I did canvassing in rural Missouri this past weekend -- very encouraging

[TheDoorbellRang]

I lived in northeastern Missouri for 23 years before moving up to Illinois last year (I'm now in Hastert's old district which elected democratic Bill Foster last March.) This past weekend I decided to visit my old stomping grounds and do some canvassing and I am FIRED UP AND READY TO GO!

The Obama campaign sent me to Bowling Green in Pike County. I wasn't sure what to expect, but assumed I'd get at least a good clump of McCain supporters (When I canvassed for McCaskill in 2006, I got several who were supporting her Republican opponent.) BUT -- of the 75 houses I went to, there were only two -- TWO -- who were supporting McCain,and only one of them said so out loud. The other one told me they had decided who to vote for but didn't wish to tell me, so I'm assuming McCain on that one.

I talked to lots of people who were still "undecided," many of whom had absolutely no knowledge of anything on either candidate but were planning on voting in November because "we need change." They knew that much. They were ALL receptive to me. I told them why I was supporting Obama and just gave them basic info that we all have at our fingertips, and many of them ended up saying that they thought they might be leaning toward Obama and thanked me for stopping by. It was just AWESOME. Now I know some here think Obama has done overkill on the "McCain is third term of Bush" meme, but it is definitely working. Many of these folks who don't follow politics like we do told me they didn't like McCain because he would just be another one like Bush -- and that was the extent of their knowledge of the election.

One thing that I think helped me with these undecided is that I'm a 55 year old white woman, and I think most people there had the impression that only college kids and African Americans are for Obama, so they were surprised to see me and consequently curious about why I was supporting him.

Some stories:

One house there was a little old lady in her 70's, very sweet looking, who started out saying, "Well now, I don't have anything against black folks..." (and I thought, "Here we go"), and then continued, "I like that Obama fellow. He seems like a nice young man with a nice wife and family. And we need someone different than that GODDAM Bush." I picked up my jaw as she then went on a rant about how "that Bush" had just ruined this country, and McCain was just like him and too old to be running for president. It was a thing of beauty.

Another house the couple was sitting outside and the wife was on the list but not the husband. She said she was voting for Obama, but the husband belligerently told me he was voting for McCain so there. Then he started quizzing me about stuff that "proved" Obama was a slippery character, which I was able to counter and then give him the scoop on McCain's "slipperiness," always remaining polite. After about a five minute back and forth he suddenly began smiling and said, "You know, I'm actually voting for Obama. I just wanted to see if you knew your stuff. Where do I go to volunteer?"

It was just a fantastic experience. I'm going back in two weeks to do some more.

[Arugula Latte]

1. Good stuff!

Thanks for the report!

[TheDoorbellRang]

11. You're welcome

They've got a great organization going there in Pike County.

[John Q. Citizen]

2. MO is huge. If Obama can do well enough in the rural areas and gets good turn out in the cities

he can win it.

Way to go.

[TheDoorbellRang]

8. That's what I think

I was one who stayed up late in 2006 after Missouri had already been called for Talent and watched it suddenly flip to McCaskill late that night when the urban returns finally came in. I figure the more rural votes for Obama we can get, the better off we'll be.

[protect our future]

17. I stayed up for it too. The three big urban areas are going to go

very heavily for Obama, and I know we'll get more rural votes than the GOP expects.

Matt Blunt is so upset he's foaming at the mouth and ranting about Obama supporters.

[protect our future]

3. Thanks, Doorbell. Throughout rural Missouri your experience is

being repeated.

I'm in Kansas City, and you would not believe the response. You can hardly find a residential block that doesn't have one or more Obama yard signs. The rich, the poor, the inbetweens -- all are supporting Obama. I have never seen anything like this here.

Obama will win Missouri, of that I have no doubt.

Thank you so much for all you are doing!

[TheDoorbellRang]

9. I think the latest poll only had McCain up by two points

so it's very possible MO could go blue.

[protect our future]

16. Friday's poll has McCain up by only 1.

And the Kansas City Star is calling it even.

http://www.kansascity.com/445/story/814879.html

No longer are we leaning McCain. We're back to toss-up status.

But Obama will win here.

[bookman]

4. You're special

Thanks for the hard work.

[TheDoorbellRang]

12. It was a twofer for me

I got to visit with a lot of old friends while I was there -- and they're all for Obama, too.

[rvablue]

5. Thanks for writing this up

It's very interesting to hear these first-hand anecdotes.

[TheDoorbellRang]

13. It's amazing how much people DON'T know

We here at DU know so much about the nitty-gritty of what's gone wrong, but it seemed to me that most folks just have a truly vague notion that everything is a mess somehow and know that we've got to do something different. The one thing several people would say to me is "we need change" and "McCain would just be another one like Bush," so those simple messages from the Obama campaign that I've seen people here regard as overkill are actually what's working.

[JimWis]

6. Thanks for sharing the good news - Thanks for your hard work.

[TheDoorbellRang]

14. You're welcome

The friend I was staying with does phone banking for the Obama campaign and she's getting the same response. People WANT to talk about the election and want to hear what Obama would do.

[julialnyc]

7. Thanks! Driving to PA in 2 weeks to help and am nervous

Never done anything like this before.... you story encourages me!

[Cosmocat]

15. WELCOME ...

to Pa, no reason to be nervous ...

People are people, but for the most part Pa people, even the Rs are decent enough people.

Thanks for coming in and helping out!

[TheDoorbellRang]

18. No need to be nervous at all.

I was in sales for 30 years, and this is what I came up with that worked for me.

1) Make sure you mention you are a volunteer for the campaign when you introduce yourself. You don't want people to think you're being paid to do this.

2) I didn't ask them who they were voting for, but who they were leaning toward, which is a lot less "confrontational," IMO.

So my opening would be: "Hi, I'm _____. I'm a volunteer with the Obama campaign, and we're canvassing _______ today to talk with folks to see if you've been watching the presidential candidates so far and who you're leaning toward in November."

If they said they were definitely voting for Obama, we'd have a nice chat bashing Bush/McCain/Palin and I'd ask if they wanted to volunteer for the Obama campaign.

If they said they were leaning toward Obama or undecided, I'd tell them some basic stuff about why I support Obama. Here's the one I'd start with: "You know, one of the reasons I'm supporting Obama is because he doesn't take any money from the Big Money lobbyists (blank look from homeowner). These lobbyists in Washington have given so much money to our politicians that they were actually writing some of the bills for Congress IN THEIR FAVOR instead of for the good of everyone. Now, Obama has gotten over half of the money for his campaign from 2 and a half million people -- like me -- who have given anywhere from $5 to $200, instead of money from Big Oil or Wall Street. And when he became the candidate, the Democratic National Committee stopped taking donations from lobbyists, too. So if Obama gets elected, he's going to be serving the people that put him in -- people like you and me -- instead of the Big Money Interests."

MOST PEOPLE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT LOBBYISTS, so this was a good point.

Then I'd ask them what their chief concerns were, and I'd explain Obama's plans on whatever, and how he's done his homework on all these issues, which they could see at his website. People were very receptive to hearing more about Obama.

Driving home, I thought of something else that I'm going to do next time: we had a handout to stick in doors if people weren't home. Next time I'm going to write a short, personal message on these the night before -- haven't decided what I'll write yet, but if these handouts are personalized I think the handout would be even more effective.

Good luck in PA. Hope you're as surprised as I was.

[protect our future]

29. I write "sorry I missed you" on the fliers if I have time. Also, it helps

to take rubber bands with you; using a rubber band often makes it easier to attach the flier.

[CTyankee]

20. I was in New Hampshire Sept. 6-7, canvassing for Planned Parenthood

and getting out the word on McCain's horrible record on women's reproductive rights. I have been urging my fellow Dems to consider going there or PA. Our 3rd Cong. district Dems are running a bus there next weekend I believe.

I think we're gonna do it, but all hands should be on deck! If you can possibly do it, GO!

[CTyankee]

21. I

[CTyankee]

22. I was in New Hampshire Sept. 6-7, canvassing for Planned Parenthood

and getting out the word on McCain's horrible record on women's reproductive rights. I have been urging my fellow Dems to consider going there or PA. Our 3rd Cong. district Dems are running a bus there next weekend I believe.

I think we're gonna do it, but all hands should be on deck! If you can possibly do it, GO!

[CTyankee]

23. I was in New Hampshire Sept. 6-7, canvassing for Planned Parenthood

and getting out the word on McCain's horrible record on women's reproductive rights. I have been urging my fellow Dems to consider going there or PA. Our 3rd Cong. district Dems are running a bus there next weekend I believe.

I think we're gonna do it, but all hands should be on deck! If you can possibly do it, GO!

[cap]

31. come to Bucks County, we need you

we are a swing county and we need help. My township is overrun with McCain signs...I don't want to think this represents the people here. We need to fight back hard

[Hope And Change]

10. K & R!Keep up the good work TheDoorbellRang!

[TheDoorbellRang]

19. It's pretty exciting

If the economy wasn't circling the drain, I'd be feeling pretty good about our country's chances today.

[calimary]

24. Just wanted to kick this!

This 55-year-old white woman salutes you!!!

I remember after my mom died (a few days before the 2006 election, I spent a lot of time talking on the phone to my sister-in-law in Missouri. Inevitably the conversation turned to politics. I was completely shocked when she immediately started talking about how she hoped rather ardently that Claire McCaskill would beat jim talent. She's a teacher, and she went on and on and one about how stupid and vile the republi-CONS are and how she hates what they've done to the country and to business and to schools and the mentality of the general population that's come to fawn over bush et al.

I was SHOCKED. She lives in a rural area, her whole family is a salt-of-the-earth bunch. I would have bet money that they were staunch republi-CONS. Hardly.

After my mom died, a whole bunch of relatives came out from rural Missouri and around Chicago. And I was ready for a red tide. DIDN'T HAPPEN! The memorial Mass was the morning that rumsfeld resigned, just after the election itself. Mom had had a long and debilitating illness and so her death had not come as a shock to anyone - we were all kinda ready for it. Everybody arrived at the church sad about her passing but still feeling pretty happy about the way the election had gone - Democrats regaining control in Congress - but hadn't heard about rummy yet. Their reaction to the election results was stunning enough already. I broke the news just outside the church entrance where they were all waiting. Everybody brightened up even more! Even the older folks. Lots of comments like: "What took him so long?" "He was SUCH bad news." "Thank God!" "Good riddance!" "Must have been your mom! She must have put in a good word for all of us up there!"

Amazing. And once up on a time, I knew for a fact, most of them HAD been bush supporters. 'Cause some of them talked about "Slick Willie" and hated Hillary. How things change.

[TheDoorbellRang]

26. Things really changed between 2004 and 2006 in Missouri

We got that idiot Matt Blunt for governor and the whole state was mightily pissed of at him after he got in. I think Missouri might be ready to throw all the bums out this time around. Here's hoping.

[Terran]

25. Excellent!

I've been to Bowling Green (I live in Jeff City) and it's about rural as you can get in Missouri. What awesome (and amazing) results!

[barack the house]

27. Your support is real valuable, very appreciated. Great work.

[booley]

28. If Obama gets rural Mo he gets the state

Because I know Saint Louis and KC are more then likely going for Obama.

And historicly, whomever gets Missouri gets the Presidency.

[protect our future]

30. Kansas City, St. Louis, and Columbia will determine the outcome.