So, things have been crazy busy with the campaign, and I’ve been spending most of my time there, plus the 2 days I took off last week to spend with some old girlfriends and one new little toddler. I have noted eight different pieces that I meant to write since my last posting, and since I’m so far behind, I’m going to catch up by writing the headlines at least, and we’ll see how it goes whether I ever get back to writing them.
Starting in reverse order (top of the list is oldest, from last week) :
“Harleysville: The Ultimate Battleground!”
This one was meant to chronicle my first time “out,” when Dan and I flyered about 500 car windshields at shopping centers in some of the toughest Republican areas, but where we also know we have support. We were getting the word out about a big volunteer meeting we had last week.
Here’s a photo of Dan. Harleysville is a township in our area and is what we consider the holy grail of the election. As we say these days, “If we can win Harleysville, we can win Montgomery County. If we can win Montgomery County, we can win Pennsylvania. If we can win in PA, we can win the election!” Volunteer Summit and Debate Watch Party
Last Wednesday night we had a huge volunteer meeting to start planning for what we call “Get Out The Vote” or “GOTV” weekend, which is basically Halloween through the night of election day. Then afterwards we all stayed to watch the debate. I had planned to describe all the crazy effort that went into mobilizing so many people. But I do have a few photos!
Phillies Phever!
We just can’t talk about what’s going on in this part of Pennsylvania without talking about Phillies Phever! On the same night as the final debate, the Phillies baseball team clinched the national league title, and made it into the World Series. We now know they’ll play Tampa Bay, starting tomorrow night, instead of the Boston Red Sox, much to my husband’s dismay. But at least we’ll have peace in our family, at least until my brother-in-law in New Hampshire opens the care package packed full of Phillies goods I sent to my nieces and nephew! One thing any candidate could do right now to help his cause in PA is to get a little bit of Phillie Phever! And lucky for us, the World Series will take place this week and next week, and no matter what, be finished before GOTV weekend, so we can have our Phighting Phils Phans back to volunteer for us for the election. Oh, and here’s a picture of the coolest mascot ever, the Phillie Phanatic.
Hitting the Streets
I took my first stab at neighborhood canvassing last Friday with Barb (see photo of Barb), another volunteer. For almost 4 hours we hoofed it to over 60 households. It was an amazing experience and is 100% at the heart of what’s going to help us win this election. I’m sure I’ll talk more about this incredible phenomenon in the days to come. The important message is, anyone can do it- it’s so much easier and more rewarding than you’d think. So get off your butt and sign up ASAP- don’t risk waking up on November 5th thinking you could have done more!
The Irony of Volunteerism
I will, for sure, revisit this topic again soon in the coming days, as it’s a thread woven deeply through every hour I spend in this office. My experience here is so interesting to me because my regular job is working for an agency built around volunteerism, and it’s been a long, long time since I’ve been on the other side of things like this. I’m amazed at how many assumptions us managers make about volunteers, now that I’m a volunteer myself. Many members of my team reading this will chuckle to themselves as they realize I’m being supervised by a guy nearly a decade younger than me. Ah, the irony! I am sure there are many more lessons and reflections to come on the subject of volunteerism and civic engagement.
Yard Signs, O How I Love Thee!
Dan and Ben (the only 2 guys who get paid, though barely) HATE yard signs. As do their bosses, and their bosses. And lately, so do the rest of us regular volunteers. Every day we have dozens and dozens of people who come by asking for yard signs, even willing to pay for them, and we rarely ever have any. We don’t get even a fraction of what we need in, and as soon as we get them in they fly out the door. And man, are people in this community wound up about their yard signs! They’ve just gotta have them! Lately, we’re getting a lot of people coming back, complaining that theirs has been stolen- can you believe that?? Damn Republicans! And it only makes the demand for yard signs higher. But don’t listen to me, here’s a great piece from a new website I’ve learned about, on yard signs, titled, “BREAKING NEWS: Obama campaign organizers trying to win election instead of get you yard signs” You should really check out the article- it sheds new light (and some laughs) on ye old yard sign phenomemon.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/09/breaking-obama-campaign-organizers.html
The Barack O’Lantern
In my 2 days off with my girlfriends and one’s 18 month old, we went to a local farm and got some pumpkins. Believe it or not, there’s this crazy website called www.yeswecarve.com which is all about Barack Obama-related pumpkin carving. I kid you not- you should check it out. It’s really something else. So we did one!
Bring it on, McCain! PA is Ready! You can’t have Montgomery County!
Which brings us to Sunday, when a number of things happened. Colin Powell endorsed Obama, as did the Philadelphia Inquirer and a number of other papers, including some very traditional Republican ones. Don’t quote me but I want to say one in Houston, even. It was also a lovely morning after Saturday Night Live made a complete ass out of Sarah Palin the night before. You gotta love Amy Poehler rapping about Palin with her sitting right there (live! for real!) when a huge mascot-sized guy in a moose costume bounded in front of the set, only to hear gunshot sounds and have it fall overdramatically to the ground. I was absolutely roaring. I have to give the woman credit for showing up and staying, with a smile- I just cannot believe she would have consented to that!
But the thing about Sunday, and Monday, and today, is that it seems that McCain is giving up on several key, though smaller, battleground states and redoubling his efforts in PA. Like, in Montgomery County. We are suddenly sitting in the middle of one of the hottest battlegrounds in the state, maybe in the country. From what we can tell, McCain thinks that taking back PA (where Obama is currently in the lead), he can make up for the smaller states that he’s now losing in. Although PA did go blue for Kerry in 2004, it was just barely, and PA has a long Republican history before that. And as I’m now learning, especially large parts of the exact area where I grew up. No wonder I went so crazy when I finally went away to college…. The good news is that during the most recent voter registration, the democrats did such a knock-up job that suddenly now there are actually more democrats registered in PA, including Montgomery County, than Republicans. So we’ve actually got the numbers!! The trick will be making sure they all show up to the polls on election day. And our goal is to avoid being another contested Florida, so we have to win by a healthy margin.
And boy are we fired up. Another thing we have going for us is a fabulous team of people, and though slightly annoying to us, some seemingly smart people in Norristown and Philadelphia, and I guess Chicago, and other management areas of the campaign, who are very in touch with what we’re doing everyday, and constantly adjusting and changing our game plan to reflect the shifting battleground. And let me tell you, there’s no way in hell we’re going to give up this county to McCain.
NO WAY, NO HOW, NO MCCAIN IN PA!
Just where is Montgomery County, and the borough of Lansdale?
Here are a few maps to give you an idea of where we are. When I get a chance, I’ll try to post a few factoids about the area.
Montgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of 2000, the population was 750,097. A 2005 U.S. Census estimate placed the population at 795,618, making it the third most populous county in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia and Allegheny counties), and the 69th most populous county in the United States. The county seat is Norristown.
The county was created on September 10, 1784, out of land originally part of Philadelphia County. It is believed to have been either named in honor of Richard Montgomery, an American Revolutionary War general killed in 1775 while attempting to capture Quebec City, Canada, or for the Welsh county of Montgomeryshire (which was named after one of William the Conqueror's main counselors, Roger de Montgomerie), as it was part of the Welsh Tract -- an area of Pennsylvania settled by Quakers from Wales. Early histories of the county indicate the origin of the county's name as uncertain.
Montgomery County is a suburban county northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Delaware Valley and marks the region's northern border with the Lehigh Valley region of the state.
It is the 44th wealthiest county in the country. (wonder how many total counties there are in the country? 44 sounds higher than my county feels wealthy- it's really just a lot of farms and housing developments!)
According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 487 square miles (1,262 km²), of which, 483 square miles (1,251 km²) of it is land and 4 square miles (11 km²) of it (0.89%) is water.
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 750,097 people, 286,098 households, and 197,693 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,553 people per square mile (599/km²).
Most people commute to “Philly,” as its called, or one of the major corporations with centers in the county, such as Merck, Johnson and Johnson, Quest Diagnostics, Lockheed Martin, Aetna, Motorola, Prudential, etc.
North Penn School District (where I went, and incidentally, was student government president, in case you were interested) spans an area of 42 square miles, and covers the majority of our campaign area. There are 13 elementary schools (grades K-6), three middle schools (grades 7-9), and one high school (grades10-12). Enrollment at the elementary level is 6,599, middle level is 3,029, and high school level is 3,318, making a total district enrollment of 13,000. These figures represent the 90th day enrollment of the 2007-2008 school year. (My understanding is that North Penn High School is the largest high school in the state of PA). Our campaign area includes North Penn and also a little of Souderton High School’s area. If you are from the area and went to a religious school, you might also know Lansdale Catholic High School or Christopher Dock Mennonite High School (where my sister graduated from).
Yep, this is the heartland. Anytown USA. Suburbia at its best. Hence my title photo at the top.
