The Before and After of Election 2008

With the time flying so quickly down to the election, I have to wonder about the people who are on the ground working to get their candidates elected. Therefore, I took a day to go around to the Democratic and Republican campaign headquarters here in St. Joseph, Missouri to check on the activity.

The Democratic headquarters was almost inaccessible. It is located in the Montee Law Office building on Francis Street. Why was it so hectic? The answer was that Senator Joe Biden was speaking that morning at Missouri Western State University and everyone was streaming into the office building trying to score tickets to the event. I have to admit that I too was interested in getting a ticket. I am undecided on whom to vote for on November 4. I hoped by being able to sit and listen to Sen. Biden talk it might make the decision a little easier. Well, I did not get a ticket. They were all gone in less than an hour that morning. I guess I should have gotten up earlier that morning. Even though I did not get a ticket, I stuck around to try to get a little more information about the candidates, their views and their plans.

The young woman at the front desk was gorgeous but after a few of my questions, she realized she was in over her head and handed me off to another young woman named Michelle.

Michelle is passionate about Barack Obama, Joe Biden and their campaign to win the White House. Michelle fielded my questions with an energy and passion that I had not found in all my years of pinning candidates to the wall, so to speak. After fifteen or twenty minutes of tough questions that Barack and Joe had not answered, I believe that I had exhausted her ability to respond or her patience. She graciously excused herself and made a dash for the safety of the back offices. I walked out of the office discussing the candidates with another woman who had participated in the exchange with Michelle. This woman was a caterer who wanted to help the campaign and I suggested that she provide some catering for the campaign office. She acquiesced to my suggestion and volunteered to bring food for the office.

I left and proceeded across town to the Republican campaign office and was under-whelmed with the people and their lack of zeal at selling their candidate. The room was divided by a curtain, in front of the curtain was a senior citizen putting together McCain/Palin yard signs. He greeted me and then went back to his work. Behind the curtain, I could hear people working the phones. There was nobody else visible in the room and none came to talk with me. It was just short of a snoozer. Need I say more?

I went home and pulled up the local television station's website and found that they were web casting Biden's visit live. Therefore, I sat at my computer and watched his speech. I was glad that I did not get a ticket because it was not what I had hoped. It was, in my opinion, just a love fest of supporters with no substance. Joe's speech boiled down to "Barack and I are the greatest thing since peanut butter!" To which the audience response boiled down to " Go get 'em Joe. You are the man. Woo Hoo!" I did not miss anything. There was no substance to the speech. It was just a morale building rally meant for the choir. He was not here to win over any undecided voters. I noticed that the media showed and spoke with some undecided voters who had to stand outside and did not get to hear the speech. They came hoping for the same thing I was looking for, a reason to vote for Obama. Today was not the day.

For the next week, I researched, watched campaign ads, and read numerous blogs looking for answers. It bothered me that both sides were using ads that were either misleading or flat out false to malign the opponent. The rabid attacks on other bloggers by Obama supporters disturbed me. The language and personal insults were uncalled for from either side. I do have to say that as far as blogs go all participants are anonymous. Therefore, either side can pretend to be the opposite. Yet, my mind kept coming back to my short visit with Michelle. I just could not quite grasp something about her passion for Barack.

Knowing that I wanted to write a short article for Associated Content on the presidential race I decided to focus on the campaign workers rather than the candidates. After all, the campaign workers win the election not the candidate that they support. The candidate is just the fa�ade.

I emailed Michelle asking for an interview. Nearly a week went by with no response so I assumed that either she was too busy or our first meeting was so traumatic that she was afraid to entertain a return engagement. The following Tuesday I received four calls from their office asking for my support and help. On the third call, I aired my dissatisfaction with candidates and campaign workers who want my money, vote and time but do not reciprocate. I told her about emailing and asking for an interview to which she asked me to hang on for a second then she handed the phone to Michelle. Michelle told me that she had not seen the email and apologized for not getting back with me. She gave me her personal cell number and asked that I call her back that evening to set up an appointment.

Getting an interview with anyone on a campaign can be all but impossible and this looked like the case when I got in touch with her to set the appointment. Apparently, the Obama campaign, just like the McCain campaign, has reservations with their volunteers talking to me since I was intending to write this article. However, after answering a few questions about my motives and the publishing venue, they allowed me to talk with Michelle.

Michelle is from the upper west side of Manhattan. Yes, she is a New Yorker. She is soft spoken. She makes you feel comfortable. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a B.A. and from the New York Studio School with a M.F.A. She is fluent in French and she has traveled extensively. It is obvious that she is comfortable just about anywhere, she finds herself. She is an accomplished painter and a patron of the arts. In her spare time, she is a realtor.

Michelle first heard Barack speak four years ago. She said when she heard his message there was an instant connection because what he was saying was so close to her heart. She knew that this man had to be president even then. Michelle became actively involved with the Obama campaign about two years ago. She has worked the phone banks for John Kerry, Hillary Clinton and Al Gore. Therefore, she was not new to campaigning when she volunteered to help with the Obama campaign.

Michelle was not satisfied with staying at home in Manhattan and talking to people. She knew that she wanted to do more for the campaign so she boarded a bus for Pennsylvania to help the campaign there. On the bus, she met another woman who was going there to campaign for Obama. Michelle's plans were to go to the main campaign headquarters then dig in and get to work. However, things did not go exactly how she had it planned. The other woman insisted that Kevin was going to pick them up and drive them the rest of the way from the bus stop. Michelle knew that the campaign headquarters was less than half a mile from the bus stop so it would be an easy walk. Nevertheless, they ended up waiting for Kevin. When he picked them up the group had grown from one to three. They got in his car and he drove and drove and drove. When he got to their destination, it was not where Michelle expected to be. Kevin had taken them to a place known as Germantown. This place was incredibly poor and primarily black. The residents felt disenfranchised and didn't get out to vote.

The field organizer charged the campaign volunteers with the goal to win ten thousand votes for Obama. They worked from nine in the morning until after midnight, with some workers staying until three and four AM. When Election Day came, they felt sure that they had thirteen thousand votes. They were wrong because when the polls closed they had fifteen thousand votes. It was a solid victory for the Obama campaign and an even greater victory for Germantown. The residents of Germantown had broken through the disenfranchisement. They had become a part of the political process.

Michelle is a volunteer like many other campaign workers. She receives no pay for her work. Her travel and expenses are on her own dime, as she puts it. She and the other volunteers have host families who provide them with a place to stay when they are working away from home. Usually the host families are fellow Democrats, but one time Michelle lived with a Republican family who had always voted Republican. When Michelle left for her next assignment, she left behind a family who voted Democrat for the first time in their lives.

After Pennsylvania, Michelle worked for the campaign in Indiana, West Virginia, and Montana. While in Montana campaigning, Michelle lost a large real estate commission back home. This was not easy but she decided that the outcome of the campaign was worth a lot more than the commission.

Michelle volunteered for a six-month tour in Missouri. It has been a challenge. She came here questioning whether the 10-point deficit could be overcome. Time and hard work have narrowed the gap to a dead heat. Michelle and her volunteers concentrate now on Andrew County, which is a stronghold of Republican voters. She and her team have had success working this county. They see many voters who are sitting on the fence unable or not ready to step down on one side or the other. They are fighting to win these votes. She is pleased when they win over three households out of all the doors they knock in a day's work. Steady determined work is what is getting them to the finish line and they will be working as long as possible to insure that the voters get out and vote for Obama.

I sat there listening to her tell her story and the emotion in her voice and the details of her journey are moving. I am a cynic when it comes to politics. I do not believe in either candidate but her passion moves me.

If Barack has one Michelle in every battleground state campaign headquarter, he is sitting on a gold mine. She is not a fanatic or a politician. She is what I call a true believer. She has put her life on hold for this work. She has donated her time, energy, and money to help Obama win the election.

Considering her admiration for Barack Obama and Joe Biden, I asked her what one thing she respected about the opponents, John McCain and Sarah Palin. She said that she had respect for the work McCain had done in the past, reaching across party lines to get the Senate to move forward on bills. However, she felt that in the last two years he has "tightened up" and no longer reaches out. On McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate, she says that she is deeply disgusted.

Michelle feels that the world no longer respects the United States and that Obama will restore that lost respect.

I asked Michelle what her plans are for after November 4. She smiled and said her best friend asked her the same question and she is not sure. I see that she has given up everything to help Obama pursue his dream. I do not see this as a problem for her. She is more than capable, will pick up where she left off, and will flourish in whatever direction she goes. That kind of dedication and loyalty is very hard to find. If a candidate is only as good as the people standing behind him propelling him forward then maybe Barack Obama is what this country needs. November 4th will set the stage for the rest of the story.

Now we start the rest of the story. As you know this morning, Barack Obama and Joe Biden are our new President and Vice President. On January 20, 2009 they will be sworn into office and begin a great new experiment and a great new challenge.

Barack has made many promises leading up to this victory. Now we will see if he bucks the trend of politicians not living up to their promises by fulfilling each one of his.

I have to admit that I was and maybe still am nervous about the direction that he will take us. I worry about my freedoms because liberals tend to want government to micromanage every aspect of our lives. Liberals do not generally trust law-abiding citizens. They seldom advocate for victims rights. They often advocate for criminal's rights. Will he work to maintain our freedoms or make us subservient to the rest of the world?

I also have to admit that I voted for "that one" because I was not comfortable with John McCain and his perceived disconnect with the economic problems that we are now facing. Sarah Palin was not a factor in voting for Barack for me. Unlike Michelle, I was not "deeply disgusted" by her being tapped as McCain's running mate. She, like Barack, is young and not under the thumb of the good old boys of Washington D.C. That is obvious to me because of the divisions between her campaign and John McCain's. She and Barack are the fresh faces of politics. They are the lightning rods of political ideologies that I hope will keep things sane and running for the true benefit of the country and its people.

I watched Barack's victory speech and was impressed. Tomorrow, after this day of rest with his family surrounding him, he will begin the toughest education of his life. He will start learning the inside information, the secrets that he will need to function in the oval office. Nobody enters the presidency with a full set of skills and knowledge. It is in a sense an entry-level position. You do not get to be a president of another country so you can train into the position. The closest that you can get to it is being the Governor of a state yet even that is a microscopic version of the oval office.

I look forward to seeing whom he picks as his cabinet and closest advisors. These men and women will make or break his presidency. If he chooses well then he is poised to become more than just a historic first on the face of our nation's history. He is poised to become the greatest president that this nation will ever know.