Saturday morning, Lisa, Sara, and I caravanned with six other people (including Mike, our group organizer) from Chicago to
Dubuque, Iowa. We gathered with about 200 other Obama supporters on the grounds of an elementary school, checked in, then found a spot along the guardrail and waited for Obama to arrive. The
secret service guys, in their ill-fitting jackets, scoped out the crowd. Finally, about noon, Dubuque's mayor introduced our next president,
Barack Obama. Our senator came out to hollers and cheers from the crowd and shook quite a few hands before stepping onto the back of a pickup truck. We were only about ten feet away from him. He spoke eloquently, as he always does, about the problems our country needs to fix,
and how we can work together to fix them. How he knows that people have hope for a better America. How we can improve health care, education, and national security. The rapt crowd clapped and cheered and shouted "Amen!" Those of us who support him really believe that he could be an agent for change in this country, that he could help repair the divisions among Americans and restore our
standing in the world. After he spoke, Obama spent a long time working his way around the crowd, shaking hands, listening to concerns, signing books, and posing for pictures. When he got to our group, Mike pointed out that we wer
e all from Chicago, and we're working to "make it happen." I was a little starstruck, but I managed to ask Obama if I could get a picture with him for my blog, and he willingly obliged. You can't see it in the picture, but he was holding onto my hand at the time. Getting to meet him was definitely a huge honor and thrill for me! Next, we all split up by precincts and were given packets with maps and household information. I teamed up with Lisa and a 50-something woman named Kay (from Dubuque), who was really cool.
We headed to our area, and Kay worked one side of the street while Lisa and I took the other. I have decided that I really don't like canvassing.
Thankfully, most people were nice (even the Republican woman who somehow made it onto our list), and we did have a couple good conversations. It's a little early in the game--we heard repeatedly that people were still mulling over their options. We did encounter a couple grumpy people, though no one flat-out slammed the door in our faces. The person who annoyed me the most was the woman who said more people need to get involved...but she's not planning to caucus. Kay graciously took us back to her place for a bathroom break and fed us some homemade cookies. After a couple hours of knocking on doors, we were exhausted!
Lisa, Sara, and I ran back to our hotel room to freshen up, and then our Chicago contingent and Kay all met at
Salsa's for some Mexican food and margaritas. Most of our group then headed to Riverfest, but Lisa, Sara, and I grabbed some Bell's Oberon beer at the Hy-Vee, went back to our room, got into our pajamas, and watched "Fight Club." We were pretty tired and loopy by that point. Sunday morning we met up with some other folks in our group for a relaxed breakfast at
Cafe Manna Java. (There was an article in the
Telegraph Herald about how Obama had
knocked on a few doors in Dubuque himself.) Then we headed back to campaign headquarters and got that day's assignments.
Sara, Lisa, and I went to our new neighborhood, and this time we all split up. I only talked to a couple people; almost no one was home. Our primary goal on these excursions is to get people to commit to caucusing for Obama in January. Sara got someone to
do that on Sunday; as far as I know, she was the only one in our group. (Go Sara!) But at least it was good to get out there, make a few connections, and get some people thinking about Obama. We canvassed for a couple more hours on Sunday, brought our tally back to HQ, and got on the road. We'll be back in Dubuque to canvass a couple more times, once in the fall and once in January, right before the caucus. I'm not looking forward to knocking on more doors...but if that's what it takes to help get Obama elected, then that's what I'll do!
Saturday morning, Lisa, Sara, and I caravanned with six other people (including Mike, our group organizer) from Chicago to Dubuque, Iowa. We gathered with about 200 other Obama supporters on the grounds of an elementary school, checked in, then found a spot along the guardrail and waited for Obama to arrive. The 
secret service guys, in their ill-fitting jackets, scoped out the crowd. Finally, about noon, Dubuque's mayor introduced our next president, Barack Obama. Our senator came out to hollers and cheers from the crowd and shook quite a few hands before stepping onto the back of a pickup truck. We were only about ten feet away from him. He spoke eloquently, as he always does, about the problems our country needs to fix,
and how we can work together to fix them. How he knows that people have hope for a better America. How we can improve health care, education, and national security. The rapt crowd clapped and cheered and shouted "Amen!" Those of us who support him really believe that he could be an agent for change in this country, that he could help repair the divisions among Americans and restore our 
standing in the world. After he spoke, Obama spent a long time working his way around the crowd, shaking hands, listening to concerns, signing books, and posing for pictures. When he got to our group, Mike pointed out that we wer
e all from Chicago, and we're working to "make it happen." I was a little starstruck, but I managed to ask Obama if I could get a picture with him for my blog, and he willingly obliged. You can't see it in the picture, but he was holding onto my hand at the time. Getting to meet him was definitely a huge honor and thrill for me! Next, we all split up by precincts and were given packets with maps and household information. I teamed up with Lisa and a 50-something woman named Kay (from Dubuque), who was really cool. 
We headed to our area, and Kay worked one side of the street while Lisa and I took the other. I have decided that I really don't like canvassing. 
Thankfully, most people were nice (even the Republican woman who somehow made it onto our list), and we did have a couple good conversations. It's a little early in the game--we heard repeatedly that people were still mulling over their options. We did encounter a couple grumpy people, though no one flat-out slammed the door in our faces. The person who annoyed me the most was the woman who said more people need to get involved...but she's not planning to caucus. Kay graciously took us back to her place for a bathroom break and fed us some homemade cookies. After a couple hours of knocking on doors, we were exhausted! 
Lisa, Sara, and I ran back to our hotel room to freshen up, and then our Chicago contingent and Kay all met at Salsa's for some Mexican food and margaritas. Most of our group then headed to Riverfest, but Lisa, Sara, and I grabbed some Bell's Oberon beer at the Hy-Vee, went back to our room, got into our pajamas, and watched "Fight Club." We were pretty tired and loopy by that point. Sunday morning we met up with some other folks in our group for a relaxed breakfast at Cafe Manna Java. (There was an article in the Telegraph Herald about how Obama had knocked on a few doors in Dubuque himself.) Then we headed back to campaign headquarters and got that day's assignments. 
Sara, Lisa, and I went to our new neighborhood, and this time we all split up. I only talked to a couple people; almost no one was home. Our primary goal on these excursions is to get people to commit to caucusing for Obama in January. Sara got someone to
do that on Sunday; as far as I know, she was the only one in our group. (Go Sara!) But at least it was good to get out there, make a few connections, and get some people thinking about Obama. We canvassed for a couple more hours on Sunday, brought our tally back to HQ, and got on the road. We'll be back in Dubuque to canvass a couple more times, once in the fall and once in January, right before the caucus. I'm not looking forward to knocking on more doors...but if that's what it takes to help get Obama elected, then that's what I'll do!
6 comments:
Oh my goodness, he's so cute! How did you resist from turning around and planting one right on him?! :)
Amazing Jules- I caught a part of one of his speaches somewhere during a channel surf- very impressive with great ideas. Happy door knocking and boy, it'd be a different world if he made it, wouldn't it??
I hate knocking on doors too, but I'd do it for this man. Great photo! What a thrill! Thanks for stepping up, Jules!!
How cool! I really admire your commitment. I'm so glad you didn't get any doors slammed in your face. Those Iowans are good stock, like their MN neighbors. :)
Congrats on being so active in the campaign, Jules. I'm proud to know you!
I used to do the same thing while in college, and I always needed a margarita after it too!!! Or four or five!!!
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