual human contacts);
- 1.9 million new voters registered (folks, tell me how that isn't the election right there?);
- Well over 1 million GOTV shifts worked in the last 2 weeks;
- A new 500,000-voter registration drive in North Carolina alone (NC previously had more Republicans registered than Dems);
- A new 25,000-voter registration advantage in Colorado;
These are just a few of the statistics that amazed us.
Senator Obama took the call just after landing in Missouri and moments before speaking at a Rally in Springfield, MO. He started by saying "I am proud of all of you," and calling us the "lifeblood of the operation." He credited us with helping turn states blue that haven't been that way in decades.
He said we've "stunned the country" with our efforts and our ground game and encouraged us to push through because "we can't let history slip through our hands."
Clearly, the man is inspiring, and he rallied the troops. We are all re-energized for the final push and we are ready to celebrate together after another long, but fulfilling, day of volunteering on Tuesday night.
