My Experience at the Obama Office in Bethesda, Maryland

For those curious, I spent most of the morning in Bethesda, Maryland making call to Democrats in Pennsylvania reminding them to vote.  I probably made about 125 calls.  60 of them were answering machines, 20 were no answer, about 10 were wrong numbers.  A few hadn’t made it to the polls.

The calls were either in the Pittsburgh area of Philadelphia area.  Of those who voted, 15 were for Obama and 2 were either McCain or no answer.  At least in these populated areas, the totals for Obama are about what you would expect his party support to be:80-90 percent.

The experience was great.  If you brought a laptop and phone, they set you up in one area. If you only had a phone, they’d give you a computer.   If you had neither, they’d give you a phone and a computer.  The software was very easy to use.  People ranged from being pleasent on the phone to slightly annoyed.  But the calls went well.  People of all ages really embraced their vote, if the voted for Obama – making jokes or screaming that they voted for him.

There was also more food at the office than you could imagine.  I finally left after 3 hours because the line to volunteer stretched out the door of the office and I figured I’d give someone else an opportunity to make some calls.

The Republican Spin Began Yesterday

Listening to many of the GOP supporters, they are already spinning a potential John McCain loss as a referendum on Bush, rather than a vote for Obama.  They are claiming that people’s vote for Obama is not a request for change to a more liberal based philosophy. 

You would expect them to make this type of argument, to save face and try to manipulate policy toward the center.  For that reason alone it’s important that Obama wins by a wide popular vote margin.  So, whether you are in DC, Maryland, or Ohio – go out and vote.  Regardless how blue your state is, the bigger the Obama win margin, the more mandate he has to ignore the Republicans.

Head’s Up – Voters…Pay Attention

There are some very dirty tricks going on out in the nation’s electorate. One I keep hearing about Today is the phony Virginia fliers, stating election day is November 5th – the day after the real election.

Please PLEASE PLEASE – pay attention. Review my Voter’s Guide before heading to the polls. The GOP is playing a lot of games that border on the edge of being legal and certainly are already unethical.

If you see anythng suspect – report it!