Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Thoughts From the Field

So I've been volunteering for Obama as much as possible during October, first in Philadelphia and now in Bristol, PA (just north of Philly). It's been great fun, a lot of learning and an almost therapeutic experience for me, as I finally am involved in a political campaign.

Today, a couple staffers were fretting over the polls - worried that they're too good to be true - and it started to make me nervous. Like I've said before, optimism isn't really in my nature. So I probably wouldn't be positive even if I had all the reason in the world to behave as such.

So, yeah, I'm nervous about this thing. Cautiously optimistic is about as far as I'll go. But as I've spent time in Obama offices, met voters face-to-face and over the phone, I can't help but think: there's no way the McCain campaign can match our effort. No way. In Bristol, we have a woman who is here from California, and has been here for four weeks already! We've got people from every walk of life, every shape and size, every color and ethnicity, all working for little or no pay because they believe so passionately in Barack Obama's candidacy.

It's a beautiful thing to be a part of, and I just don't see how the McCain campaign could have anywhere near the number of people, anything close to the organization, anything remotely approaching the enthusiasm that we have. The Obama campaign, from top to bottom, in a million different ways, is an absolute miracle. I repeat: a miracle. We've got to finish the job, and that will be simply the icing on the cake, but to be here... wow.

As Tim Russert would say, what a country.

Good for us.

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