I volunteer at the campaign office. And this is my rant.

[Turn CO Blue]

And I am an anxious, but somewhat optimistic DUer.

Please, let's enjoy this great moment in history. Let's support each other and cut out the infighting and not belittle anyone's legitimate worry yet ALSO not deflate anyone's well-earned enthusiasm.

There is some kind of disconnect going on here at DU between opposing viewpoints -- between those who are a bit too optimistic and a those who won't even believe "it" (that Barack is President) until perhaps February or March of next year.

On the one hand we have those who see the overwhelming evidence before their eyes; unprecedented support for a transformational candidate who has an amazing groundgame – meaning the Obama groundgame that was SO good that it outperformed the amazing machine that was the Clinton juggernaut. They recognize the enthusiam and momentum of this groundswell that will carry us to Tuesday.

On the other hand we have those who are called “downers” because they publicly express worry and pessimism that the polls will tighten up, that we're losing our mo or that the Repubs will steal it. Well, think back to 2000 and even more recent races in some states for very good evidence to support any worry about theft, caging, or fraud. And also look back to this exact point in 2004 where Kerry was leading on electoral map projections by 284 electoral votes to Bush's 254.

Here comes my concern.

But first be aware before you flame me, that I am a canvass director for our team and I have put in a good 10-15 hours, sometimes 25 hours a week for a few months, sometimes entering data until 1 or 2 am in the morning. Sorry that I can’t phrase that a bit more humbly (and goodness knows there are people that have done five times that in my own office), but I'm skipping the bullshit here and my efforts are for some people I really, truly care about and believe in – namely my kids, my hubby, my friends, you, me, and Barack Obama. So...sorry to put it this bluntly, but unless YOU have done the same or better, then your negative commentary about my being a downer or about my worry won’t carry much moral authority.

Again with my concern: the canvass flake rate was 30% last Saturday and our phone flake rate was more like 50% and even before that we were already short of the goals for knocks and dials that the head honchos had set for our county that day. (Flake rate means the percentage of people who signed up for a shift and then didn't show up - we are trying to switch over to using "no show rate" but some terms just aren't easy to change.) We're hearing this all over.

Blame it on nice weather or blame it on sports or blame it where it belongs. This is good reason for concern. People are acting like this is a done deal.

Our field organizers are getting anxious and a bit cranky. These are people who actually get paid to do their jobs for Obama. Their bosses are getting irritated about the volunteers. They don't want to hear about how far ahead we are in the polls. They always say "don't talk about that - work like we're down 20 points".

Barack said, "Don't get cocky!" meaning that we can't get complacent; there's still work to do.

This last weekend Barack himself asked a crowd, "Will you make calls for us? Will you knock on doors for us?" The crowd yelled, "Yes!" But I wonder how many people even made it over to their local office.

The people running this GOTV plan KNOW the plan, and they know EXACTLY how many knocks and dials we need in EXACTLY which precincts to get PRECISELY X number of votes turned out, and they JUST want us to WORK THE PLAN.

They don't want us to worry and beat each other down. I sure as heck don't want that. The people at the top of this campaign understand the meaning and value of HOPE more than any of us here. We can all see the light at the end of this eight-year (more like 20-year) tunnel.

But they also don't want us to be doing the victory dance and champagne Jell-o shots quite yet.

Here is my main point. People aren’t volunteering at the levels we need.

People who call themselves avid Obama supporters say that they’re too busy. Too busy? I've been at the office sometimes until one in the fucking morning! But hey, people are too busy. I notice that people don't ever seem too busy to write another thread or diary. They're not too busy to watch baseball or football. They're never too busy to get a burger or a pizza. They're not too busy to play keyboard commando to complain about Rachel's show or to photoshop pics of Ashley Todd. But they're too busy to work one fucking, measley 2-hour phone shift to call 50 people for Barack Obama. Yeah, forgive me if I don't get it.

Now it may be true that the early vote will be so successful that we won't have that much to do for our GOTV (meaning maybe we won't really need that many vols because there won't be that many calls or knocks to make). But I doubt it. We'd could call leaning McCain people if we had enough volunteers and bring them over too!

We need this to be the biggest blowout in history, so that the President and Congress and our Democratic platform have a TRUE mandate. So that the Repubs can't possibly steal it. So that they can't ever gerrymander a district again. So that THE PEOPLE will have the laws passed that will bring about all this CHANGE we've all been talking about.

And my good people, my friends, we are NOT going to win big IF we don’t EXECUTE THE GROUNDGAME.

The Obama campaign's “Get out the Vote” plan is the biggest, most historic plan ever conceived, and it is the ONLY way to beat these scheming, lying, cheating Republicans.

But, where are the people who are willing to do the grunt work? Where are the people who are actually willing to dial the numbers, talk the talk and walk the walk? Because it's easy to sit here and post, but sometimes it's tough or nerve-wracking and sometimes it's just plain frustrating or boring to be out there ACTUALLY MINING OUT THE VOTES or chasing the ballots.

Please take off on Tuesday if you can. If you are not canvassing and calling for the campaign, then please donate some food, chairs, water, juice, umbrellas, good wishes... something to your local campaign office.

And if you sign up to work, then please show up for your shift or call ahead to schedule for a different one if you can't make it.

/rant

Thanks for reading such a long one.
tcb in Colorado


ON EDIT: WOW! Thanks for the K&Rs and all this support! I truly appreciate it.

I just wanted to add a couple of things - usually our volunteers in Colorado are fantastic and I don't want anyone to think otherwise.

And I also want to add that in addition to canvassing and phonebanking, that there are all kinds of ways to help at the campaign office - make photocopies, put together packets, comfort captain (getting food or beverages for vols), be a greeter at the door, call to schedule volunteers (not phone-banking), poll lead (requires training), and there's always endless data entry (it's easy). The people at the office will be thrilled to see you, they put you to work, they will train you, and you can sit and listen or watch others to learn...